Buyer - Tea

About the role

Reporting to the Head of Buying, the Buyer – Tea is responsible for creating and delivering an innovative portfolio of flavour-first teas that delight our customers and drive commercial growth. Working closely with trusted supplier partners, you’ll develop clear product briefs, guide flavour development through multiple tasting rounds, and manage new product development from concept through to launch.

You will LOVE tea and bring genuine flavour expertise, sensory evaluation skills and an understanding of tea trends to every product decision. This role combines creativity with commercial thinking – identifying market opportunities, monitoring category performance, and translating customer and trading insights into future innovation. Your passion, agility and strong organisational skills will be on show, along with your ability to build strong, trusted relationships with our supplier partners.

Your day-to-day will include:

• Leading the development of new tea blends and seasonal collections that align with T2’s flavour-first philosophy
• Developing clear creative briefs for supplier partners & managing the end-to-end NPD process from concept through to launch
• Tasting & evaluating tea samples, providing clear, constructive feedback to suppliers until the desired flavour profile is achieved
• Building strong, collaborative relationships with our supplier partners (based primarily in Europe), acting as the key point of contact throughout product development
• Analysing sales trends, customer feedback and market data to identify range opportunities and address performance gaps
• Maintaining accurate product master data, Spec Sheets & NetSuite records, including naming, copy, ingredients, weights & NIP
• Closely aligning with our Quality & Compliance Manager to ensure all products meet food safety, labelling and regulatory requirements, including FSANZ legislation
• Actively coaching and sharing knowledge, insights, and best practices with store team members to build collective capability and consistency.

To be successful in this role, you will ideally have:

• A Diploma or Business/Commerce degree
• Previous experience in tea or a similar raw material/beverage category, ideally in an NPD or product development role
• Strong sensory evaluation and flavour expertise, with the ability to give clear, supplier-ready feedback
• Commercial judgement – able to balance creativity against margin, quality and operational requirements
• Proven ability to build strong, trusted relationships with supplier partners and cross-functional teams
• Strong planning and organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple NPD projects simultaneously
• Flexibility to connect with our supplier base (based primarily in Europe) around 5pm AEST
• Strong communication and presentation skills, comfortable presenting confidently to internal stakeholders

Life at T2

• Enjoy a 50% discount to spoil yourself, plus endless cups of tea.
• Get recognition and rewards.  T2 celebrates our teams' contributions through our Moment Makers program, featuring exciting prizes.
• Volunteer leave day per year with a purpose aligned organisation.
• Workplace policies with impact: Gender equity policy, Equitable remuneration policy and Flexible working arrangement options
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
• T2 Community Crew ensures we celebrate every occasion in the calendar – bringing fun & excitement to life at T2.
• Our head office is located in vibrant Collingwood, conveniently close to a range of great cafés and well‑connected public transport options, including both train and tram services. We also offer a hybrid working arrangement.

About the application process

Don’t feel like you meet every single requirement? Still apply! We’d love to receive your application if most of your experience matches and you think you’ll thrive in this role.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status.

No agencies please – we have this one brewing in-house.

Sounds like your cup of tea? Apply now!