Apparel Category Manager - INTERNAL APPLICATIONS ONLYNew

JD Sports Fashion; Bury; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player in sports fashion is seeking a Visual Merchandising Manager to oversee the visual presentation across various stores. This role requires a creative individual who can drive the visual strategy and enhance customer experience through effective merchandising. You will collaborate with multiple departments to implement innovative ideas and ensure alignment with corporate identity while tracking performance metrics. If you have a passion for retail and a keen eye for detail, this opportunity offers a chance to make a significant impact in a dynamic environment that values inclusivity and personal development.

Benefits

Incremental Holiday Allowance

Staff Discount on qualifying purchases

Exclusive Colleague Bike Discount scheme

Discounted Gym membership

Personal development opportunities

Access to Apprenticeships and accredited qualifications

Qualifications

• Experience in visual merchandising with a focus on retail performance.
• Strong communication skills to liaise with cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Manage visual merchandising standards across all stores in your category.
• Coordinate with departments to maximize sales and implement new initiatives.
• Conduct regular store visits to ensure compliance with visual directives.

Skills

Visual Merchandising

Communication Skills

Project Management

Interpersonal Skills

Analytical Skills

Education

Degree in Marketing or Retail Management

Job description

Role Overview:

Location: Northern Europe

Must be prepared to travel to European territories as well as Bury HO.

Manage the consistent delivery of Visual Merchandising standards and performance throughout your category, driving the strategy set out by the business in your specific department by producing visual and commercial direction in the form of VM directives. You will be responsible for actively managing your relationships with cross-functional departments to ensure the category you oversee is delivering business expectations and vision. You will endeavor to exceed goals set by the Head office team, supporting them in the implementation of business and local initiatives and providing an effective communication platform between Head office global teams, departments, and stores in order to achieve the highest level of visual merchandising and profitability across all stores, exceeding KPI’s set by your line manager.

Key Role and Responsibilities:

• Work within the Central Visual Merchandising department to coordinate all category visual direction and communicate this out to all stores.
• Ensure the performance of your category is successful through the implementation of store layouts, composition, and commerciality relevant for the market or region.
• Work fluidly with cross-functional departments to ensure new incentives and retail opportunities are captured and pre-planned to create a precise execution and maximize sales.
• Produce the weekly VM directive, providing an engaging document that is clear and concise.
• Enhance your department visually in the form of new fixtures and development of concepts.
• Apply effective and sustainable solutions to visual issues.
• Work with brands to ensure JD is at the forefront of marketplace development and forecast and refit programs.
• Recognize and reflect local trends and influences whilst maintaining corporate identity within your category.
• Plan new stores and imminent refits to ensure your category is laid out and has the correct fixtures and fittings.
• Track the sales performance of your category in order to identify opportunities and provide direction.

Communication & Vision:

• Provide an effective and fluid network of communication between Head office, Field Team, and Line Manager.
• Communicate new ideas and initiatives to promote the ongoing development of JD.
• Maintain and develop organizational culture, values, and reputation.
• Conduct weekly meetings with Field VM Teams and Senior Management to ensure a clear direction is being presented.
• Provide clear and constructive feedback at all times.
• Complete feedback reports after any retail visits, providing a clear summary of actions.

People & Talent:

• Contribute to the design and delivery of Visual training documents.
• Work with the field team to develop their skills within visual merchandising.
• Actively communicate with your line manager any training requirements needed to help further develop you within your role.

Travel and Movements:

• Manage your movements accordingly with business activity in mind.
• Movements should be planned and approved with your line manager.
• Expectation is to spend a percentage of time office-based, with the rest visiting your respective markets.
• You are required to support new store openings which will require travel and periodic stays away.
• Visit stores regularly to ensure they are commercially and visually correct and are applying all direction.
• Spend at least 40% of time in territories.

Personal Conduct:

• Conduct yourself in a professional manner at all times.
• Employ the highest possible interpersonal skills in order to ensure the successful marketing of the department.

The Company:

The JD Group is a leading omnichannel retailer of Sports Fashion, Street & Premium Fashion, Outdoors, and Gyms with over 60,000 colleagues over 3,400 stores across several retail fascias in over 30 markets around the world.

We are an equal opportunities employer who embraces and values differences. We recognize the importance of an inclusive workplace culture in which everyone can thrive irrespective of their background or identity.

To be a part of this successful and continuously growing company, you will have the desire to ingrain our strategic goals of being a people-first, a digital leader, and a customer-focused organization which provides operational excellence and continuously identifies new areas of growth into our day-to-day.

We know our employees work tirelessly to make JD Sports the success it is today, and in turn, we offer them some amazing benefits:

• Incremental Holiday Allowance
• Staff Discount on qualifying purchases across Group retail stores and online
• Exclusive Colleague Bike Discount scheme
• Discounted Gym membership
• Personal development opportunities to learn and develop at work
• Access to Apprenticeships and accredited qualifications

Interested?

If you are interested in this position, then press the Apply Now button.

Due to the high volumes of applications our opportunities attract, it takes time to review them all. If you don't hear back within two weeks of your application, please consider your application to have been unsuccessful on this occasion.

Applications that meet the skills criteria will be contacted for a 1st stage meeting with the talent team. Shortlisted candidates will then be invited to interview with the hiring manager.

Thank you again for your time.