Buying Assistant

The Buying Assistant is part of the Commercial Support & Product Data Management department (part of the Buying domain) and reports functionally to the Buyer and hierarchically to the Team-lead Buying Assistance.
Commercial Support & Product Data Management facilitates the different departments within the Commercial domain.

We are responsible for supplier management , sample control, Buyer assistance and implementation management and we are responsible for the execution of (bulk) administrative operational activities like product data entry and other operational tasks.
Within the product data management domain we facilitate, knowledge based, the whole Action organization with structural data controls, data analyzes and Product ownership of product data related systems.

PURPOSE OF THE JOB

The purpose of this job is to support the buyer so that the buyer can fully focus on his/her job activities/responsibilities. In addition, an important aspect in this role will be the commercial support of the buyer by advising and supporting the buyer in making commercial decisions while maintaining an overview of all activities and deadlines. Important stakeholders are Buying, Commercial Operations, Commercial Planning, Marketing, Digital Marketing, Commercial Development (Merchandising) and Supply Chain Planning.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES AND AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

• First point of contact for all internal and external stakeholders (e.g. suppliers); to provide support on all buying and product related questions.
• Gives insight in all buying and product related questions from Stakeholders to, in cooperation with the Team lead, make sure that there is a continues improvement cycle.
• Has an good helicopter view and provides insight in all deadlines of all processes and acts accordingly
• Ensures that all requested data or data changes are provided to the relevant departments to make sure that all data in the relevant systems is up to date
• Prepares supplier meetings in such a way that there is an agenda and all relevant documents or products are known and available in time
• Prepares, attends and leads (if applicable) internal meetings with stakeholders in such a way that there is an agenda and all relevant documents or products are known and available in time
• Checks, validates with the buyer and gives feedback on all proposed artwork and design choices with regards to product and packaging (incl. Private Label Management)
• Is responsible for entering and updating all promo related information into the Promo Tool to make sure all promo related stakeholders are informed and aligned
• Is responsible for checking availability and correctness of promo articles with Supply Chain Planning and Commercial Planning
• Checks all relevant Marketing and Digital external communication to see if this is in line with the given commercial input
• Is aware of the quality standards for the category, products that out- or underperform these standards will be followed up
• Has an active role in maintaining and improving the quality of the products
• Checks, validates with the buyer and gives feedback on all received samples with regards to product and packaging
• Is responsible for processing, managing and archiving all samples in a correct manner
• Is responsible for processing and storing the “Golden Sample”, in case of future issues and escalations the Golden Sample is used as the reference point
• Is responsible for the follow up of all BBL related activities which are initiated by the Buyer
• Prepares buying trips (direct import) by completing the wish- and shopping list, providing the final calculation sheet and making sure that all product samples are available for all parties in time
• Is aware and well informed about all relevant (financial) commercial data by analyzing the provided or relevant (financial) commercial reports
• Is aware and keeps him/herself up to date about all the latest market and product trends and developments by for example visiting Action and other relevant stores etc.
• Support the buyer with ideas and advise around market and product trends and developments
• Participate in buying related projects
  

COMPETENCIES

• Accuracy
• Communication skills
• Planning and organizing Proactivity
• Result orientated
• Customer focus

REQUIREMENTS HARD-SKILLS

• MBO+/ HBO (Bachelor) degree level education;
• Experience in working in a commercial environment;
• Experience in Retail or Logistics is a pre
• Good Microsoft (Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint) skills;
• Fluent in both Dutch and English.

REQUIREMENTS SOFT-SKILLS

• Is very organised, is able to structure activities, sticks to agreements within deadlines and according to guidelines;
• Team player
• Demonstrates a high level of pragmatism;
• Works efficiently and effectively, also when under time pressure;
• Works effectively with others to achieve common targets;
• Pays attention to detail;
• Pro-active self-starter who is not afraid to take the initiative;
• Takes ownership for his/hers areas of responsibility and makes sure that deadlines are met;
• Is able to build trusted relationships and an internal network;
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and negotiation skills;
• Feeling comfortable working with IT systems

Contact

• Rajeev Radhakrishnan Nair
• R.RadhakrishnanNair@action.nl