Assistant Trading Manager

Marks and Spencer; Greater London; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

20% colleague discount on products

Competitive holiday allowance

Discretionary bonus schemes

Strong pension and life assurance

Induction and training

M&S Choices portal

Family policies: parental/adoption/nep

Wellbeing support

Volunteer day

Job summary

Marks & Spencer is seeking a dynamic leader to drive the onsite trading strategy across UK markets. You will partner with Category Managers to optimise performance, line manage junior staff, and push data-driven changes that enhance the customer experience.

The role focuses on identifying growth levers, leading testing initiatives, and owning the trade calendar to deliver measurable commercial impact.

Qualifications

• Comfortable challenging the status quo and driving change.
• Expert in onsite trading.
• Strong delegation, prioritisation and coaching skills.
• Proven ability to build and maintain a high-performing, collaborative team culture.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Commercially astute with a data-driven approach to decision-making.

Responsibilities

• Own and drive your BU's trading strategies with your Category Manager, including POAP, aligning with D&T, Content and Optimisation.
• Identify opportunities for testing and optimisation improvements and lead initiatives to drive change across onsite trading.
• Own front-end & back-end tools and capabilities to drive optimisations.
• Work with Optimisation to drive change aligned to online strategy, collaborate to create a testing plan and challenge stakeholders to maximise commercial impact for specific areas
• Accountable for the onsite execution of the trade calendar for your BU's.
• Champion innovation and continuous improvement across the team, empowering others to take ownership to drive meaningful impact
• Line manage 1 or 2 assistants. Set clear objectives, provide regular feedback, and support career development.
• Oversee workload and guide Assistant Managers in supporting strategic projects

Skills

Onsite trading

Stakeholder management

Analytical skills

Leadership / delegation

Coaching

Data-driven decision making

Team collaboration

Job description

All the details

What's in it for you?

Working at M&S means being part of something bigger - helping to deliver quality, value and service to millions of customers every day. We're inclusive, fast-moving and always evolving, with a strong sense of purpose and a focus on doing the right thing.

Here are just a few of the benefits that make working here even more rewarding:

• 20% colleague discount on all M&S products and many third-party brands for you and someone in your household, available once you've completed your probation
• Competitive holiday allowance with the option to buy more
• Discretionary bonus schemes linked to your performance and ours
• Strong pension and life assurance to help plan for the future
• Tailored induction and training to support your development from day one
• Exclusive perks and savings through our M&S Choices portal
• Market-leading family policies, including parental, adoption and neonatal leave
• 24/7 wellbeing support, including virtual GP access and mental health services
• One paid volunteer day a year to support a cause that matters to you

What you'll do

This role will focus on driving the online trading strategy for your Categories across our UK & ROI markets, identifying key levers for growth and working closely with Category Managers to drive optimisation and performance.

You will line manage 1 or 2 assistants, fostering a culture of innovation, ownership, and continuous improvement.

The ideal candidate will bring onsite merchandising experience, strong analytical skills, and the ability to influence and align teams around the onsite trading strategy. This role is ideal for someone who is comfortable challenging the status-quo and is passionate about delivering exceptional customer experiences through data-driven trading decisions.

• Own and drive your BU's trading strategies with your Category Manager, including POAP, aligning with D&T, Content and Optimisation.
• Identify opportunities for testing and optimisation improvements and lead initiatives to drive change across onsite trading.
• Own front-end & back-end tools and capabilities to drive optimisations
• Work with Optimisation to drive change aligned to online strategy, collaborate to create a testing plan and challenge stakeholders to maximise commercial impact for specific areas
• Accountable for the onsite execution of the trade calendar for your BU's
• Champion innovation and continuous improvement across the team, empowering others to take ownership to drive meaningful impact
• Line manage 1 or 2 assistants. Set clear objectives, provide regular feedback, and support career development.
• Oversee workload and guide Assistant Managers in supporting strategic projects

Who you are

• Comfortable challenging the status quo and driving change.
• Expert in onsite trading.
• Strong delegation, prioritisation and coaching skills.
• Proven ability to build and maintain a high-performing, collaborative team culture.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Commercially astute with a data-driven approach to decision-making.

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.

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