Careers at Monsoon Accessorize

Our Buying teams are responsible for ensuring that Monsoon Accessorize continues to offer the exquisite range of unique products for which we are so well known. It is a challenging and creative area to work in and it is all about developing ranges, sourcing and driving product forward, negotiating cost prices and contributing to our brands’ product strategies. As our products are mainly designed in house, we work very closely with our Design teams to deliver their creative ideas, whilst ensuring these are commercial and viable for our customer. We also manage the critical paths and supply base ensuring our Merchandise team can achieve the required delivery timescales. We travel to India, the Far East and Europe to source, meet with suppliers and visit factories. We are committed to continuously developing our products to deliver to our customers something that is distinctly different to that of our competitors.

Key Skills

You will need to be passionate about fashion, product focused, retail driven and have a strong awareness of current and future trends. It is important to have creative flair, strong communication, interpersonal and team working skills as well as the ability to prioritise and meet deadlines.

Buying Career Path

Buyers Administration Assistant/ Senior Buyers Administration Assistant

Assistant Buyer / Senior Assistant Buyer

Junior Buyer

Buyer

Senior Buyer

Head of Buying

Buying Director

Our Merchandising department works with our Buying teams to plan and create ranges for the new season. Our main focus is to maximise sales and profits of our products through careful planning, maintaining targets and successful distribution and promotion of stock. You will be involved with our product range from start to finish – doing everything from planning the range to managing any mark downs at the end of the season.
Our Branch Merchandising teams are responsible for identifying over and underperforming branches, addressing stock issues and ultimately helping the branches achieve great sales and profits through their stock packages.

Key Skills

Merchandising is a diverse area which requires close liaison with other areas of the business such as our distribution centre, suppliers and other teams. You will need strong commercial awareness, excellent analytical and numerical skills and the ability to communicate effectively.

Merchandising Career Path

Merch.Administration Assistant/ Senior Merch. Administration Assistant

Assistant Merch. / Senior Assistant Merch.

Junior Merch.

Merch.

Senior Merch.

Head of Merch.

Merch. Director

Our Design teams are responsible for creating the new and exciting ranges that help us to evolve, staying at the forefront of fashion. Our Design teams identify and translate the latest catwalk trends into wearable fashion for our customers whilst staying true to the Monsoon handwriting. Always one step ahead of the competition, we combine commercial awareness with a passion for beautiful design, detail, embellishment and colour, to produce exquisite collections that strengthen our brands and maximize our sales. Our in-house teams are involved in design development, from research through to presenting ideas to our Buying, Merchandising and Technical teams. It is our handwriting that guarantees the individuality of our brands. Every one of our products encompasses a surprise element that delights our customers and makes us unique.

Key Skills

You will need to be passionate about design and fashion and be able to communicate your ideas effectively. Presentation, team working and drawing skills are also important.

Design Career Path

Design Assistant

Assistant Designer

Junior Designer

Designer

Senior Designer

Design Manager/Controller

Head of Design

Quality is critical to Monsoon Accessorize – that is why this role is so important. Our Technical teams scrutinise our ranges through ‘risk assessment’, aiming to anticipate any problems with our products before they arise and make changes there and then. We ensure that the quality of our merchandise is second to none – and that it is legal, safe and fit for purpose. Testing products rigorously and working with our suppliers, we continuously improve our systems. Our customers’ feedback is also important to us; and we always carry out customer return analysis and report any findings to make required changes. Working closely with buying, Merchandising and Design, we make sure that everyone is aware of any product improvements and changes.

Key Skills

You will need an understanding of patterns, garment construction, fabric performance and factory management. Using your commercial awareness and team working skills, you will solve problems and enjoy working under pressure to meet deadlines.

Technical Services & Sourcing Career Path

Technical Assistant

Assistant Technologist

Junior Tech.

Technologist

Senior Tech.

Technical Manager

Sourcing & Technical Director

Marketing provide the contact between customers and Monsoon Accessorize. By handing the promotion of our brands, new branches, promotional offers, fashion shoots and various marketing techniques, our Marketing team ensures we stand out from the crowd. Our Press team makes sure our products are continually in the media. This means attracting the interest of journalists, producing press releases and organising press days so that articles can be written about our brands in national and local newspapers and magazines.

Key Skills

Creative thinking and an innovative approach with commercial ideas are needed. The capacity to build strong working relationships both internally and externally are essential.

Within this function, we have both Head Office and field based teams. The teams are responsible for creating commercial branch layouts which consistently maintain our overall brand image. We are always striving to improve and help our branches maintain their point of difference.
The team is involved in developing equipment for new product areas, finding creative solutions for fitting more product in our already busy branches, and representing the product using layouts that are commercial and that also meet the vision of the brand teams. We are also involved in the planning of new branch openings. Our aim is to create a different shopping experience within our branches.

