Merchandiser in Wakefield

Here at Bonmarche we have a fantastic opportunity for Merchandiser to join our Merchandising department.

We are currently looking to recruit an ambitious, driven and highly motivated Merchandiser to play their part in driving the business forward.

If you are passionate about retail and looking for a new challenge and keen to further your career in a company that is focused on increasing their presence on the high street, we would love to hear from you.

Our office is located in Grangemoor, Wakefield located near the M1 and M62 motorways , which makes easy access to nearby cities and towns including , Manchester (45 miles) Leeds (12 miles) Bradford (19 miles) and Sheffield (25miles) and to name just a few.

A regular train service operates through the 2 train stations within Wakefield, with London Kings Cross being just a 2 hour journey, Birmingham just 90 mins away and Leeds only 14 minutes by train,

The role of the Merchandiser will be responsible for developing, planning and delivering a commercially focused range alongside the Buyer, whilst driving profit and enhancing the Peacocks brand position.

Continually exceeding and anticipating customer expectations by using effective commercial and planning skills.

Building effective working relationships across the business and develop team members to reach their maximum potential.

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Responsibilities/Objectives:

Planning and organisation

• Creates a vision for the department that encompasses strategy, budget and product for both the short and long term;
• Works closely with the Buyer to build a balanced range in line with customer expectation that reflects the Peacocks brand strategy, by delivering correct product mixes, price architecture and delivers the right product at the right quantity to the right store;
• Takes responsibility for developing departmental sales, stock, intake plans, profit and markdown in order to monitor and measure performance;
• Ensure that space and option plans can deliver the departmental strategy, taking into account timings, stock builds and store layout.

Trading

• Takes responsibility for flexing trade between categories and managing mixes, optimising sales and stock levels and intake phasing, to an agreed divisional and departmental plan through effective use of WISSI’s;
• Reacts to current sales and trends, by managing OTB or current stock situations and repeating, cancelling or re-phasing where necessary or proposing promotional or markdown activity;
• Effectively manages departmental KPI’s within season, ensuring markdown and buying in margin (BIM) are controlled in order to maximise profit for the department;
• Take responsibility for managing the supply base to ensure delivery is to time and that intake targets are met, whilst anticipating risks and planning contingencies and developing solutions to problems as appropriate;
• Work alongside Stock Distribution to ensure optimum stock levels are delivered in store, to meet customer demand and expectations.

Commercial Awareness

• Work closely with the Head of Merchandising to devise a department Merchandising strategy that demonstrates a clear understanding of external factors and competitor activity;
• Demonstrates strong commercial awareness by supporting and challenging the Buying teams to ensure that product ranges are planned and constructed in line with the divisional and department strategy;
• Develop a strong understanding of the customer to take account of when planning and building a range;
• Demonstrates a comprehensive knowledge of all merchandising systems and processes and is able to fully utilise all merchandising tools including forecasting, WISSI and BI.

Selection Criteria:

• Educated to degree level (or equivalent)
• Experience in a Merchandising environment
• Numerical / analytical skills
• Understanding of range planning
• Working knowledge of forecasting principles
• Good understanding of the key elements of the Buying Cycle
• Organisation skills
• Decision making skills
• Communication skills
• IT literate
• Capability to manage change