Junior Merchandiser in Bury St Edmunds

The Junior Merchandiser (JM) plays a key role within the Merchandising function, providing vital support to the Merchandising team to achieve optimum efficiency and to deliver the department plan on customer, sales, and profit. The JM takes responsibility for ensuring the right stock and intake is available for our customers, continually looking for opportunities to maximise the potential of both product and stores, whilst working collaboratively within the Merchandising team and key areas of the business. The JM is also responsible for training and developing junior team members.

Responsibilities

• Strategy: Support with historical analysis packs. Evaluate past season trends to identify opportunities and risks.
• Plan: Support with creation of product mix pack. Create sign offs packs and manage critical path. Present in product mix and sign off meetings. Maintain and manage the central brand matrix, planograms and range plans. Quarterly review and update of scheduling grading and size mapping. Load plans in WSSI following product mix meetings.
• Order: Support team to ensure accurate size ratios for all buys. Check buy plan by DC and support with split purchase orders.
• Stock: Support with department intake plans, in line with weekly intake forecasts, and identify key bookings. Reconcile sign off pack to buy plan.
• Trade: Review reporting and help create department weekly trade email. Implement trading strategies with the team. Review, maintain and update departmental reports. Support with Sales Analysis actions, driving trade through key commercial decision making. Identify IBTs and Fast Tracks and support with brand RTVs. Provide direction on weekly priorities for the team. Review and check any distribution amendments. Identify markdown lines, summarise markdown spend and check prices. Support the team in actioning weekly prices changes. Identify areas of opportunity using brand free stock list, considers OBT/intake restrictions. Manage and update sales forecast, tracks stock position and suggest trading actions. Maintains accurate sales and stock forecasts in WSSI. Track store options and guide team on trade actions to keep stores in line with planned options. Manage and review AM linecards, flagging over/under stock concerns to Merchandiser. Support in the creation of key event trading plans and support team to deliver these plans.
• Exit: Manage flow of stock in and out of seasonality product, including inter season recodes.
• Stores: Create quarter range plans. Support the team to range and de-range stores to keep stores within planned option counts. Investigate and analyse store/area performance to identify areas of improvement. Oversee, monitor and guide team on branch trading actions. Monitor new store builds. Build market awareness by country, region and area to make informed trading decisions. Regularly undertake store visits, collate feedback and share key actions.
• Management & Leadership: Drive and develop team, supporting with training where required. Review current processes to identify improved ways of working. Implement training schedules and undertake regular 1 to 1 catch ups.

Role objectives and KPIs: To support the Merchandising team to effectively deliver departmental goals and KPIs – sales, profit, and stock - across all channels (stores and digital), maximising commercial opportunities.

Skills and experience: Analytical, data driven and highly numerate. Keen eye for detail and ability to accurately enter and check data. Enthusiastic about JD, its brands and customer. Strategic approach and more long-term thinking. Independent decision maker able to provide justification for all decisions made. Confident communicator able to build and maintain relationships at all levels. Able to take ownership of work and use initiative to deliver on key responsibilities. Strong teamwork skills, being able to work collaboratively to reach a common goal, sharing information and supporting colleagues. Positive, flexible, and responsive to business needs. Curious with a continuous learning mindset. Strong knowledge of Excel.

Training requirements for role: GUI Shogun, Advanced Excel, Strong trade knowledge, Product mix and sign off pack creation and meeting attendance, Historical analysis packs, Size ratios - ratio tool, Size mapping, Planner (Planogram), Range Plan, Central brand matrix, Key event trading plans, Purchase order creation process - PO upload, Bookings & weekly intake, Manage trade actions, Weekly divisional price changes and markdown proposals. Training is on-the-job shadowing supported by online resources. Where relevant, face to face training on key tools, systems or processes will be arranged.