Sourcing / Vendor Manager (buying office) Senior
Sits on the buyer's side: selects suppliers, places and moves orders, and develops factory capability.
Sourcing / Vendor Manager (buying office) — what the job really is
Every role guide, study and toolkit here is free of charge — no candidate fees, no employer fees, no commission. Never pay anyone for a job in this industry.
Works in: Retail buying or liaison office
What you actually do
- Assess factory capability, capacity and compliance before nomination.
- Allocate orders across the supplier base and manage price, capacity and risk.
- Drive supplier development plans on quality, delivery and sustainability.
- Own escalation when a shipment is at risk and decide between air freight, discount or cancellation.
Skills employers screen for
- · Factory assessment and capacity maths
- · Costing depth — you must know what a garment really costs to make
- · Country and duty knowledge for the sourcing footprint
- · Straight, documented supplier communication
Qualification & experience
Usually several years in merchandising or production first. Buying offices rarely hire this role straight from institute.
How to get in — the realistic route
- 1. Do factory-side time first; the best vendor managers have run orders themselves.
- 2. Read every published supplier expectation and factory list of the buyer you are targeting.
- 3. Apply through the retail group's own careers portal, and follow the liaison office in your country.
Free study to finish first
Real employers hiring this role
Every organisation below is a real company or industry body from the free NOSK.space directory. Contact details and careers pages are published by the organisation itself — always confirm current openings there, because vacancies change weekly.
H&M Group
Stockholm · Sweden
Global fashion retail group publishing a public supplier list
- Address
- Mäster Samuelsgatan 46A, SE-106 38 Stockholm, Sweden
- Phone
- +46 8 796 55 00
- info@hm.com
Inditex (Zara)
Arteixo · Spain
Retail group with published supplier standards and sourcing clusters
- Address
- Edificio Inditex, Avda. de la Diputación s/n, 15143 Arteixo, A Coruña, Spain
- Phone
- +34 981 185 400
Marks & Spencer
London · United Kingdom
UK retailer publishing clothing supplier and factory information
- Address
- Waterside House, 35 North Wharf Road, London W2 1NW, United Kingdom
- Phone
- +44 20 7935 4422
Primark
Dublin · Ireland
Value fashion retailer with a public global sourcing map
- Address
- Arthur Ryan House, 22-24 Parnell Street, Dublin 1, D01 P7W2, Ireland
- Phone
- +353 1 888 0500
BESTSELLER
Brande · Denmark
Danish fashion group sourcing across Asia
- Address
- Fredskovvej 5, 7330 Brande, Denmark
Levi Strauss & Co.
San Francisco · United States
Denim brand publishing supplier lists and worker wellbeing standards
- Address
- 1155 Battery Street, San Francisco, CA 94111, United States
- Phone
- +1 415 501 6000
VITAS — Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association
Hanoi · Vietnam
National textile and apparel association of Vietnam
- Address
- Floor 15, C1 Building, Thanh Cong Office Complex, Ba Dinh, Hanoi, Vietnam
- Phone
- +84 24 3934 9608
JAAF — Joint Apparel Association Forum Sri Lanka
Colombo · Sri Lanka
Umbrella body for Sri Lanka's apparel industry
- Address
- No. 107, Hunupitiya Lake Road, Colombo 2, Sri Lanka
- Phone
- +94 11 454 2231
- info@jaafsl.com
Free explainers that teach this role
Photo and diagram walk-throughs covering the fabric, pattern, machinery and quality knowledge this job is built on — free, no sign-up.
How it works · Free
Order to shipment: how a garment order really flows
Every stage from tech pack to final inspection, what each stage owns, and the handovers where orders usually slip.
How it works · Free
How garment quality inspection works, stage by stage
In-line, end-line and final AQL inspection: what each catches, how sample sizes are set and how defects are classified.
Sustainability · Free
Water, energy and chemicals: how impact is measured in a factory
Litres per kilogram, kWh per garment, ETP limits and MRSL compliance — the numbers a factory can actually measure and improve.