Assistant Merchandiser - Clothing (Fixed Term Contract)

Retail; Coventry; Hybrid; GBP 26,000 - 34,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee discount 10–15%

Pensions and life cover

Bonus up to 5% of salary

Annual leave and extra week

Cycle to work scheme

Job summary

Sainsbury’s Commercial Clothing TU is hiring an Assistant Merchandiser to support planning, trading and product performance in a fast-paced environment. You will partner with Buying, Design, Allocation & Replenishment and Retail teams to maximise sales, profit and stock efficiency.

Hybrid role with home working and time in the Ansty SSC (Coventry) for collaboration and critical business needs. You’ll use data and KPIs to identify risks, opportunities and in-season actions while maintaining

Qualifications

• Previous experience as Merchandise Admin Assistant or Assistant Merchandiser within Retail.
• Ability to analyse sales, margin, stock and availability data to identify risks, opportunities and trading actions.
• Experience producing accurate and timely KPI reporting using spreadsheets and core Microsoft tools, including Excel.
• Capability to support critical path tracking, intake management and on-time delivery of ranges.
• Strong organisational skills, enabling effective prioritisation and management of multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Clear communication skills, with the ability to summarise performance insights and actions to stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Support the Merchandiser or Senior Merchandiser in planning, trading and managing product performance to maximise sales, profit and stock efficiency.
• Identify risks and opportunities using performance data and commercial insight, contributing to in-season trading actions and future buy decisions.
• Handle KPI reporting, critical path tracking, intake management and ongoing availability, while supporting allocations and launches.
• Collaborate with internal teams to ensure on-time delivery of ranges and resolution of issues.
• Support weekly trading reviews and ensure milestones are delivered on time.

Skills

Merchandise Admin

Assistant Merchandiser

Retail experience

Data analysis

KPI reporting

Excel proficiency

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Job description

We have both 10 month and 12 month Fixed Term Contracts available

About the team

You will join the Sainsbury’s Commercial Clothing TU, a fast-paced and collaborative team at the heart of how our clothing ranges perform in store. Working closely with Buying, Design, Allocation & Replenishment and Retail teams, the merchandising function plays a critical role in translating customer demand and commercial strategy into strong trading performance. The team is known for its analytical rigour, pace and partnership, offering a great environment to build a commercial career in clothing.

More about the role

As an Assistant Merchandiser, you will support the Merchandiser or Senior Merchandiser in planning, trading and managing product performance to maximise sales, profit and stock efficiency. Using performance data and commercial insight, you will help identify risks and opportunities, contributing to in-season trading actions and future buy decisions.

The role has a strong operational focus, including KPI reporting, critical path tracking, intake and availability management, and supporting weekly trading reviews. You will work closely with internal teams to support allocations, launches and ongoing availability, while ensuring queries are resolved efficiently and milestones are delivered on time.

More about you

You have a strong interest in commercial trading and enjoy working with data to inform decisions. Comfortable using spreadsheets and core KPIs, you are able to analyse performance, spot trends and clearly communicate insight to support action. You bring attention to detail and organisation to everything you do, ensuring accuracy and follow‑through.

You work well in a fast-paced environment, prioritising effectively and adapting to change. A collaborative team player, you build positive relationships across functions and take ownership of resolving issues. You demonstrate Sainsbury’s valued behaviours by owning outcomes, seeking ways to improve and showing care and respect in how you work with others.

Essential criteria

• Previous experience as a Merchandise Admin Assistant or Assistant Merchandiser within Retail
• Ability to analyse sales, margin, stock and availability data to identify risks, opportunities and trading actions.
• Experience producing accurate and timely KPI reporting using spreadsheets and core Microsoft tools, including Excel.
• Capability to support critical path tracking, intake management and on‑time delivery of ranges.
• Strong organisational skills, enabling effective prioritisation and management of multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Clear communication skills, with the ability to summarise performance insights and actions to stakeholders.

You’ll split your time between home and Ansty SSC (Coventry), coming into the office when it matters most for collaboration and business needs.

We’d all like amazing work to do, and real work-life balance. That’s waiting for you at Sainsbury’s. Here, everything in our stores starts in Sainsbury’s Commercial. From product, proposition, packaging and price, to whether it meets our sustainability commitments or simply tastes great, our team is responsible for, all food, non-food and Clothing items available in Sainsbury’s stores, online and on demand. It’s an incredibly fast-paced environment. People here are in it together and aren’t afraid to take risks. The knowledge and experience you gain here could set you up for career moves anywhere else in the business. So, if you’re passionate about your products and just as hungry to learn, you’ll fit in perfectly.

We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer so you’ll be welcomed whoever you are and wherever you work. Around here, there’s always the chance to try something new — whether that’s as part of an evolving team or somewhere else across the business - and we take development seriously and promise to support you. We also recognise and celebrate colleagues when they go the extra mile and, where possible, offer flexible working. When you join our team, we’ll also offer you an amazing range of benefits. Here are some of them:

Starting off with colleague discount, you'll be able to save 10% on your shopping online and instore at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat, and we regularly increase the discount to 15% at points during the year. We've also got you covered for your future with our pensions scheme and life cover. You'll also be able to share in our success as you may be eligible for a performance‑related bonus of up to 5% of salary, depending on how we perform.

Your wellbeing is important to us too. You'll receive an annual holiday allowance and you can buy up to an additional week's holiday. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, salary advance (where you can access some of your pay before pay day) as well access to a great range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers. And if you ever need it there is also an employee assistance programme.

Moments that matter are as important to us as they are to you which is why we give up to 26 weeks’ pay for maternity or adoption leave and up to 4 weeks’ pay for paternity leave.

Please see www.sainsburys.jobs for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).