Retail Merchandising Lead - 12m Secondment

Sky UK; Isleworth; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading telecommunications company in the United Kingdom seeks an experienced Visual Merchandising Manager. This role involves managing a substantial merchandising budget, leading a team, and developing visual retail strategies to enhance customer engagement. The ideal candidate will have proven experience in retail and visual merchandising with strong project management skills. The company offers a hybrid working model, fostering collaboration in outstanding office spaces while providing flexibility for remote work.

Benefits

Access to free NOWTV

Generous pension package

Private healthcare

Discounted mobile and broadband

Qualifications

• Proven experience in managing complex projects and tight deadlines.
• Strong commercial insight with the ability to bring brand strategy to life.
• Ability to lead teams and influence stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Manage merchandising budget of over £1 million.
• Drive engagement across merchandising strategy and product placement.
• Lead and manage a team of visual merchandisers.

Skills

Retail store design

Visual merchandising

Creative and spatial design

Financial management

Project management

Job description

What You'll Do

• Manage annual merchandising budget of over £1 million.
• Future strategy, design & development of Sky VM (Visual Merchandising) & Warehouse, ensuring effective launches and engagement with the front line, driving merchandising maturity.
• Translate product briefs into compelling in-store merchandising solutions that drive engagement and conversion.
• Manage the merchandising reporting & insights, looking into sales, thefts & tickets reporting as well as attending store visits to gain field insights and analyse competitor merchandising solutions.
• Design and ongoing management of Merchandising Strategy, driving engagement across the business.
• Lead on store‑stock management in Retail; advocate correct processes & governance through Sky VM and work with suppliers.
• Insights analysis and sales data‑driven optimisation of product placement and visual storytelling.
• Ensure consistency in visual standards and brand/product representation across all retail formats.
• Responsible for working with the Connectivity and Retail Marketing teams and key external mobile partners (e.g. Apple & Samsung) to execute mobile launches and changes across the estate.
• Stay ahead of retail design and merchandising trends, bringing fresh ideas to Sky's retail strategy.
• Identify opportunities to improve layout, product placement and storytelling to maximise impact and customer experience through insights.
• Lead, inspire and manage a team of visual merchandisers; set clear objectives, provide ongoing coaching, and support professional development to build a high‑performing team.
• Foster a collaborative and inclusive culture that encourages creativity, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in retail store design and visual merchandising.
• Proven experience in managing complex projects and tight deadlines.
• Strong creative and spatial design skills.
• Strong commercial insight with the ability to bring brand strategy to life through physical retail environments.
• Strong skills in financial management, forecasting, and budget control.
• Ability to lead teams, influence stakeholders and build strong working relationships with cross‑functional teams.
• Excellent project management and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Passion for customer experience and innovation in Retail.

Benefits

• Access to free NOWTV, for streaming all your favourite shows.
• A generous pension package.
• Private healthcare.
• Discounted mobile and broadband.

How You'll Work

We know the world has changed, and we want to offer our employees the chance to collaborate at our outstanding office spaces, whilst enjoying the convenience of working from home. We've adopted a hybrid working approach to give more flexibility on where and how we work. You'll find out more about what this means for this role during the recruitment process. Your office base is Osterley. Our Osterley Campus is a 10‑minute walk from Syon Lane train station. Or you can jump on one of our free shuttle buses that run to and from Osterley, Gunnersbury, Ealing Broadway and South Ealing tube stations. There's also plenty of bike shelters and showers. On campus, you'll find 13 subsidised restaurants, cafés, a Waitrose, a subsidised gym, a cinema, a car wash and a beauty salon.