Category Lead – Large Kitchen Appliances (Large Elec)

At a glance

Location - Pimlico, London
 

This is a hybrid role, therefore your time will be split between working from home and our Pimlico Office.

Expected salary - £65,000 - £98,000 per annum plus car allowance
 

Contract type - 12 month fixed term contract

​About the role

This is a fantastic opportunity to join John Lewis on a 12 month fixed term contract starting in January 2025.

You will be a Category Lead for large kitchen appliances leading up to 4 direct Reports.

You will lead and develop your team to deliver a commercially balanced product assortment that drives customer satisfaction and maximises sales, stock and profit contribution through effective use of trading levers and management of risk. 

You will work at pace, to proactively take opportunities within the market to exceed customers expectations and create industry leading propositions informed by market trend data and insight that reflect an appropriate pricing architecture. 

You are responsible for developing the strategic direction of your category, using your market knowledge and business & customer insight. At the same time you will play a part in influencing the wider Category strategy & direction.

There will be frequent travel across the UK and occasional travel to Europe.

Some of your key responsibilities will include

• You will be accountable for the Category Strategy including Commercial Forecasts for 0-3 years, (Sales, GM/CC, Stock, etc)

• Product/Range, promotional, in-season trading proposals/signoff. Sign off Assortment Reviews and Products as agreed with the Head of Category

• Delivery of commercial KPIs

• Accountable for the creation of a Category strategy aligning to Customer, Brand and Propositional strategies and accurately forecasting sales, stock, profit and SKUs, with expert knowledge of the category in the marketplace, key competitors and customer behaviour.

• You will be accountable for delivering the commercial and customer targets for your category. Consistently evaluating your product range 

• You will also have Line management accountability for Buyers, Merchandisers and Service Managers (where applicable) in your Category team

What will you be doing?

• Overall Buying & Merchandising for Category and as category expert, create recommendations for End to End customer experience to the Head of Category Proposition

• Develop, select and negotiate product ranges in tune with customer demand & target segments

• Create, plan and deliver a customer focused, commercial assortment that maximises sales and margin while minimising risk in line with space and SKU count parameters

• Accurately forecast sales, stock, profit and SKUs each season by channel

• Create category budgets aligning to brand and propositional strategies and plans.

• Forecast market changes and proactively adapt commercial plans to potentialise. 

• Maximise key trading levers within brand and propositional parameters including price, promotion, assortment, mix and newness

• Develop a supply base strategy to support assortment vision and long term strategic aims

• Negotiate robust trading terms with all suppliers to achieve budgeted sales and margin targets

• Control inventory levels and open to buy and work with key stakeholders to maximise availability across channels

• Be responsible for people management, development and coaching for Category Buyers, Merchandisers and Service Managers (where applicable)

• Lead & energise team and prioritise workload

Essential skills you’ll need

• Tangible experience within a Buying & Merchandising commercial environment as well as customer proposition development

• Knowledge / experience of Consumer Electronics markets 

• Strong relationship skills and stakeholder management

• Experience of managing and leading teams 

• Highly skilled negotiator adept at managing supplier relationships at senior levels

• The ability to travel across the UK and Europe (occasional)

Benefits of the Partnership and the role

• - Hybrid Working

• ️ - Full time working holiday entitlement 25 days holiday, plus public and bank holidays

• ⚖ - Excellent work life balance, including focus on well being and flexible working and our market leading equal parenthood leave Policy

• - Defined Contribution pension scheme where your contributions will be matched by the Partnership (up to 8% of pay) and, after three years’ service, you’ll receive an additional Partnership contribution of 4% of pay, regardless of whether you pay in or not

• - You’ll get Partnership discount in store and online once you complete your Earning Membership. That’s 25% off in John Lewis & Partners (12% off electrical products) and 20% in Waitrose & Partners. You’ll also be able to nominate someone you live with to share your discount

• - Simple cycle to work support scheme

• - Health Care cover

• - Car allowance

• - We’re really proud of our exclusive hotels based in some of Britain’s most stunning areas and you’re welcome to explore them from day 1

• - Learn more about our extensive range of exciting benefits that you could enjoy when you join us, visit - https://www.jlpjobs.com/about/benefits/  

Next steps:

• The application form consists of a CV upload followed by application questions. Please ensure you refresh the page each time you complete a task to ensure you complete everything that you need to in time. (If internal, check your Workday notifications and see further guidance on the PDW under "Internal application process")

• You'll be asked about any adjustments you might need to support the recruitment process. Let us know, and we'll be sure to discuss it with you

• Thanks for your patience in the meantime and for showing an interest in joining JLP

Internal Partners (only) can view a copy of the full job outline here.

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