Assistant Visual Merchandise Manager

TN United Kingdom; Leicester; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in the retail sector is seeking a Senior Visual Merchandiser for a 6-month temporary position. The role involves managing a team, developing creative store layouts, and driving visual merchandising strategies for children's retail. Candidates should possess strong leadership skills, a passion for children's fashion, and a proven track record in visual merchandising.

Qualifications

• Experience at Senior Visual Merchandiser level and above.
• Comprehensive knowledge of Mock Shop procedures.
• Visual Merchandising experience in a fashion retail background.

Responsibilities

• Manage a team of 5 and oversee layouts and mock shop coordination.
• Plan and implement phase change layouts in line with the critical path.
• Research and propose new ideas for layouts and graphics.

Skills

Communication

Team Management

Creativity

Time Management

Research Skills

Job description

About the role:

At Next, we have an excellent opportunity for a highly motivated, driven, team player to join the Children’s Visual Merchandise team within the Retail Marketing department. This is a temporary position for 6 months.

Having a commercial focus, you will contribute to the creative/commercial layouts and continue to help drive NEXT to the forefront of the High Street within the Children’s Retail Environment. You will need to have flair in the design and development of features and fittings to improve the Children’s retail environment over a seasonal plan. Management experience is essential as this role has direct accountability for a team of 5.

This role is based at Next head office in a very busy environment requiring teamwork, flexibility, and the ability to travel/stay away.

You will:

• Work independently and be accountable for layouts, mock shop coordination, and the VM team.
• Prepare, plan, and implement phase change layouts in line with the critical path.
• Work closely to create effective working relationships with the product teams across Childrenswear.
• Research, identify, propose, and introduce new and creative ideas for layouts and graphics for the department.
• Brief in projects to suppliers and manage projects from start to finish.
• Be the point of contact for day-to-day queries for stores/product/field team.
• Action competitive shops, present findings formally/informally as required.
• Plan and attend store openings to support delivering the most commercial layouts.
• Plan commercial store layouts by liaising with the Shopfitting department and the Sales team.
• Support the Visual Merchandise manager with the development of new projects, including sourcing new equipment, analyzing competitors, and conducting store visits.
• Support the management and development of the team by acting as a mentor and coach.

About you:

• Experience at Senior Visual Merchandiser level and above.
• Comprehensive knowledge of Mock Shop procedures.
• Visual Merchandising experience in a fashion retail background.
• Experience managing a team.
• Aware of fashion trends within clothing and non-clothing categories.
• Enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and passionate about Children’s visual merchandising.
• Able to produce high-quality, commercial store layouts.
• Able to generate innovative ideas and solutions.
• Excellent communication skills at all levels within retail and Head Office environments.
• Ability to manage time effectively, prioritize tasks, and work under pressure.
• Skilled in researching, identifying, and presenting new and creative ideas.
• Assertive with strong influencing and motivating skills.
• Fully PC literate, capable of analyzing information and learning new systems.