Buying Assistant - Fashion

Buying Assistant, Fashion

Avonmouth, Bristol (Hybrid) | Permanent, full-time

Harding+ has been named Cruise Retailer of the Year four times in five years, most recently in 2026. Behind that award is a head office team in Avonmouth choosing what goes on the shelves of shops sailing all over the world, from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean to Australia.

We’re looking for a Buying Assistant to join our Fashion category. Guests on holiday want to find something they love onboard, and the fashion range has to earn its place in a small shop with a very particular customer. As our Buying Assistant, you’ll work alongside the Buyer to get the right product onto the right ship at the right time, and you.ll build an understanding of how what we buy turns into sales and margin.

Where you come in

You’ll be the Buyer’s right hand on everything that makes a range happen. That means sitting in on supplier meetings, writing up the actions and making sure they get done. It means chasing samples for range reviews and keeping critical paths on track so new lines land on ships when they should. Over time, you’ll see how trading terms, freight agreements and promotions shape the numbers.

Accurate data sits underneath all of it. You’ll set up new products in our systems, keep prices and launch dates current, and input promotional data so rebate reports across our US, European and Australian regions are right and invoiced on time. If the system is wrong, the ships get the wrong price, so this matters.

You’ll work together with plenty of people. Merchandisers will show you how forecasting and open-to-buy affect what we can range. You’ll brief Marketing on planned activity, raise purchase orders for point-of-sale materials, help Operations with vendor visits and display needs, and work with Accounts and Customer Services to sort out invoice queries and returns.

A typical week might include

• Setting up new fashion lines and updating prices in the system
• Attending a supplier meeting and circulating the notes and actions afterwards
• Updating critical paths and flagging any delays to your Buyer
• Producing your regular category sales reports
• Raising purchase orders for point-of-sale material for next month’s activations
• Arranging ship security passes for visiting vendors

What you’ll bring

Successful candidates will demonstrate:

• Clear, accurate written and spoken communication with suppliers and colleagues
• Careful attention to detail when entering and checking product, price and promotional data
• Confidence using Excel, Outlook, Word and PowerPoint, with an interest in building your skills in reporting
• Planning and organising your own workload so deadlines on several launches are met at once
• Interest in fashion retail and curiosity about how ranges, pricing and promotions affect sales and margin
• Building good working relationships across teams and following actions through to completion

The attributes that matter most to us are trust, collaboration, respect, passion, drive and resilience.

What You’ll Receive

• Competitive salary with bonus scheme
• Pension and four times life assurance
• Healthcare cover
• 26 days’ annual leave, with the option to buy more
• Discounts with many high street retailers
• Regular social events across the business
• Staff sales, because who doesn’t love discounted duty-free goods
• Hybrid working, with a minimum of two days a week in our Avonmouth office
• Free onsite parking
• Salary sacrifice benefit options

About Harding+

Harding+ is the only 100% dedicated cruise retailer, working with cruise lines and brand partners to make every cruise better. With more than 1,000 crew at sea and 350 landside colleagues, we run retail on ships around the world. Our focus on outstanding retail and guest experience has earned us Cruise Retailer of the Year four times in five years, in 2022, 2023, 2025 and 2026.

We’re proud to be an equal opportunities employer and make recruitment decisions based on skills, experience and potential. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, and if you need any adjustments during the application process, just let us know. We take protecting your data seriously.