Sysco GB is looking for a highly organised, commercially minded Merchandising Programme Manager to help coordinate and govern a portfolio of projects and initiatives within the Merchandising function.
This is a pivotal role for someone who thrives on bringing structure to complexity. You will help organise and coordinate a range of merchandising, category, supplier, product data, systems and process improvement initiatives, ensuring they are clearly planned, well governed, effectively reported and aligned to merchandising priorities and objectives.
You will work closely with merchandising leaders and cross-functional teams, supporting delivery through strong governance, clear reporting, proactive risk management and practical change enablement.
We are offering a hybrid working contract, and you will be required to work in the Ashford, Kent office once per week, so you must live within a commutable distance. Occasional travel to other offices may be required.
Key Accountabilities & Responsibilities:
- Creating structure and visibility across a portfolio of merchandising projects and improvement initiatives; including:
- Establish and maintain a clear view of all merchandising projects, transformation activities and continuous improvement initiatives, ensuring priorities, timelines, ownership and progress are transparent across the function.
- Establishing clear governance, reporting routines, decision forums and escalation routes for merchandising initiatives.
- Implement governance frameworks that enable effective decision-making, accountability and timely issue resolution across merchandising programmes and projects.
- Tracking delivery progress, milestones, dependencies, risks, issues and benefits.
- Provide proactive oversight of project performance to ensure initiatives remain on track and deliver expected business outcomes
- Supporting initiative owners to build robust plans and maintain delivery momentum.
- Partner with project and initiative leads to ensure workstreams are well planned, appropriately resourced and progressing in line with agreed objectives.
- Producing concise, insight-led updates for merchandising leadership and key stakeholders.
- Translate complex project information into meaningful, actionable insights that enable informed decision-making by senior stakeholders
- Coordinating cross-functional activity to support the successful implementation of merchandising changes.
- Facilitate effective collaboration across merchandising, commercial, supply chain, technology and other business teams to ensure successful delivery and adoption of change initiatives.
- Helping teams adopt new merchandising processes, tools and ways of working through effective change coordination.
- Build and maintain strong cross functional relationships to enable effective collaboration and delivery of shared objectives
About you:
You are a highly organised and commercially minded professional with a passion for delivering exceptional merchandising programmes that drive business performance and enhance the customer experience. You thrive in a fast-paced environment where balancing multiple priorities, managing complex projects, and collaborating with diverse stakeholders are all part of your day-to-day. With strong programme or project management experience, you have a proven ability to plan, execute, and optimise merchandising initiatives from concept through to delivery. You combine analytical thinking with a practical, results-oriented approach, using data and insights to make informed decisions and identify opportunities for continuous improvement. You are an excellent communicator who can build trusted relationships across cross-functional teams, influencing stakeholders at all levels and ensuring alignment on priorities and outcomes. Equally comfortable working strategically and operationally, you can translate business objectives into actionable plans while maintaining a strong attention to detail. Experience managing complex merchandising, retail, category, or commercial programmes combined with a strong project and programme management skills, with the ability to manage multiple workstreams simultaneously would be highly advantageous for this role.
What you’ll receive:
- Company car allowance of £7,000 or Company Car
- Eligible for company bonus scheme
- Generous holiday allowance, with option to purchase 5 additional holiday days
- Huge discounts on all sorts of lovely food and award-winning products through our staff shop
- Discounts on Cinema tickets, shopping and earn cashback on purchases through Sodexo.
- Recognition awards and Incentives
- Career progression opportunities - being part of Sysco group, the world’s leading foodservice business, opens up a world of possibility
Merchandising Programme Manager in Ashford employer: Sysco
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