Assistant Merchandiser Advanced - Footwear Brands

Marks & Spencer Plc; London; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a vibrant team as an Assistant Merchandiser at an innovative retail leader, where your passion for product and strong Excel skills will drive growth in the womenswear sector. This role offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of beloved brands, working collaboratively to achieve ambitious sales targets and enhance customer satisfaction. With a focus on teamwork and creativity, you will play a key role in a dynamic environment that values inclusivity and personal development. Embrace the chance to make a real impact in a fast-paced department with endless opportunities for growth and success.

Benefits

20% colleague discount

Competitive holiday entitlement

Discretionary bonus schemes

Defined Contribution Pension Scheme

Tailored induction and training programmes

Wellbeing support including 24/7 Virtual GP

Charity volunteer day

Qualifications

• Experience as an Assistant Merchandiser in a fast-paced retail environment.
• Strong merchandising and analytical skills with a focus on product management.

Responsibilities

• Drive sales and manage product ranges for womenswear third-party brands.
• Collaborate with buying teams to optimize product offerings and availability.

Skills

Excel skills

Merchandising skills

Numerical skills

Analytical skills

Communication skills

Relationship building

Team management

Education

Experience in fast-paced retail

Footwear Branded Merchandising experience

Tools

Sales estimation tools

Stock management systems

Job description

Asst Merchandiser - Advanced
From Merchandising and Marketing - Product Development and Design, through to Supply Chain and Space Planning - our mission is to bring stylish wardrobe, home and beauty essentials to our customers via an easy, inspiring shopping experience online and in store that will delight them every time. As we accelerate the transformation of our business to suit the changing needs of our customer, we need results-orientated colleagues that not only have a passion for our product, but a strong team working ethos, creativity and a healthy commercial aim to join us on our journey. To stay close to customers, our support teams are in the office three days a week as we believe that skills are developed through collaboration, and that spending time together makes us more creative and connected.

What’s in it for you

Being a part of M&S is exactly that – playing your part to bring the magic of M&S to our customers every day. We’re an inclusive, dynamic, exciting, and ever evolving business built on doing the right thing and bringing exceptional quality, value, and service to every customer, whenever, wherever and however they want to shop with us.

Here are some of the benefits we offer that make working for M&S just that little bit more special…

• After completing your probationary period, you’ll receive 20% colleague discount across all M&S products and many of our third-party brands for you and a member of your household.
• Competitive holiday entitlement with the potential to buy extra holiday days!
• Discretionary bonus schemes awarded based on how you achieve your personal objectives and our performance as a business.
• A generous Defined Contribution Pension Scheme and Life Assurance.
• A dedicated welcome to our teams with a tailored induction and a wide range of training programmes to develop your skills.
• Amazing perks and discounts via our M&S Choices portal to maximise your financial and personal wellbeing.
• Industry-leading parental, adoption and neonatal policies, providing support and flexibility for your family.
• Access to a fantastic range of wellbeing support for all colleagues including access to our 24/7 Virtual GP and PAM Assist to support you and your family.
• A charity volunteer day to support a charity or cause you're passionate about through a dedicated day away from work.

Join our vibrant Womenswear Branded Buying & Merchandising team as an Assistant Merchandiser, where you'll play an integral role in shaping our future with some of the market's most beloved brands! You’ll be at the heart of our ambitious growth plans, driving key initiatives that will define M&S over the next five years. This is an exciting, fast-paced department with endless opportunities for growth. If you have strong Excel skills, a passion for product, and thrive under pressure, this role will offer you the perfect platform to excel and make a real impact.

What you'll do…

As the Assistant Merchandiser Advanced for Footwear Third Party Brands your key accountabilities will include:

• Playing a pivotal role in the delivery of the M&S strategic ambition to introduce and grow the womenswear third-party Brands online. Create the departmental plan and strategy to deliver sales, total stocks, GSM, markdown, availability targets and option count.
• Formulating a detailed plan on the products to be offered each month across all channels to meet our customer requirements, taking full responsibility for a range or department where necessary. Working collaboratively with Buying counterparts to build and maintain product ranges that grow & improve M&S style credentials. Booking quantities of products to meet launch and respond to in season variables for all channels. Build and maintain strong availability of continuity product including regular size reviews, forecasting for a multitude of brands.
• Building & maintaining strong relationships with our brands. Constantly monitor sales and range offering to ensure commercial and customer aspirations are potentialised, liaising with brands to react and amend accordingly.
• Delivering in-season actions that maximise sales and profit opportunities and meet agreed targets. Preparing and presenting regular business reviews, alongside the wider team, to successfully drive performance rate.

Who you are

Your skills & experience will include:

• You will already be working to Assistant Merchandiser level in a fast-paced retailer - ideally with Footwear Branded Merchandising experience.
• Strong Merchandising skills including development of Department Plan, stock/commitment management, creating sales estimates and managing GSM. Knowledge of the end to end buy to channel process.
• Strong numerical, analytical and interpretive skills.
• Strong relationship building and communication skills to foster collaborative and effective engagement with brand partners.
• Experience managing and setting direction for a team. Motivating & developing reports, deputising responsibilities and leading through change.
• Ability to initiate and build strong relationships with key stakeholders, enabling you to influence where needed.
• Resilience and being open to change.

Everyone’s welcome

We are ambitious about the future of retail. We’re disrupting, innovating and leading the industry into a more conscientious, inspiring digital era. We’re transforming how we work together and offering our most exciting opportunities yet. Marks & Spencer strives to be an inclusive organisation, trusted and admired by our colleagues, customers and suppliers. Join us and make change happen. We are committed to building diverse and representative teams, where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and be at their best. We support each other and work together to win together. If you feel you'd benefit from any support or reasonable adjustments during any stage of the recruitment process, please don’t hesitate to let us know when completing your application. This information will be picked up by our team, so we can try and put steps in place to help you be at your best through this process.