Job Title: Merchandiser

Location: Cardiff

Hours: 37.5 hours a week- Monday- Friday

Salary: Competitive

Our client, one of the UK’s leaders in the retail industry, is offering an outstanding employment opportunity to work within their business. The client, who are a large and dynamic company, continue to enjoy sustained growth. As a result of recent growth, we are now embarking on an important recruitment exercise for our client.

The Senior Merchandiser 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.   

Duties & Responsibilities

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.

Team Development

• Motivates the team, in order to potentialise their talent through effective management;
• Regularly monitors and reviews levels of performance within own team and effectively utilises annual competency reviews and PDP’s to drive out training, coaching and development needs;
• Works closely with the Human Resources department to support the effective recruitment and selection of Assistant Merchandisers;
• Works closely with the Training department to develop a full induction programme for Assistant Merchandisers within own team and takes responsibility for the management and review of the induction delivery.

Effective Working relationships

• Build effective relationships with team members across Buying, Design, Product Technology, Retail, Marketing, VM and build relationships across peer group in order to drive performance through effective teamwork;
• Build relationships across the business with Regional Managers, in order to encourage constructive feedback and communication between departments.

This is a fully office-based role, please only apply if you are happy with commuting to Cardiff Head Office Daily.

Please submit your career details to Oliver Fox at PDA SEARCH & SELECTION LIMITED.