Buyer

JOB TITLE           BUYER

JOB PURPOSE

The buyer is accountable for the commercial management of a number of small and medium size store merchandise and/or services categories. Developing category management strategies together with the Senior Buyers and Head of Trading, the buyer is accountable to drive the store sales, margins and supplier income for their portfolio. Additionally, the buyer works closely with suppliers and through deep consumer and data insights will identify ways to differentiate the offer in their areas from the competition in order to contribute to the development of distinctive market leading propositions.

Working very closely with the pricebook team, the range and space team, the 3rd party retail team and store operations management, the buyer is the decision maker for Price, Promotions, Range and Space for their areas of responsibility.

Negotiating new and existing contracts, rebates and promotional calendars with third party wholesalers, manufacturers and retail suppliers.

The Buyer will receive coaching and development from the Senior buyers and Head of Trading in taking on wider accountabilities across the team as part of your career progression.

MAIN ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Managing the Category Management strategy for a series of product and services categories
• Identifying the lowest cost route to market for the products and services
• Working together with category supplier partners, create annual trading terms to include activations and range, space, price and promotional campaigns to drive sales, margins and central income.
• Driving down net delivered cost of products, resisting cost price inflation, constantly seeking ways to reduce the overall cost of product at each stage of the value chain (manufacturer, wholesaler, direct supply, pack sizes, payment terms)
• Securing supplier investment in selling secondary space: online, on forecourt and instore to drive commercial income and to drive footfall into store to drive sales and margins.
• Working within the Commercial team to manage range reviews and implementation of planograms tailored to reflect the differing needs of stores by region, demographic, size and format.
• Using MFG sales data, BRP supply data, IRI/Nielsen Market data to drive insights into business performance and to generate tactics to drive sales and margin and identify new development opportunities to differentiate from the competition
• Take a leading role in the development of the 3rd party retail sales channel (UberEats/JustEat/Deliveroo) by engaging suppliers in emerging opportunities, ensuring commercial funding is in place to drive returns. Innovate solutions for MFG and suppliers to maximise the use of the MFG estate for B2C, B2B and Direct to consumer opportunities.
• Effectively liaise with MFG’s Operations Team to ensure all set trading agreement terms and conditions are achieved in full.

WORK CONTEXT

This post is head office based with additional time spent in the field or with Trading suppliers. The amount of time spent in the field will vary according to the needs of the business. Additional hours will be required to be worked from time to time over the contracted working hours to ensure that needs of the business are met. This includes occasional weekend and bank holiday cover as required across the Commercial team.

KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS REQUIRED

• Minimum 3 years in buying, category management roles in retail
• Ideal experience within the convenience/forecourt sector
• Experience of working in wholesale and 3rd party logistics business models preferred
• Experience in basic category management techniques and in developing category sales and margins
• Credible business to business account development skills.
• Strong negotiating skills
• Industry and competitive landscape awareness and industry contacts
• Capable in financial planning of budgets, tracking of income streams and generating accurate and timely forecasts
• Highly effective communication skills at all levels; verbal, electronic and written
• Data Analytical skills, Excel and Powerpoint proficiency and insight development capability
• Ability to develop positive working relationships with colleagues and external contacts