Product Specialist

The Operations Team is a dynamic team responsible for the procurement of the raw materials, as well as the planning and forecasting of the company’s diverse and extensive product offering. The constant drive for innovation ensures a solution-driven, team approach with a core focus on providing our customers with exceptional products and excellent service.

The Product Specialists play an integral role in the Operations Team, managing portfolios of products within the Jonsson Workwear product range, by investigating key data obtained to ensure informed marketing, production, and replenishment as well as product development strategic decisions.

The key requirements of the role include:

• Take full responsibility for a specific allocated garment product category.
• Ensure correct garment stock levels (manufactured & buy-ins) by tracking sales to ensure continuous customer supply demands are met.
• Take great pride in having all forecasts and admin up to date, completely accurate and under control.
• Work very closely with, and providing efficient service to procurement, planning, Account Coordinators and the Product Development Teams.
• Involvement in the tracking and managing of new product development within their allocated product categories.
• Responsible for product cost control, including preparing and maintaining allocated category cost sheets, maintaining BOM’s and product variance analysis.
• Extract data from different sources, identifying variances and proposing corrective action measures.
• Using your initiative, having your finger on the pulse, being pro-active in pre-empting customer needs.
• Asking the how and why; generating logical ways to improve the forecasting / demand planning processes.
• Involvement with ad-hoc varied projects to meet changing needs within the business.
• Making occasional short visits to our Lesotho factories.
• Being a right-hand person to the Forecasting Leader.

The qualifications and experience we’re looking for:

• University degree (eg. B.Com with Economics, Accounts, Supply Chain or Logistics Management) with outstanding academic achievements.
• Extensive forecasting / demand planning experience.
• Cost and management accounting experience would be a added advantage.
• Clothing or textiles’ sector experience preferable.
• Highly computer literate in MS Office with ADVANCED spreadsheet skills is essential.
• Experience on Fast React and/or Syspro is advantageous.
• Valid passport (or must be obtained if appointed).

The type of personality that will excel:

• A superb analyst, systems driven with a real head for, and loves to work with, figures and schedules.
• Understands the importance of deadlines and can work accurately and efficiently under pressure and with a sense of urgency.
• Understands the critical importance of accurate stock levels and replenishment requirements to fully meet customer order time frames.
• Gets to the root causes of problems when they occur and devises proactive workable solutions.
• Is organised, systematic, works to a plan and gets “stuck in” to get the job done on time.
• Is fluent in spoken and written English with excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

In line with Jonsson Workwear’s commitment to employment equity, applications from candidates from designated groups, as well as candidates with disabilities, are encouraged.