Merchandiser

MERCHANDISER - HAMPERS

We currently have an exciting opportunity within our Food and Beverage team, with specific responsibility for Hampers, for an experienced Merchandiser who needs to be passionate, knowledgeable, and experienced, accustomed to driving activity through confident and accurate top-level analysis, resulting in swift and meaningful action to fulfil our budgeted sales and profitability. We want an ambitious and energetic individual, who is accustomed to working under pressure, who can troubleshoot, and problem solve, with excellent stakeholder management skills.

This is an excellent opportunity for someone who enjoys a fast-paced environment with the ability to make meaningful decisions whilst under pressure.

What you’ll be doing:

To ensure the trading performance of the Hamper area is realised through sales, stock & profit control, action, analysis, and interpretation on an on-going basis.

We are looking for someone who can manage all aspects of inventory management and supply chain accuracy to ensure full availability of our hamper range, working within OTB and wastage targets

Deliver the departmental budgeted sales, waste , stockholding KPI’s. The job will also require excellent working relationships with many other areas of the business, so excellent interpersonal skills, and a speedy understanding of a large quantity of company systems will be essential to produce the required budgeted results.

You will:

• Create and review relevant weekly (Monday morning) Sales / Stock Reports and Category Sales/Margin Reports
• Establish a clear method of reporting suggested orders to ensure optimum stock holding / weeks cover as agreed with the Hamper manager
• Ensure the relevant buyers are made aware of requirements for hamper components in line with supplier order lead times and confirm any orders have been placed
• Review, on a calendarised basis, individual Hamper performance and make recommendations to the Hamper buyer of any suggested actions needed.
• Attend weekly DC, Marketing and Ecommerce meetings to make better informed decisions regarding Hampers
• Working with the DC establish a clear set of “ways of working” rules to ensure full visibility to all parties of deliveries, hamper packing requirements and DC performance against packing schedule.
• Fully understand and be able to interrogate all internal systems in order to produce clear, detailed Management Information.
• Support the Hamper Manager considering systems, processes, suppliers, competitors, and stores.
• Develop and maintain accurate store merchandising plans for each store to assist with range forecasting and space planning
• Produce statistical analysis of departmental performance to inform future range architecture
• Working with the Buyer provide input into range construction
• Provide all information in preparation for Hamper range reviews; ensure documents are completed and agreed upon
• Manage and maintain accurate store merchandising plans for each store to assist with range forecasting and space planning
• Participate in agreeing sales growth with Hamper manager by department, category, store and on-line and assist in preparation of budgets by department, category, store and on-line, using all available financial and reporting systems
• Review sales at line level and take appropriate action to prevent sell through or wastage.
• Ensure that by working with the wider F&B buying team you are aware of all NPD and product availability issues that may affect hamper availability.
• Develop good working relationships with Suppliers, DC, Store & Online teams and keep them informed of developments/issues
• Place and Manage orders through to delivery to ensure OTIF deliveries.
• Ensure any unwanted or unpacked stock is managed back into the wider business, in good time, avoiding any reduction costs
• Manage supplier compliance and take relevant action where this falls below KPI levels.
• Maintain and report on KPI measures for the Hamper department.
• Ensure data integrity to manage accurate data reporting
• Work closely with the in-house Ocado relationship team to ensure the appropriate range of Hampers are available to Ocado, as required.
• Manage all aspects of stock availability and compliance relative to products offered to Ocado.

About your experience:

• Previous experience working in a Food Buying / Merchandising discipline
• Excellent understanding of supply chain processes and responsibilities across all F&B categories
• Excellent administrative skills gained in a similar office environment
• Excellent IT skills (MS Office, Excel, Retail analysis systems). Excel is used to a high level with VLOOKUP, Pivot Tables, charts, and other analytic process used daily. Knowledge of this is essential

A bit about you:

• Strong organisational and planning skills and ability to work to tight deadlines
• Strong analytical & financial background skills
• Strong attention to detail with excellent level of accuracy
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
• Confident dealing with queries at all levels
• Strong understanding of processes associated with procurement & packaging including all aspects of the supply chain responsibilities
• Understanding of confidential/sensitive issues and data
• Excellent customer focus skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong interpersonal skills; good at building professional relationships at all levels
• Enthusiastic team player
• Maintains an open, honest, and respectful culture
• Creates a positive and dynamic working environment
• Flexible, continuing to operate to a high standard when faced with changing priorities and work levels
• Passion - demonstrating a strong passion for all things food related

All your hard work, rewarded:

Our colleagues are as important to us as our customers. When working with us you will be introduced to a huge variety of benefits including:

Flexible working
Very generous staff discount plus annual clothing allowance