Key Skills

A creative background and previous VM/ Display retail experience is essential. Commercial awareness, flexibility and energy are equally as important.

Retail Operations is central to our success, both regionally and at Head Office. Our regional teams include Regional Controllers and Area Managers. Between them, they look after all our branches nationwide, supporting each Branch Manager and their team.
Our Head Office Retail Operations team plan and produce retail documents for the branches including newsletters, bulletins and sale packs. We are also a point of contact for any queries the branches may have.
Home Delivery is a key part of our retail operations team. On a daily basis, we take orders from our customers over the phone and liaise with branches to supply the right product for them.
Our Customer Services team help our customers with all types of queries – they deal with anything from a quality issue to a health & safety question.
Our Website team offer assistance to our customers who have queries relating to our online shopping.

Key Skills

Excellent customer service skills and a confident telephone manner are essential for all of our roles. Strong written and verbal communication, problem solving and commercial awareness are also important. Retail and administration experience is desirable.

We aim to ensure that every employee feels valued, encouraged and rewarded and has the opportunity to fulfil their full potential during their career with us. Our team is made up of individuals with specialist skills in all aspects of HR and we work cross-functionally.
Within HR Operations, working closely with our staff in the Retail and Head Office teams, we are dedicated to developing and maintaining employee relations policies and practices. Our Reward team are responsible for the implementation of reward policies in line with current legislation, company guidelines, and best practice.
Our in-house Resourcing team are dedicated to the recruitment and selection of employees in line with internal and external requirements. Our Learning & Development team are responsible for the design and delivery of training and development solutions. Shared Services are the first point of contact for all general HR internal and external queries and are responsible for all generalist HR administration across both Head Office and Retail.

Key Skills

You will need relevant work experience, excellent interpersonal skills and a passion for a specific area within HR. Good time management, organisational skills and flexibility are key.

Our Finance team is crucial to our ongoing growth and success. There are a great variety of roles within this department but essentially we cover the following areas:
International Finance – managing all financial aspects of our overseas business.
Financial Control – providing timely and accurate financial information for the Company.
Planning & Analysis – providing analytical reviews, management information and business planning that is crucial to our success.
Group Finance – preparing the consolidated accounts, treasury, and statutory accounts and tax returns to meet legal requirements. We also deal with project work such as corporate reorganisation, business risk assessment and systems design.
We support all areas of the Company with the commercial and financial expertise needed to make strategic decisions.

Key Skills

As the department is so diverse, we require a varied number of qualifications – ranging from being qualified by experience through to CIMA, ACCA and ACA qualifications. It goes without saying, you will need an affinity for numbers; also accuracy and attention to detail are key.

Our commercially focused IT department ensures smooth communications and transactions throughout our Company – looking after our offices in London, Wellingborough, Delhi and Shanghai and all of our branches.
The Delivery team monitor and support all the current systems and processes, including the systems between the branches, merchandising systems and our distribution centre. We are also responsible for ancillary systems such as Accounts, HR and the PCs and servers that deliver these functions in head office.
The Business Analysis team provide all of the weekly sales reporting and reporting tools. Also, aiming to continually improve processes and procedures, this team works to define business need then select and implement change to deliver efficient solutions.
Supporting new functions and projects, we offer Head Office, in-store and mobile support as well as managing suppliers. At all times, our passion to deliver the best and our expertise in the retail area ensure that we prioritise our workload and balance the cost against the benefits of our work.

Key Skills

You will need a through knowledge of IT systems and ideally experience of providing IT support within a retail environment. Project management, problem solving and strong interpersonal skills are essential.

With many of branches located across the UK, our teams ensure we have robust systems in place to process huge stock movement, analyse and find innovative solutions to improve efficiency and meet ecological credentials. The right decisions and creative solutions to our logistics challenges in a market as ever changing as ours have a major influence on our efficiency, profit and environmental impact.

Key Skills

As the department is so diverse, we require a variety of different experience. Generally, a background working either within a third party organisation, or in-house with a blue chip company coupled with export experience is useful. Strong systems knowledge, analytical and problem solving skills are important.

As a result of our ambitious plans for growth, this team handles maintenance works across our branches, distribution centre, Head Office, and regional offices throughout the UK. From small scale day to day maintenance to large scale upgrading and refurbishment projects, the team ensure we reach high professional standards.

Key Skills

As the department is so diverse, we have a variety of different roles within the team. Excellent project management skills are required and the ability to work within budget and to time whilst successfully managing relationships internally and with external suppliers is essential.