Senior Merchandiser - Footwear

Retail; Coventry; On-site; GBP 38,000 - 52,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Colleague discount

Pension scheme

Life cover

Performance bonus up to 20% of salary

Private healthcare

Season ticket loans

Cycle to work scheme

Discounts from retailers

Employee Assistance Programme

Job summary

Sainsbury's is seeking a Senior Merchandiser for Footwear on a permanent basis. You will translate category strategy into a commercial vision, drive stock, pricing and digital performance, and own end‑to‑end planning from forecasting to supplier management.

You’ll coach and lead a team, engage with senior stakeholders, and participate in finance reviews and budgeting with the leadership team to shape the footwear proposition across all channels.

Qualifications

• Proven, recent experience in a senior merchandising role.
• Digital and multichannel clothing/footwear experience.
• Strong knowledge of merchandising systems.
• Exceptional analytical, commercial and problem‑solving skills.
• Experience delivering financial plans, forecasts and KPIs.
• Confident influencing and engaging senior stakeholders.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to work under pressure in a fast‑moving commercial environment.
• Experience leading, coaching or developing teams.
• Solid product, market and customer understanding.
• Demonstrated involvement in cross‑functional or change‑driven projects.
• Cross Functional Leadership

Responsibilities

• Own the end‑to‑end category process from range planning and forecasting to trading.
• Drive sales, margin, stock, availability and digital performance.
• Lead and develop a high‑performing merchandising team.
• Attend and lead periodic finance reviews and annual budget meetings with senior leadership.

Skills

Senior merchandising experience

Cross-functional leadership

Forecasting

Stock management

Supplier management

Analytical thinking

Tools

Merchandising systems

Job description

Senior Merchandiser - Footwear - Permanent

As a Senior Merchandiser, you’ll take the lead in shaping and delivering a compelling, customer‑focused proposition across Footwear. You’ll translate the category strategy into a clear commercial vision, driving sales, margin, stock, availability and digital performance. You’ll own the end‑to‑end category process, from range planning and forecasting, to supplier management, sourcing, budgeting and trading. Working closely with Buying, Design, Technical, Online and supply chain partners, you’ll ensure ranges land on time, perform strongly, and meet customer needs across all channels.

You’ll also coach, lead and develop a high‑performing team, fostering a culture of collaboration, commercial thinking and continuous improvement. You will have the opportunity to attend and lead periodic finance reviews and annual budget meetings with the senior leadership team.

Who You Are

You’re an experienced category or merchandising professional with a strong track record of delivering commercial results in a fast‑paced retail environment. You combine analytical thinking with creativity, using insight to drive customer‑led category plans and trading decisions.

You’re confident working across multiple channels, including digital and bring expertise in forecasting, replenishment, stock flow and supplier management. You’re a natural collaborator, able to influence at all levels and build strong cross‑functional relationships.

You thrive in a dynamic environment, balancing detail with big‑picture strategy, and you’re motivated by leading teams, driving efficiency, and contributing to business‑wide improvements.

Essential Criteria

• Proven, recent experience in a senior merchandising role
• Digital and multichannel clothing/footwear experience
• Strong knowledge of merchandising systems
• Exceptional analytical, commercial and problem‑solving skills
• Experience delivering financial plans, forecasts and KPIs
• Confident influencing and engaging senior stakeholders
• Strong communication and presentation skills
• Ability to work under pressure in a fast‑moving commercial environment
• Experience leading, coaching or developing teams
• Solid product, market and customer understanding
• Demonstrated involvement in cross‑functional or change‑driven projects
• Cross Functional Leadership

#Commercial

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 20% 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, and we provide private healthcare. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, interest free car loan of up to £10k, 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).