Category Manager - Clothing

Category Manager - Clothing

Company Description

The Barbour story began in 1894 in South Shields in the North East of England. Founder John Barbour began supplying oilskins and other garments to protect the growing community of sailors, fishermen and dockers. Still family owned and now fifth generation, Barbour HQ remains in South Shields. Under the leadership of Chairman Dame Margaret Barbour, Barbour has grown into a lifestyle brand sold in over 55 countries worldwide including Europe, the US and Asia offering a wardrobe of stylish functional clothing, footwear and accessories inspired by the unique values of the British countryside. The iconic Barbour Bedale and Barbour Beaufort wax jackets continue to be made by hand in the factory in South Shields. In 2020, Barbour launched Wax for Life, an overarching name for all of Barbour’s wax services designed to encourage customers to extend the life of their wax garments. Wax for Life includes re-waxing and repairs (first introduced in 1921) and Barbour Re-Loved an upcycling circularity initiative. Each year over 70,000 wax garments are sent back to Barbour globally to be repaired, rewaxed or altered.

Position Overview

We are looking for a Category Manager - Clothing to join our Supply Chain team. In this pivotal role, you will lead and manage the clothing category by developing and executing strategic objectives that align with Barbour’s brand heritage, financial goals, and customer needs. You will be responsible for optimising costs, fulfilment, and supplier relationships to drive profitability and market share, all while ensuring our global supply base remains ethically and environmentally compliant.

*The role is based at head office in South Shields and the expectation is 4 days in the office and 1 day of home-working.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Fulfilment & Service Excellence: Deliver +95% end-of-month fulfilment performance and ensure Salesman (Agent) Samples are delivered on time for Launch. Navigate logistical challenges to minimise freight costs without compromising on high fulfilment standards. Collaborate with forecasting, planning, freight forwarders, and inbound teams to build responsive transportation models and robust lead time/MOQ parameters.
• Supply Base, Cost & Sourcing Development: Develop and execute category and supplier management objectives supporting 5-year plans. Build a diversified supply base to mitigate risk and develop contingency plans for global supply disruptions. Manage seasonal capacity planning, pre-positioning fabric/trims with suppliers to optimise lead times. Maximise intake margin through costing exercises, negotiation, and controlling PV and PPV.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with Design, Product Development, and Technical teams to align sourcing and production with business needs. Onboard and train new suppliers following company procedures.
• Sustainability & Ethical Trade: Support ethical trade targets, ensure compliance across the supply base, assist the Ethical Trade Manager with factory engagement and monitoring, and drive traceability and transparency throughout our supply chain.
• People & Team Development: Lead, coach, and develop the Category/Production team. Implement Personal Development Plans (PDPs), identify knowledge gaps, promote leadership development through mentoring, and serve as a key liaison across internal and external stakeholders.

Skills and Experience

• Category Management & Sourcing Experience: Proven track record in category management within the clothing, fashion, or retail industry, with strong knowledge of product lifecycles, sourcing strategies, critical path management, and offshore manufacturing (e.g., APAC region).
• Data & Financial Acumen: Demonstrated capability in SWOT/risk assessments, cost structure and margin analysis, pricing, budgeting, and performance metrics.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Proven ability to collaborate with and influence cross-functional teams (Design, Technical, QA, Logistics, Planning) and manage project deliverables and budgets.
• Sustainability Focus: Familiarity with audit processes, SAQs, and sustainable sourcing initiatives.
• Personal Attributes: Proactive, solution-focused, resilient under pressure during seasonal launches, highly ethical, and a strong communicator across cultures and geographies.
• Desirable: Experience with PLM, ERP, or supply chain systems (e.g., SAP, NetSuite, Oracle), agile/formal leadership training, and 3–5 year strategic category planning.

Benefits

• Discretionary Company bonus scheme
• Staff discount
• Staff shop
• Healthcare cash plan
• 25 days holiday as standard increasing with length of service plus bank holidays
• Access to training and development activities to support your career development
• Free onsite parking
• Subsidised canteen
• Operate hybrid & flexible working
• 4pm finish on a Friday
• Wellbeing support
• Refer a friend bonus scheme
• Reward & Recognition Program
• Length of Service Rewards

Note: In the event that a sufficient volume of suitable applications are received, the post may close prior to the specified closing date. Please apply as soon as possible if interested.