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- Tasks: Lead food trading operations, ensuring customer-focused initiatives and seamless store execution.
- Company: Join M&S, a dynamic retailer committed to quality and service.
- Benefits: Enjoy a 20% discount, competitive holidays, and tailored training from day one.
- Other info: Inclusive culture with a focus on personal development and wellbeing support.
- Why this job: Shape the future of food retail and enhance customer experiences across hundreds of stores.
- Qualifications: Strong communication, problem-solving skills, and experience in multi-site operations.
The predicted salary is between 50000 - 65000 £ per year.
We're looking for a Food Trading Operations Manager to act as the trusted retail voice for our Food Group, ensuring that every decision we make is grounded in what matters most to customers and colleagues. This role turns strategy into action, simplifying complexity, shaping brilliant commercial ideas, and ensuring they land seamlessly in our stores.
You'll champion store insight at the heart of Food, challenge plans to ensure they're bold and achievable, and create joined up ways of working that drive exceptional customer experiences. If you're commercially sharp, operationally strong and passionate about elevating food retail, this is a chance to shape how M&S Food comes to life in hundreds of stores nationwide.
Due to high interest, this role may close earlier than advertised. We recommend applying as soon as possible.
What you'll do
- Being the trusted retail voice for your cluster, ensuring initiatives are practical, simple and customer focused.
- Leading cluster trials, generating sharp insight and clear recommendations that shape wider Food Group plans.
- Driving rollout of M&S Way, embedding simple and effective processes that support brilliant store execution.
- Turning customer, store and commercial insight into clear, actionable improvements that enhance performance.
- Building strong relationships across Food Trading, Operations, Supply Chain and store leadership to enable fast, aligned decision making.
Who you are
- Strong ability to simplify complexity and produce clear, high quality communications for stores and stakeholders.
- Excellent influencing, collaboration and problem solving skills, with resilience in fast changing environments.
- Proven experience operating across multiple sites/regions with strong planning, prioritisation and execution skills.
- Commercially minded, data informed and confident using insight, AI and benchmarking to spot opportunities early.
- A confident communicator who can translate store reality into compelling insight that influences senior stakeholders and shapes decision making.
What's in it for you
- Working at M&S means being part of something bigger - helping to deliver quality, value and service to millions of customers every day.
- We're inclusive, fast-moving and always evolving, with a strong sense of purpose and a focus on doing the right thing.
- 20% colleague discount on all M&S products and many third party brands for you and someone in your household, available once you've completed your probation.
- Competitive holiday allowance with the option to buy more.
- Discretionary bonus schemes linked to your performance and ours.
- Strong pension and life assurance to help plan for the future.
- Tailored induction and training to support your development from day one.
- Exclusive perks and savings through our M&S Choices portal.
- Market leading family policies, including parental, adoption and neonatal leave.
- 24/7 wellbeing support, including virtual GP access and mental health services.
- One paid volunteer day a year to support a cause that matters to you.
We are committed to building diverse and representative teams, where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and be at their best. We support each other and work together to win together.
Trading Operations Manager employer: MARKS&SPENCER
Contact Detail:
MARKS&SPENCER Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Trading Operations Manager
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to people in the food retail industry, especially those who work at M&S. A friendly chat can open doors and give you insights that might just help you land that Trading Operations Manager role.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for interviews by practising your storytelling skills. We want to hear how you've simplified complexity and driven exceptional customer experiences in your past roles. Make it relatable and engaging!
✨Tip Number 3
Show off your data skills! Be ready to discuss how you've used insights and AI to spot opportunities in previous positions. This will demonstrate your commercial mindset and ability to influence decision-making.
✨Tip Number 4
Don't forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets noticed. Plus, it shows you're genuinely interested in being part of the M&S family.
We think you need these skills to ace Trading Operations Manager
Some tips for your application 🫡
Get to Know Us: Before you start writing, take a moment to really understand what we do at M&S. Familiarise yourself with our values and the specifics of the Food Trading Operations Manager role. This will help you tailor your application to show how you fit right in!
Be Clear and Concise: When you're putting together your application, keep it straightforward. We love clear communication, so make sure your points are easy to follow. Highlight your relevant experience and skills without overcomplicating things.
Show Your Passion: Let your enthusiasm for food retail shine through! Share examples of how you've elevated customer experiences in the past. We want to see that you're not just qualified, but genuinely excited about making a difference in our stores.
Apply Early!: Since this role might close sooner than expected due to high interest, don’t wait around! Head over to our website and submit your application as soon as you can. We can't wait to hear from you!
How to prepare for a job interview at MARKS&SPENCER
✨Know Your Food Retail Inside Out
Before the interview, dive deep into the food retail landscape. Understand current trends, customer preferences, and M&S's unique position in the market. This knowledge will help you speak confidently about how you can contribute to enhancing customer experiences.
✨Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills
Prepare examples of how you've simplified complex processes or turned insights into actionable improvements in previous roles. Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your responses and demonstrate your operational strength.
✨Build Relationships with Stakeholders
Think about how you've successfully collaborated with various teams in the past. Be ready to discuss specific instances where your influencing skills made a difference. Highlight your ability to communicate effectively with both store teams and senior stakeholders.
✨Be Data-Driven and Commercially Minded
Familiarise yourself with key metrics and data analysis tools relevant to food trading operations. Be prepared to discuss how you've used data to spot opportunities and drive performance improvements. This will show that you're not just passionate about food retail but also equipped to make informed decisions.