Merchandiser - Sports Brands in Liverpool

About us
We’re the team behind digital retailer Very. Our purpose, helping families get more out of life, powers everything we do. And we want our people to get more out of life too! If you’re high-performing, ambitious and make the most of every opportunity, we want to hear from you. In return, you’ll enjoy heaps of flexibility, great perks and benefits, and the freedom to be yourself, keep learning and take your career wherever you want it to go. If you love making a difference, you’ll love making it sparkle for millions of Very customers.

About the team
We’re looking for trend aware sports enthusiasts to join our Sports Merchandising team. This is a unique opportunity to work closely with some of the top sports brands, across multiple sports disciplines as well as sport-style fashion. As part of The Very Sports Team, you will deliver a product offer that our customers will love - while also considering the overall department strategy. Relationship building is essential in this role to ensure you are working closely with your immediate team, the wider Sports Buying Team, the Marketing Team and different sports brands.

About the role
The Merchandiser role focuses on bringing the customer the right product at the right time. Working closely with the Buying team, you will build assortment strategies with focus on ensuring the best possible range for our customers. Looking at internal data, history and competitor performance whilst managing the supplier relationship. Day to day you will be responsible for commercial merchandising activities across planning and trading, and the execution of tasks related to the product lifecycle, whilst meeting with and managing brand relationships. We’re looking for someone who is highly motivated, has great attention to detail, strong commercial acumen and a passion for data and analysis. The ideal candidate will have experience working already as a Merchandiser or an established Junior Merchandiser who is ready for the next level.

Key Responsibilities
- Responsible for full ownership of planning and trading
- Supporting and coaching the Junior Merchandiser and Assistant Merchandiser
- Ensuring the departmental framework commercialises the product strategy & that business KPI’s are delivered
- Driving the department vision & strategy forward in partnership with internal and external teams
- Capturing & reviewing lessons learnt, providing updates to senior management
- Working alongside buying to place both future & in season buys
- Manage effective pricing approach throughout the product lifecycle to ensure volume and margin maintained, whilst stocks managed, aligning to the trading plan.
- Manage and optimise the critical path to effectively fulfil merchandise plans.
- Optimise product lifecycle including replenishment with utilisation of the Forecasting application
- Developing strong relationships & ways of working
- Developing current systems and processes to ensure best practice within the team

About you
We know that our expectations are high, as are our ambitions as a business, so we are aware that one candidate will not have all of the below experience. The ideal candidate will have/be:
- An established retail professional with strong Branded Merchandising experience.
- Good knowledge of Excel.
- Strong with numbers – able to produce, analyse and articulate findings from reports.
- Attention to detail.
- Ability to establish relationships, internal & external - working cross functionally and collaboratively.
- Desire to understand the Very customer.
- Problem solving/critical thinking.
- Decision making skills.
- Ability to prioritise and manage workload.
- A great attitude and who is willing to learn.

Some of our benefits
- Flexible, hybrid working model
- Inclusive culture and environment
- £1,000 flexible benefits allowance to suit your needs
- 30 days holiday + bank holidays
- Udemy learning access
- Bonus potential (performance and business-related)
- Up to 25% discount on Very.co.uk
- Matched pension up to 6%

How to apply
Please note that the talent acquisition team are managing this vacancy directly, and if successful in securing this role, you will be required to undertake a credit, CIFAS, Right to Work checks and if a specific requirement of your role a DBS (criminal records) check. Should your application progress we require you to let the team know if there is anything you need to disclose in relation to any of these checks prior to them being undertaken, including any unspent criminal convictions.

What happens next?
Our talent acquisition team will be in touch if you’re successful so keep an eye on your emails! We’ll arrange a short call to learn more about you, as well as answer any questions you have. If it feels like we’re a good match, we’ll share your CV with the hiring manager to review. Our interview process is tailored to each role and can be in-person or held remotely. You can expect a one stage interview process for this position: 1st stage - A one hour face-to-face interview with the hiring team to discuss your skills and relevant experience + competency questions. This is also a great opportunity to find out more about the role and to ask any questions you may have.

As an inclusive employer please do let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments.

Diversity, inclusion and equal opportunities
We’re building a culture of everyday inclusion, and welcome applications from anyone who believes they can do the job. We don’t discriminate based on age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation. We want our recruitment process to be accessible to everyone. If you need reasonable adjustments to apply, interview, or perform a role, let us know via talentacquisition@theverygroup.com. We’ll be happy to support you. We’re proud to be a Disability Confident Committed Employer and have nine brilliant colleague networks - including DAWN (Disability Awareness at Very) and Think (Neurodiversity at Very) - that are helping us make Very an even more inclusive place to work.