Merchandise Manager

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About the role:

At Lincolnshire Co-op, our Support Services team is here to provide guidance and support across the business. As part of our Central Operations team, we're now looking for a Merchandise Manager to join us to drive our sales and margin targets through effective range and promotional management.

As our Merchandise Manager, you will develop clear category role definitions aligned with format strategies and customer missions, ensuring effective range management. You'll lead the timely development of planograms, aligning with our range calendar and store development programme while collaborating with the Format and Proposition team to define the role of general merchandise and Co-op own brands within our store hierarchy.

Your role will include conducting periodic category reviews, analysing performance, identifying new opportunities and providing insights during weekly trading meetings to drive sales. You will monitor waste levels and adjust ranges as needed to minimise waste, while also managing master data accuracy for products within your remit. Additionally, you'll work closely with the Buying team to ensure supplier performance meets agreed standards.

Leading the merchandising team, you'll oversee the forecasting and allocation of promotional and seasonal ranges to optimise sales and manage stock levels. You will foster a positive work environment that supports colleague development, engagement, and loyalty, while embodying the values and culture of the Society.

For more detailed information, please refer to the full job description which is available as a download on this page.

INDMP

About You

To succeed in this role, you should have previous experience in category development or merchandising, particularly within convenience retailing. You should be skilled at building relationships internally and externally and have a proven track record of improving business performance and achieving budget targets.

You will need a proactive approach, a strong problem-solving mindset and proficiency in using Office 365 (Outlook, Word, Excel) as well as CAD and micro space management systems like JDA or Intactix. A full driving licence and access to a vehicle for business use is required.

If you are passionate about driving category performance through strategic merchandising and collaboration, this is an excellent opportunity to make a difference in Lincolnshire Co-op's retail operations.

Benefits:

In addition to working for a successful co-operative business, we offer our colleagues fantastic benefits, including:

• 30 days annual leave (including bank holidays) (pro-rata)
• Pension scheme (with up to 12% employer contributions)
• Generous colleague discount rates across our family of businesses
• Annual discretionary colleague bonus to reward you for your hard work
• Free tea and coffee provisions for all colleagues during rest breaks at work

We are an "Investors in People - Platinum" employer, meaning that we have been recognised as one of the country's top employers, offering progression opportunities to all our colleagues. As your confidence grows, you'll have the opportunity to build the skills necessary to further progress your career and help to open up future opportunities. Whether you're thinking of a future with us or looking to develop your skills with a community-focused business, we'll work together with you to shape your career for the better.

About Us

From a single store in 1861 we have grown to be one of the most successful co-operatives in the UK. We're proud to be able to offer a wide range of services from across our family of businesses. From Food Stores and Pharmacies to Post Offices and Support Services, we're a growing society made up of over 220 outlets and nearly 3,000 colleagues.

We're owned by our members, the people of Lincolnshire and surrounding counties, and have been for more than 160 years! Communities are at the heart of everything we do and motivates us to deliver more than great customer service. We support them by sharing dividend with our members, investing in new and improved services, raising money for charity through our Community Champion scheme, supporting local schools and so much more!

We work together as a Society and are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is barrier free and as inclusive as possible for everyone. If you need any adjustments, would like us to do anything differently during the interview or would like to get in touch with us about anything else, please contact our Recruitment team on (01522) 533316, or alternatively you can email [email protected].

We may choose to close our vacancies in the event that we receive a high volume of suitable applications, so we encourage all candidates to apply as soon as possible.