Interim Buying Manager

Interim Buying Manager

Main tasks / Key Responsibilities

• Lead and support the Buying team consisting of four employees.
• Drive seasonal planning from Buying’s perspective
  • Set and cross-functionally agree on time plan and deadlines with stakeholders
  • Follow up that stakeholders stick to agreed time plan
• Support team in material and capacity planning against tier 2 suppliers, including
  • • Analysis of material quantities needed for future production
    • Production capacity bookings towards tier 2 suppliers
    • One of the members of the team is specialized within this area
• Support team in production planning against tier 1 suppliers
  • Plan and secure production capacity at tier 1 suppliers to be able to cope with future buys
• Lead supply planning and buying analysis
  • Support the team and provide guidance, directions and tools for analyzing what and when to buy, based on demand, lead-times, MOQs and inventory levels
  • Orders are placed in multiple defined buying windows per season. A lot of this work is done via excel.
  • Compile and present estimated total buying levels for financial approval
• Support the team and oversee order placement and order tracking
• Handle and support the team in different stages of multiple seasons in parallel – g., order tracking for Fall 2026, supply planning and order placement for Spring 2027, and seasonal planning and capacity bookings for Fall 2027.
• Compile and summarize the team’s work in above areas, for presentation to stakeholders.
• Planning and analysis are done at a detailed and data-driven level, based on a combination of sales forecasts, financial targets and confirmed sales orders.
• Cross-functional collaboration with teams such as Category/Product, Sales, Merchandising, Sourcing, Logistics and Customer Service.
• Drive continuous improvements of the Buying processes and be part of various development projects.

To be relevant for the role:

• You have experience in leading purchasing/buying work in a producing company, where orders are placed directly with factories with long lead times. Background from Retail/Apparel/Outdoor is a merit.
• You have 3-5 years of leadership experience, but even more important is that you have good cooperation skills and that you’re willing to also assist with analytical and operational work.
• You have a strong operational profile, focused on Production Planning, Purchasing, and Demand Planning/Forecasting.
• You have an excellent ability to work in a data-driven and detailed manner with e.g., calculating purchasing needs based on forecasts, MOQs, inventory levels and lead-times.
• You have analytical skills and are strong within excel.
• You have experience of working with and compiling data from various IT systems such as PLM, ERP etc.
• You have expertise in cross-functional coordination with functions such as Sourcing (from Asia), Merchandising, Product/Category, and Sales.
• You have the ability to manage complex seasonal planning, including parallel monitoring and order placement for several upcoming seasons.
• Having worked with both tier 1 and tier 2 suppliers is a merit, but not a firm requirement.
• You can communicate in English, in speaking and writing.

About the process:

The assignment is 100% full time and starts as soon as possible. The estimated length of the assignment is 9 months. We present candidates for the client company during week 21. Are you available and the right candidate for the assignment? Apply now!