Wine Buyer

Competitive Salary, Full Time, must be based in or willing to relocate to Edinburgh (or nearby).

About Beer52

We’re the world’s most popular craft beer club, curating a delicious selection of beers for our members from a new country each month. Delivered along with our magazine, Ferment, we have helped more than a million people to explore the exciting world of craft beer. Now, we’re branching into wine and launching a disruptive new concept with an ambitious plan for scale.

With a team of over 80, based mainly at our Edinburgh HQ, we are one of the UK’s fastest-growing and most exciting startups.  Our city centre office features a wine tasting room, staff pub, yoga room, gym, home brew lab and many more great amenities.

We’re all passionate about craft alcohol and it’s our mission to build the most exciting drinks clubs for our members. To achieve this, we have built a super talented and inclusive team, a great place to work and industry-leading technology and marketing that have secured our position as №1 at what we do.

About the Role

Beer52 is the largest independent buyer of craft beer in the UK, with longstanding and intimate relationships with several hundred leading brewers from across the globe. Collecting millions of reviews from our customers, our buying team have industry-leading insights into new trends and work closely with suppliers to remain at the cutting edge of new releases by the most sought-after brands. We plan to use a similar model to achieve this level of success in the world of wine.

We are looking for an experienced buyer to oversee an annual budget in excess of £5m. To deliver competitive value for money to our customers, you will have keen negotiation skills and a talent for seeking out interesting producers. Our model seeks to uncover exciting wines from undiscovered regions, buying directly from wineries (bulk and bottled stock) to offer exceptional wines in eye-catching labels at an attractive price point (£10/75cl). You will be adept at communicating this unique proposition to new suppliers and partners.

Each month will be focused on a different theme or country, making a final selection of 6 wines from a pool of 60 or more samples from suppliers that you seek out. You must have a high level of understanding of wine-making, quality control, bulk wine processing and shipping and handling into our bottling partner’s facility.

Launching 100+ new wines every year, your attention to detail and ability to track costs across stock, duty and freight, will ensure you hit commercial targets. You will also be responsible for the on-pack messaging and coordinating with our content team to produce an exciting magazine every month, bringing the stories of the wineries and regions to life.

You will work closely with our founders to implement their ambitious plans to make our wine club’s monthly themes and

selection into an exciting package for our members. Collaborating with suppliers to uncover lesser-known varietals and techniques will help us to offer a unique experience.

About You

You should be very organised, enjoy solving problems, with a strong attention to detail. You must have a natural ability to negotiate and a track record of fostering close supplier relationships. We are looking for a clear communicator and someone who is not afraid of rolling up their sleeves, forming a structured plan and helping small suppliers to stay on track with deadlines.

You must have prior experience of wine buying in a fast-paced commercial environment and be skilled at thinking independently to solve problems as they arise. You must have a good understanding of the wine business and a strong sense of taste in terms of liquid quality and packaging design.

We are a high growth company in a competitive market — you will be comfortable with this pressure to offer the most exciting wines at a competitive price point. You will plan carefully to protect our margins by avoiding overstock, making sure that your communication with our forecasting team is constant.

As a business, we have high ambitions for growth. Buying is at the core of what we do and this offers an excellent opportunity to develop your career.

Key Requirements:

● 5 years + experience as a retail buyer

● Hold relevant professional wine qualification (e.g. WSET4 or above)

● Understanding of wine styles, production and marketing and ability to assess quality of product

● Ability to negotiate make good commercial decisions ● Creative ability to write tasting notes, wine descriptions and marketing materials

● General understanding of cost accounting

● Ability to manage a plan with many moving parts

● Understanding of wine quality management and bulk wine buying, shipping and handling

● Strong planning, communication and presentation skills

● Proficient in Excel

● Self-motivated

● Flexible and adaptable

● Ability to work to tight deadlines

Benefits

● Competitive salary

● 28 days paid holiday per year, paid sick leave, paid bereavement leave, NEST company pension (3% company contribution)

● Travel to wineries, wine fairs and other worldwide events

● Complimentary 12-pack monthly beer and wine club membership

● Retail discount scheme

● Regular team events, in-house ‘Beer & Wine School’ and sponsorship of personal wine education 

How to Apply

Please send your cover letter and CV to HR@beer52.com — we look forward to hearing from you!