Senior Buyer, Wines

jlp; Bracknell; Hybrid; GBP 48,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Bracknell Head Office interview

Job summary

Waitrose and Partners is seeking an experienced Senior Wine Buyer for a 12‑month fixed term contract in Bracknell. You will cultivate supplier partnerships, analyse category performance, and identify growth opportunities.

Lead the annual category plan and its execution across channels with cross‑functional partners, delivering optimized range, pricing and promotions with a strong commercial mindset. The role offers a hybrid working pattern with some office presence, and a two-stage interview

Qualifications

• Experience in wine category essential.
• Strong commercial acumen and supplier management.
• Ability to translate business visions into category plans.

Responsibilities

• Own annual category plan and execute across channels.
• Negotiate supplier terms, contracts, pricing, and promotions.
• Develop and deliver optimised range, pricing, and promotional strategies.
• Lead cross-functional Pod and mentor junior colleagues.
• Monitor category performance and identify growth opportunities.

Skills

Wine category experience

Supplier management

Commercial acumen

Leadership

Job description

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are seeking an experienced and passionate Senior Wine Buyer, to join the team here at Waitrose and Partners, on a fixed term contract for 12 months.In this role, you will focus on cultivating strong supplier partnerships, understanding customer needs, and actively seeking exceptional products to delight our audience. Key responsibilities include analysing category performance, monitoring market trends, and identifying growth opportunities. You will own the creation of the annual category plan and lead its execution across all channels alongside cross-functional partners. Working closely with marketing and sales specialists will be vital to effectively defining and activating our strategy.Experience in the Wine category is essential, along with strong commercial acumen, supplier management capability and appetite to deliver.As a Senior Buyer, you will be a strategic leader within our business, playing a key role in driving our ambition for growth and embedding the right culture. You are accountable for translating overall business visions into high-impact, category-level commercial plans. Leading a cross-functional Pod of multiple Partners, you will develop and deliver optimised range, pricing, and promotional strategies for your categories to drive profitable growth. In doing so, you will actively encourage end-to-end thinking to inspire ownership, promote efficiency, and deliver these results in a sustainable way. You will become the authoritative expert for your categories.You will be empowered to build a clear supplier strategy for your area and to independently create and nurture strong supplier relationships which are critical to our success. You will actively pursue cost-saving opportunities whilst maintaining quality and ethical standards. In particular, you will have an 'always on' approach to cost of goods management, building a strong understanding of the cost composition of the products you buy and ensuring that this is optimised at all times. In a fast-paced supermarket retail environment, you will be both action-orientated and results-focused but, importantly, will also fully embrace the Partnership Behaviours in the way in which you operate.You may also be a Line Manager for L7 Buyers or other Partners in the Trading Team; however, irrespective of formal reporting lines, you will actively mentor and support less experienced members of the team to build wider-ranging capability. You will lead or contribute to wider projects, while championing new systems, processes, and ways of working to ensure that the Partnership remains a market leader with a continuous improvement mindset.Please note there will be a 2 stage interview process. The first stage will be about exploring your skills and experience in relation to the role and will be virtual. There is no pre-work required for this interview. If you are successful following this stage you will be invited to a second stage interview which will be held in person at our Bracknell Head office on Friday 9th October and will involve a tasting exercise as part of the process.

Expected salary - Salary up to £80,000 depending on experience.

Contract type - This is a 12 month Secondment/ Fixed Term Contract .

Working pattern/flexible working - The Partnership has adopted a hybrid working approach, meaning you'll be able to work a mixture between the office and home based upon your personal needs whilst balancing the needs of the business. Alongside this we have also signalled a clear intent for Central teams to work 'more in person than not.' For the Waitrose Trading Team this means 3 days a week of in-person time but it is not a hard and fast rule requiring everyone to be in the office 3 days a week. Supplier visits, time in our shops and time in the office all contribute to this requirement. Travel including overseas travel may be required.

Location - Bracknell

Key responsibilities

• Responsible for selecting a portfolio of wines within allocated regions and countries.
• Accountable for the negotiation of all supplier terms and contracts, including price and marketing support
• Commercial Delivery including Buying responsibility for large or complex Category Pod and Delivering category commercial targets and direct KPIs such as Sales, Profit and Market Share
• Through Horizontal Working help ensure Category Pod (Brand Development, Technical, Space and Value and Supply Chain) delivers its Indirect Shared KPIs; consistently demonstrating and developing an in-depth knowledge of relevant demand categories, target customers and the market dynamics and translating this knowledge into business opportunities.
• Management of the Category Pod suppliers, including selection of appropriate supply base, being responsible for annual terms preparation and negotiation, agreeing and tracking performance against Supplier Joint Business Plans, and unlocking efficiencies with suppliers and supply chains.
• Working in a Category Pod, consisting of