Fashion & Lifestyle – Buyers
Fashion and lifestyle businesses ask Encore Recruitment to help them hire buyers.
Fashion and lifestyle professionals ask us to help them find buyer opportunities. We find, assess and recommend people they’d want to work with.
Key Takeaways
- Buyer recruitment across fashion and lifestyle: We recruit from Buyer Admin Assistant to Buying Director roles for brands, retailers, suppliers and importers across fashion, accessories, footwear, beauty, and homeware.
- Understand, find and filter: We understand what you’re trying to achieve, find people who could help, and filter what we find through that understanding.
- Assess, qualify and recommend: We assess and qualify who remains before deciding who we’re prepared to recommend. We make the recommendation. You decide what happens next.
Buyer Recruitment Starts for Different Reasons
For businesses and buyers, the starting point changes what we need to understand and explore.
What if You're Hiring a Buyer for the First Time?
Growth or expanding product ranges can create a need for greater buying responsibility. You may need someone to take responsibility for category performance, supplier relationships, product selection, pricing or trading results.
Understanding where that responsibility will sit helps define the buyer you need.
What if You're Replacing an Experienced Buyer?
Replacing experience creates a different search from building capability for the future.
You may want to retain category knowledge and supplier relationships, strengthen the team or bring a fresh perspective. The title may remain the same, while the priorities behind the hire change.
What if You're Ready for Greater Responsibility?
A buying career move may mean taking responsibility for a larger category, a wider product area, supplier relationships, or a team, or having greater influence over commercial decisions.
The level of responsibility and business you're joining both matter when considering what comes next.
What if Your Current Role No Longer Feels Right?
The product category may no longer interest you. The business may be changing direction. You may want broader category exposure, greater commercial influence, a different retail model or another team environment.
Understanding what you want to change helps define what needs to be different next.
Buyer Careers, Responsibilities and Salaries
Buyer Responsibilities Change as Careers Progress
Buyer responsibilities vary according to product category, business model, team structure and seniority. Depending on the position, they may include category performance, supplier relationships, sourcing, product development and selection, pricing, planning, trading performance and commercial responsibility.
Buyer careers can develop through:
- Buyer Admin Assistant
- Buyer Assistant
- Assistant Buyer
- Junior Buyer
- Buyer
- Senior Buyer
- Buying Manager
- Buying Director
As careers progress, responsibility can expand into category management, supplier management, commercial strategy, leadership and wider business influence.
The title is a starting point. What the buyer is expected to do tells us more.
Buyer Salaries Reflect Responsibility, Experience and Market Demand
Salary expectations are influenced by product category, commercial responsibility, business size, location and market demand.
Typical salary ranges across parts of the UK fashion and lifestyle sector include:
- Buyer Admin Assistant: £25,000
- Buyer Assistant: £27,000-£29,000
- Assistant Buyer: £30,000-£32,000
- Junior Buyer: £32,000–£37,000
- Buyer: £40,000-£50,000
- Senior Buyer: £75,000+
- Buying Manager: £80,000+
- Buying Director: £100,000+
Salary ranges updated August 2026
Salary ranges are indicative. Any salary offered must reflect contracted hours, the applicable age band and UK National Minimum Wage requirements.
How We Approach Buyer Recruitment
Buyer Responsibilities Vary by Role and Business
A Buyer title can cover different responsibilities depending on the product category, business model and team around it.
For a client, we start with what the buyer needs to take responsibility for. That could include category performance, product selection, sourcing, supplier relationships, pricing, planning or trading results. We also need to understand the customer, the team structure and the commercial objectives behind the hire.
For a buyer considering a move, we look at what you do now and what you want to take on next. A larger category, greater commercial responsibility, different product area, stronger supplier responsibility or a move into management can all change which opportunities make sense.
Buyer Experience Isn't Always Directly Transferable
Buyer experience does not transfer in the same way across all businesses.
A retailer may emphasise customer demand, category performance and trading results. A supplier may need someone who can balance product and commercial expectations across customer accounts. A brand may place greater emphasis on product development, sourcing and longer-term category growth.
Those differences guide where we look, who we speak to and what deserves closer attention. The products someone has worked with, what they have been responsible for and the environment in which they have made decisions can tell us more than their title alone.
Discover how we approach our Process.
Looking Beyond Relevant Buyer Experience
Finding a buyer is not enough to make a recommendation.
We assess what we have learned about the person alongside what the role requires. That can include category knowledge, supplier experience, commercial responsibility, product responsibilities, leadership and the circumstances behind the move.
We need to believe the buyer and business could work together before making a recommendation.
The opportunity is first recommended to the candidate. We only represent them to the client with their agreement.
Read the guidelines behind our Recommendation Standard.
After We Recommend a Buyer
When we recommend a buyer, we explain why.
The client decides whether they want to meet them. The buyer decides whether they want to continue exploring the opportunity. If both do, we support interviews, feedback, offer discussions and preparation for the start date.
If either decides not to continue, what we learn can change where the search goes next.
FAQs
What's the Difference Between a Buyer and a Retail Merchandiser?
Buyers are generally responsible for deciding which products are developed and ranged. Retail merchandisers focus more on planning, forecasting, stock management and trading performance. The two functions work closely together around range planning and commercial performance.
Compare this role with a Retail Merchandiser.
Can Buyers Move Between Sectors or Product Categories?
Yes. Transferability depends on the categories involved, product knowledge, supplier experience, commercial responsibilities and the hiring business's needs. Someone may need to demonstrate how their experience translates to a different customer, product, or business context.
What Helps Buyers Progress into Senior Positions?
Progression is frequently linked to commercial awareness, category responsibility, supplier management, leadership, decision-making and the ability to influence business performance beyond an individual product area.
Hiring a Buyer?
Start a conversation about what you’re looking for. You can either Submit a Vacancy→ or Contact Us→
Considering Your Next Buyer Role?
Start a conversation about where you’d like to go. You can either View Jobs→ or Contact Us→