Assistant Merchandise Planner - Central Commercial

Tesco UK; Digswell; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading retail company in England is seeking a motivated individual for a Merchandise Planning role. The candidate will support budgeting, forecasting, and trade management while collaborating with various teams. Ideal for someone with retail experience and strong analytical skills. The role offers a blend of office and remote work, fostering a work-life balance.

Benefits

Flexible working hours

Inclusive recruitment process

Support for work-life balance

Qualifications

• Previous experience in retail or commercial roles.
• Merchandise Administration experience is preferred.
• Organised and commercially minded individual.

Responsibilities

• Support the Merchandise Planning Manager with country budgets.
• Assist with forecasting and trade commentary.
• Manage daily sales forecasts and provide insights.

Skills

Analytical skills

Excel skills

Communication skills

Influencing skills

Job description

We’re looking for a motivated individual to join our Central team and play a key role in driving the success of our Clothing business. In this role, you’ll support top line budgeting, forecasting, trading and exit activities, while helping to manage the unique complexities of different regions and channels under the guidance of a Merchandise Planning Manager.

You’ll work closely with colleagues across product merchandising, operations, trade planning, technology and business intelligence, making collaboration and communication essential. You’ll need to be organised, accurate, responsive and commercially minded - bringing energy and focus to delivering business processes that make a real impact.

Responsibilities

• Supporting (and deputising for) the Merchandise Planning Manager with Clothing country budgets, and the top down financial review forecasting on a periodic basis.
• Assist with the bottom up period WSSI forecast review process, with supporting analysis to support HOM and MPM periodic meetings
• Weekly trade commentary and supporting analysis for distribution to the leadership team and wider business
• Identification of risks & opportunities within weekly trade, focusing on key country / channel specifics.
• Produce specific analysis / insight for the commercial teams through country, divisional and attribute reviews
• Support in trade plan review and execution, inclusive of markdown and promotional costing reviews and upload execution. Enabling top down and bottom-up reviews across product divisions, drilling down at country level to drive profit maximisation
• Management of Clothing country daily sales forecast, providing insight and commentary for leadership.
• Working with our Tools, Systems and Business Intelligence team to drive simplification throughout the Home and Clothing Business
• Assist with Trade Planning Calendars, Promotional Activity and the Business Workplan- cascading this to all divisions
• A key link in the management of commercial and financial processes including close of half, end of year, recode processes in conjunction with product commercial teams
• A super user on all systems
• Assist with analysing market trends, understand key competitors & external factors and update the team on changing conditions

Operational skills relevant for this job:

• Appreciation and understanding of range and trade planning
• The ability to analyse data, with good Excel skills

Experience relevant for this job:

• Previous experience in retail, customer or commercially focused roles
• A proven communicator with good influencing skills
• A background in merchandising - Merchandise Administration experience required (within a commercial team is beneficial)

You might know us as a supermarket, technology company or even for our award-winning mobile network. Truth is, we’re all of those things, and much more. Our colleagues work with one goal in mind, helping to make every day a little better for our customers, colleagues and communities all over the world. No two customers are the same, neither are our colleagues.

At Tesco, we champion a balance that lets you thrive both in and out of work. Spend 60% of your week collaborating with colleagues at our office locations or local sites and the rest remotely. Whether you're just kicking off your career, juggling passions, or navigating big life events, we're here to support you. We always welcome a conversation about flexible working, so talk to us throughout your application about how we can support.

We're proud to be an accredited Disability Confident Leader, where everyone’s welcome. That’s why we commit to providing a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you need support with your application, click here for more information. And if you're interested in joining our team but don't tick every box, don't let that hold you back from applying.