Assistant Buyer - Essentials (Swimwear, Thermals & Underwear)
Salary: Competitive Plus Benefits
Location: Coventry Store Support Centre - Ansty Park and Home, Coventry, CV7 9RD
Contract type: Permanent
Business area: Sainsbury's Commercial & Sustainability
Closing date: 23 September 2026
Requisition ID: 400080462
Assistant Buyer - Essentials (Swimwear, Thermals & Underwear) - Permanent
About the team
You will join the Sainsbury’s Commercial Clothing TU, a dynamic and fast‑paced team responsible for delivering compelling clothing ranges that meet customer needs across channels. Working at the heart of the commercial function, the team partners closely with Merchandising, Design, Customer Insights, Marketing and Retail to bring great products to market. With a strong focus on collaboration, pace and customer relevance, the Clothing TU plays a key role in shaping the end‑to‑end clothing offer.
More about the role
As an Assistant Buyer, you will support the Buyer or Senior Buyer in the day‑to‑day running of the department and the delivery of the category strategy and KPIs. Playing an integral role within the team, you will help coordinate the critical path, manage samples and approvals, and ensure product development and orders progress in line with agreed timelines.
You will work closely with internal teams and suppliers, contributing to competitor analysis, range development and seasonal planning. The role involves preparing for and supporting key meetings, coordinating marketing requirements, managing fit and sampling processes, and deputising for the Buyer when required to ensure continuity of workflow and strong execution.
More about you
You bring strong organisational and communication skills, with the ability to manage multiple tasks and priorities in a fast‑moving commercial environment. You have a good understanding of product, including fabric and fit, and are commercially aware with a clear focus on the customer and the wider market.
You are proactive, adaptable and keen to learn, approaching challenges with a solution‑focused mindset. Comfortable working under pressure, you maintain attention to detail while building effective relationships with colleagues and suppliers. You naturally demonstrate Sainsbury’s valued behaviours, taking ownership of your work, seeking ways to improve and collaborating positively with others.
Essential criteria
- Clothing buying experience – previous experience working within a clothing/apparel buying team.
- Ability to plan and coordinate critical path activities to support on‑time product delivery.
- Experience working with suppliers, samples and product approvals, including fit and quality sign‑off processes.
- Demonstrated ability to analyse competitor activity and market data to generate actionable insights.
- Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple tasks and priorities simultaneously.
- Effective communication skills, enabling clear collaboration with cross‑functional teams and stakeholders.
You’ll split your time between home and Coventry, coming into the office when it matters most for collaboration and business needs.
#Commercial
We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer so you’ll be welcomed whoever you are and wherever you work. Around here, there’s always the chance to try something new — whether that’s as part of an evolving team or somewhere else across the business - and we take development seriously and promise to support you. We also recognise and celebrate colleagues when they go the extra mile and, where possible, offer flexible working. When you join our team, we’ll also offer you an amazing range of benefits. Here are some of them: Starting off with colleague discount, you'll be able to save 10% on your shopping online and instore at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat, and we regularly increase the discount to 15% at points during the year. We've also got you covered for your future with our pensions scheme and life cover. You'll also be able to share in our success as you may be eligible for a performance-related bonus of up to 5% of salary, depending on how we perform. Your wellbeing is important to us too. You'll receive an annual holiday allowance and you can buy up to an additional week's holiday. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, salary advance (where you can access some of your pay before pay day) as well access to a great range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers. And if you ever need it there is also an employee assistance programme. Moments that matter are as important to us as they are to you which is why we give up to 26 weeks’ pay for maternity or adoption leave and up to 4 weeks’ pay for paternity leave. Please see www.sainsburys.jobs for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).
