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Wholesale Development Coordinator
Type of Position: Permanent 
Location: Palava, 98 Caledonian Road, London, N1 9DN
Hours: Full-time
Experience: 2 to 5 years
Specified Hours: 3-5 days a week.
Start Date: We are looking for someone to start as soon as possible
Salary: Dependent on experience
Reporting to: Business Director
About us 
Palava is a small independent clothing brand based in Central London. We pride ourselves on our unique playful prints, sustainable fabrics, and ethical manufacturing. We are known for colourful, vintage-inspired women’s and children’s wear that stands out through eye-catching hand-illustrated prints designed in-house. Palava is a size-inclusive brand, and our garments range from UK size 6 - 22. 
We believe in clothes that are made with care to last and offer a feminine look that is timeless and classic. Our annual seasonal collections are based on a summer and winter edit that we sell online, in our retail unit, and through a variety of stockists worldwide, mainly in Europe, the USA and Japan. Palava manufactures the majority of our clothing in the UK, and we strive to be a zero-waste business with plastic-free packaging. We are a small creative team who work from our quirky office space based in our recently opened retail unit in the Kings Cross area. 
About the job 
Do you enjoy feeling part of a small but growing team where your impact can make a big difference ? 
The job would suit someone who is enthusiastic and willing to learn and grow as they become more settled within their role. Experience is important but not everything, we are looking for someone who is creatively minded and likes each day to have variation with new challenges to overcome. Working within a small team, it’s important to be a multi-tasker and willing to get involved in all areas of the business.
We have a nurtured selection of hand picked, independent boutiques, as well as a strong online presence, and our own retail unit here in London. Your job will be to look after those boutiques and help ensure they are happy with the service they receive from us and remain as a Palava stockist. You will also be responsible for finding new wholesale clients around the globe and managing their needs. This will require excellent communication and client
management, as well as good sales and marketing skills.  Your responsibility will be looking after and establishing new connections with independents that would be a good fit for the Palava brand. This will often involve face-to-face visits that take you out of the office and can also involve some UK wide and international travel. Working to achieve sales targets and moving the company forward, will be a major part of your role and require business development skills.One of your main tasks will be creating and developing a wholesale strategy that will help us reach beyond our yearly target for wholesale sales.
As part of your job we would also like to develop more creative ways for Palava to reach a wider audience and expand people's knowledge of us as a brand. We would like to make connections with other brands or creatives, opening new opportunities for licencing and collaborations. 
You will be required to travel, attend trade shows, feel confident representing and selling Palava in both high-street retail and pop-up environments, as well as at trade shows and through face-to-face visits with stockists.
We are a very supportive team and appreciate there will be a lot to learn, there will always be someone to help you through things you might find tricky at first. 
Your duties will include:

  • To work closely alongside the director and team to develop new wholesale strategies.

  • Establish new connections with independent UK and international fashion retailers.

  • Develop new relationships with larger stockists and work closely with existing trade clients.

  • Build a raptor with existing independent customers and take their orders for the season ahead. 

  • Oversee all independent orders from the initial order through to delivery and payment for the order.

  • Strictly maintain budget and wholesale sales targets set out within the year.

  • To follow production and sampling schedules for multiple clients.

  • Frequent travel for customer meetings and representing Palava international trade fairs.

  • Putting together trade packs and finding new stockists

  • Excellent people and relationship management skills. 

  • Procuring collaborations with new and exciting brands that have a strong ethical and sustainable ethos. 

To be successful in this role you will have…

  • A can-do-attitude;

  • Ability to work in a small team of creatives;

  • Strong interest in sustainable fashion and ethical clothing;

  • Ideally previous experience managing relationships with wholesale clients and stockist for a fashion or other retail brand; 

  • Previous experience of sales and marketing within a retail context;

  • Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written with an ability to build personal relationships;

  • Direct client management experience, ideally within a retail environment; 

  • Ability to develop and implement sales strategies with good numerical skills;

  • Must be a structured individual with strong workflow management and project management skills;

  • Highly collaborative with an ability to drive forward both the distribution initiatives and help other areas of the business development with their deliverables.

  • Ability to work under pressure to short deadlines; able to prioritise and self-organise, and good time management skills.

  • Drive and enthusiasm for developing a vibrant small business. 

It would be an advantage if you had …
  • Experience in working within the clothing sector, either in a studio or a retail environment. 
  • Basic Photoshop skills, MS Excel, Word and Powerpoint, familiar with Google docs, Shopify and Dropbox.
  • Experience with office admin management.

 

How to apply: Please email your current CV and a cover letter.
Email: hello@palava.co
Website: https://palava.co
Deadline: Ongoing