At a Glance
- Tasks: Manage children's nightwear, swim and accessories while optimising product ranges and sales.
- Company: Join the UK's largest employee-owned business with a focus on innovation and collaboration.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, hybrid working, and opportunities for personal development.
- Other info: Embrace a culture of kindness, respect, and ownership in a thriving environment.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in fashion merchandising while leading a dynamic team.
- Qualifications: 2+ years in merchandising, strong analytical skills, and proficiency in Excel.
We have an exciting opportunity for you to join as a Merchandiser in our Merchandising teams within the Fashion Team, managing the Category of Children's Nightwear, Swim and Accessories. You will be a highly experienced, analytical and commercial Merchandiser who uses their broad expert knowledge to plan and optimise the best range for customers within your category. Your remit will be to deliver agreed KPIs, including sales, profit, stock, SKUs, availability, margin and risk management. You will maximise opportunities as they arise and lead the in-season trading to potentialise the outcome for both customers and your category.
You will analyse commercial inputs to develop, with the Buyer, the best range of products supported by an effective and comprehensive range planning and pricing architecture to deliver market-leading assortments. You will be People Manager of your category team’s Merchandising Assistants, creating the conditions for them to thrive, and balancing their focus and priorities as required. You will be expected to manage an assortment of high strategic importance and/or complexity within your category that achieves strong customer satisfaction. You may be asked to have oversight over the roll-up of other offices within your Category.
Some of your key responsibilities will include:
- You will be accountable for accurately planning and forecasting sales, stock, profit and SKUs for the Merchandising Manager L5 and Trade Planning team.
- You will be accountable for the commercial and customer success of a product range through range planning and agile in-season trading, using analysis and reporting from Product Operations.
- Through your Merchandising Assistants, you will manage the flow of stock for your office, controlling inventory levels and open to buy.
- You are accountable for maximising availability across channels whilst minimising inventory holding costs and other supply chain costs.
- You will work at pace and with agility within a collaborative environment with your Merchandising Manager L5, Buyer, Head of Merchandising, Supply Chain, Trade Planning, Sourcing, Trading & Product Operations teams, Design and Product Technology.
- Externally, you will hold a strong relationship with your suppliers and Brands.
- You will be accountable for forecasting assortment Sales, Stock and Margin KPIs, deciding Open To Buy parameters that meet commercial and customer targets.
- In collaboration with Buying, you will need to make season trading and volume decisions along with the commercial terms and product lifecycle with the suppliers.
- You may on occasion, be asked to roll up Category wide analysis in support of the Head of Buying and Head of Merchandising.
- You will be People Manager to your team's Merchandising Assistant partner/s, providing Coaching, development and feedback.
Essential Skills you will need:
- Proven experience in Forecasting & Planning, WSSI management, influencing & stakeholder management.
- Proven 2 Years' Experience in Merchandising: Worked with Own Brand.
- Demonstrated expertise in merchandising practices, including assortment planning and stock management.
- Experience in a variety of Category Areas.
- Strong Analytical and Numerical Skills.
- Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel or similar analytical tools.
- Strong Communication and Presentation Skills.
- Understanding of Retail Operations and Supply Chain Management.
- Proactive Approach to Learning and Development.
Desirable Skills you may have:
- Previous relevant category experience.
- Advanced in MS Excel & Google Sheets, including PivotTables, VLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH and Data Tables.
- Tableau adoption.
Important points to note:
- It’s important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre‑employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates).
- We occasionally close vacancies early in the event we receive a high volume of applications, and therefore, we recommend you apply early.
- If you require a reasonable adjustment due to a disability which means you may need longer to complete your application please contact us as soon as possible.
- We want all of our Partners to have a good work‑life balance and we support flexible working.
Merchandiser – Children’s Nightwear, Swim and Accessories in London employer: John Lewis & Partners
John Lewis & Partners is an excellent employer, offering a supportive work culture that prioritises employee development and customer satisfaction. Located in Milton Keynes, the company provides comprehensive training for its In-Store Customer Experience Specialists, ensuring that all team members have the skills needed to excel in their roles while fostering a sense of community and collaboration among staff.
