Commercial Buyer / Product Manager - #2177713

Our portfolio spans multiple brands and product categories including kitchen and home appliances, heating and cooling, lighting, personal care, household electricals and related consumer products.

We supply wholesalers, retailers and e-commerce customers throughout the UK and Ireland and source extensively from established manufacturing partners in the Far East.

We are now looking to strengthen our Buying team with a commercially minded Buyer/Product Manager who can help shape the future development of our product portfolio.

The Opportunity

We are looking for someone with a genuine passion for products and a strong understanding of what consumers and customers want.

Working alongside our Head of Buying & Technical, you will take increasing commercial ownership of product categories and help determine what Lloytron should be selling - identifying trends, spotting gaps in our existing ranges, understanding competitor activity, listening to our customers and finding new products and categories capable of delivering profitable growth.

You will be involved throughout the complete product lifecycle: from identifying an opportunity and building the commercial case, through sourcing, negotiation and product development, to working collaboratively with our Design, Marketing, Sales and Technical teams to bring the product successfully to market.

Key Responsibilities

Product, Range & Category Management

• Take commercial ownership of designated product categories and their ongoing development and performance.
• Develop commercially coherent ranges based upon consumer demand, customer requirements, competitor activity, appropriate price points and market trends.
• Continually review existing ranges to identify opportunities to improve, extend, replace or discontinue products.
• Identify gaps within Lloytron's existing portfolio and opportunities to enter new or adjacent product categories.
• Analyse product and category performance including sales, margin, stockholding, stock turn and profitability.
• Develop commercial proposals and business cases for significant new products and ranges.
• Maintain a strong understanding of what is happening across the wider consumer-products market.

Consumer & Market Insight

• Maintain a close understanding of emerging consumer trends, new technologies, successful products, new brands and changing purchasing behaviour.
• Regularly review relevant retailers, e-commerce platforms, competitors, trade shows and other sources of market intelligence.
• Identify successful and emerging products and assess whether similar opportunities could be relevant to Lloytron.
• Understand the features, design, quality and price points consumers value within different categories.
• Bring new ideas into the business rather than relying solely upon opportunities presented by existing suppliers.

Customer Engagement

• Work closely with the Sales team and regularly meet customers to understand their product requirements, category plans and emerging consumer demand.
• Build relationships with relevant customer buying and category teams.
• Listen openly to customer feedback and use those insights to influence product and range strategy.
• Identify opportunities where Lloytron can solve a customer requirement, improve an existing offer or develop a new product or range.
• Support Sales with product knowledge and commercial propositions when presenting significant new ranges and opportunities to customers.

International Sourcing & Supplier Management

• Source products and manufacturing partners internationally, predominantly within the Far East.
• Attend international trade shows, including the Canton Fair, and visit factories and suppliers as appropriate.
• Identify and evaluate potential new suppliers as well as continually benchmarking existing suppliers.
• Negotiate purchase prices, MOQs, payment terms, lead times, tooling and other commercial terms.
• Develop strong, constructive and commercially effective relationships with key manufacturing partners.
• Identify opportunities to improve buying terms, product specifications, quality and overall value.

Commercial & Margin Management

• Prepare and understand detailed product costings including factory cost, freight, duty and other landed costs.
• Recommend appropriate selling prices based upon margin objectives, competitor positioning, customer requirements and market conditions.
• Protect and improve product and category margins through negotiation, sourcing, product engineering and range management.
• Understand the impact of currency, freight, MOQ and other variables on product profitability.
• Work with Sales on volume opportunities and customer-specific pricing while maintaining appropriate commercial disciplines.

New Product Development & Launch

• Manage new products from initial opportunity through sourcing, sampling, development and launch.
• Evaluate products for consumer appeal, functionality, quality, features, value and commercial suitability.
• Clearly define the target customer, consumer need, competitive positioning and key selling points for significant new products.
• Work in close partnership with Marketing and Design from an early stage to determine how products should be positioned, branded, packaged and presented.
• Provide Marketing and Design with strong product, consumer, competitor and commercial insight while actively embracing their specialist expertise in branding, packaging, design, copy, imagery and marketing.
• Ensure significant new products have an appropriate launch plan and supporting sales and marketing materials.
• Review product performance following launch and use the findings to inform future product decisions.

Technical, Quality & Compliance

• Work closely with the Head of Buying & Technical, internal QA/QC colleagues and external testing laboratories to ensure products meet applicable UK regulatory, safety and quality requirements.
• Develop an appropriate working knowledge of the regulatory and compliance requirements relevant to Lloytron's product categories.
• Ensure appropriate testing, certification and technical documentation is obtained before products are placed on the market.
• Work with suppliers and technical colleagues to improve product quality and reduce defects, returns and warranty issues.
• Ensure packaging, environmental and other relevant legal requirements are properly addressed.

Extensive technical knowledge of consumer electricals is not essential at the outset. Appropriate training and specialist support will be available.

Stock, Forecasting & Supply

• Work with relevant colleagues and the company's MRP system to maintain appropriate product availability.
• Balance product availability against inventory investment and stock risk.
• Review forecasts, supplier lead times, MOQs and purchasing quantities.
• Identify slow-moving and excess inventory and work collaboratively with Sales and Marketing on appropriate actions.
• Monitor supplier production and proactively address potential delays.
• Work with the wider supply-chain team to optimise shipment timing and consolidation.

Buying Administration & Systems

The successful candidate will be expected to understand and, where necessary, undertake the operational administration associated with their categories.

This will include activities such as purchase orders, product data, product/technical sheets and maintenance of information within the company's MRP/CRM systems.

However, this is primarily a commercial product, category and buying role rather than a purchasing administration position, and the business will continually review how appropriate administrative support can best support the Buying function.

What We're Looking For

We are more interested in finding someone with the right commercial and product capability than somebody who already knows everything about electrical products.

Candidates could come from consumer electricals, small domestic appliances, homewares, housewares, kitchenware, personal care, consumer electronics, gifting, seasonal products, general merchandise or another relevant consumer-products environment.

Experience within a retailer, importer, wholesaler, distributor or brand owner could all be relevant.

Particularly Important

• Strong commercial and product instinct.
• Experience building, developing or managing consumer-product ranges.
• Genuine interest in consumer products, retail trends and emerging product opportunities.
• Ability to identify what consumers and customers are likely to want rather than simply purchasing what suppliers offer.
• Strong negotiation and commercial skills.
• Understanding of product cost, pricing and margin.
• Experience of product development and/or sourcing.
• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills.
• Confidence and credibility to meet customers and discuss their product and category requirements.
• An inquisitive, consultative approach - someone who asks good questions and listens carefully.
• Collaborative working style and willingness to actively involve Sales, Marketing, Design, Technical and Supply Chain colleagues.
• Ability to challenge constructively while remaining open to other ideas and evidence.
• Numerate, analytical and comfortable working with data.
• Willingness to travel internationally several times each year.

Desirable Rather Than Essential

• Previous Far East sourcing experience.
• Experience dealing directly with overseas factories.
• Attendance at Canton Fair or similar international trade shows.
• Consumer electrical or small domestic appliance experience.
• Understanding of electrical product compliance and certification.
• Experience using MRP/ERP systems.