Senior Merchandiser - Grocery Ops

Sainsbury’s Group; City Of London; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading retailer in City of London is looking for a Merchandising Manager to train junior merchandisers and manage merchandising principles across categories. The ideal candidate will possess strong leadership and communication skills, a proactive problem-solving mindset, and the ability to manage competing tasks. This role includes great benefits, including a performance-related bonus and flexible working opportunities.

Benefits

Colleague discount

Retirement plan

Performance reward

Holiday allowance

Wellbeing perks

Parental leave

Flexible working opportunities

Qualifications

• Ability to convey ideas and progress to a wide range of stakeholders.
• Motivate and develop junior merchandisers.
• Manage competing tasks and deadlines successfully.
• Strong understanding of merchandising principles.
• Proactively identify and resolve challenges.
• Learn from past projects to refine skills.

Responsibilities

• Train Junior Merchandisers to deliver best-in-class planograms.
• Sign off complex merchandising plans.
• Create a library of standardized merchandising principles.
• Work with categories to ensure adherence to merchandising principles.
• Support planogram creation and champion change programmes.

Skills

Strong communication skills

Leadership potential

Organisational capability

Technical knowledge of space planning systems

Problem-solving mindset

Commitment to continuous development

Tools

JDA

Blue Yonder

Job description

What you'll do

Some things haven't changed since we opened our first store. Our commitment to delicious food at competitive prices, for one. But great merchandising always evolves. And when you join us, you'll show us how. We’ll look to you to pass on everything you know as you help train Junior Merchandisers to deliver best‑in‑class planograms and live‑build presentations. You’ll be one of the first points of contact for issue escalation from our ranging and merchandising teams too, so the people side of the role will keep you busy. The technical aspects will be as well, as you carry out analysis to inform the creation of category merchandising principles, referencing a broad mix of sources. You’ll also create a library of standardised merchandising principles that are easy to understand, find and reference. The role will see you work with categories to make sure that all planograms adhere to corporate and category merchandising principles. Throughout, you’ll be responsible for signing off complex merchandising plans and acting as a flexible resource whether it’s ad‑hoc projects, supporting planogram creation or championing corporate merchandising change programmes.

Who you are

• Strong communication skills to clearly convey ideas and progress to a wide range of stakeholders including direct reports, peers, Range Analysts, Category Planners, and wider commercial teams.
• Leadership potential with the ability to motivate, coach, and develop junior merchandisers to deliver best‑in‑class planograms.
• Organisational capability to manage competing tasks, team resources, and deadlines to keep track of workload peaks and priorities across the year.
• Technical knowledge of space planning systems such as JDA or Blue Yonder, with a strong understanding of merchandising principles and best practices.
• Problem‑solving mindset with a proactive approach to identifying and resolving challenges using a broad mix of sources.
• Commitment to continuous development by learning from past projects and refining skills.

We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer so you’ll be welcomed no matter who 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 offer you an amazing range of benefits.

Benefits

• Colleague discount: save 10% on your shopping online and instore at Sainsbury’s, Argos, TU and Habitat.
• Retirement plan: pension scheme and life cover.
• Performance reward: bonus of up to 10% of salary, depending on performance.
• Holiday allowance: annual holiday allowance with the option to buy up to an additional week.
• Wellbeing perks: access to a wide range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers, season ticket loans, cycle‑to‑work scheme, health cash plans, salary advance, and an employee assistance programme.
• Parental leave: up to 26 weeks’ pay for maternity or adoption leave and up to 4 weeks’ pay for paternity leave.
• Flexible working opportunities.

Where you can grow

In Sainsbury’s Commercial you’ll be responsible for all food, non‑food and clothing items available in Sainsbury’s stores, digitally and on demand. You’ll learn how customers shop and navigate fixtures – and how we can make it easier. The knowledge and experience you gain here could set you up for career moves anywhere else in the business. If you’re passionate about products and hungry to learn, you’ll fit in perfectly.