Soundbyte

WHSmith is one of the UK’s most successful and established retailers. We've been around for over 227 years and we’re still breaking stereotypes and progressing year on year. There has never been a better time to join us to work as part of a highly professional and friendly team, in a company that puts priority on your career progression.

Job Description

We are currently seeking an experienced Junior Buyer to join us on a permanent basis, in our High Street Head Office in Swindon, Wiltshire. Reporting into the Junior Trading Controller the principal objective of this role is to deliver maximum sales and profitability through determining the offers we make to our customers and successfully managing both the trading activities and profit and loss of the category.


What you’ll be doing:
In this role you will generate and deliver profitable product and promotional strategies in line with promotional deadlines and select and develop profitable lines and create promotional strategies for ranges. You will manage supplier relationships and negotiations to deliver increase in net sold margin and drive the category performance and increase yearly revenues. You will build strong relationships with Central Stores Operations and Regional Business Manager’s to execute effectively in-store key seasons by improving customer experience.  

You will create compelling customer focused offers which drive penetration into the category as well as monitoring the delivery of income against forecast and previous months. You will keep abreast of market trends and competitor activity in a fast paced environment, to help identify new opportunities and have the ability to deliver meaningful reports and cut through the information/detail in order to get to the real issue. You will have a strong awarene4ss of supply chain and cost management and manage the yearly terms and conditions negotiations with key suppliers. You will conduct range reviews and undertake continuous improvement of the product offer through effective range analysis.  

What we are looking for:
We are looking for someone that has previous buying experience, ideally previous retail buying experience in a related industry with a fast paced product lifestyle. You should have proven experience in delivering increased revenue and category growth and be confident in supplier and stakeholder management. It would be great if you had previous line management/mentoring experience and proven negotiation skills at a senior level. You should have strong commercial skills and ability to interpret the market quickly with a strong understanding of Profit and Loss. You should have a high level of Excel knowledge with the ability to analyse and manipulate data quickly with a high attention to detail. You will have the ability to remain calm under pressure and be engaging and an influential communicator. 

What’s in it for you?
We’re a company that values our people; from day one you will receive ongoing support and have access to our various training and development programmes as well as exciting career development opportunities for your future. We offer a wide range of benefits to say thank you for all your hard work including; a competitive salary, a profit related bonus, pension, 24 days holiday plus your birthday off as well as other perks such as our popular holiday trading scheme.

If successful, candidates will be required to provide a valid passport / proof of right to work in the UK and provide 3 years of continuous educational, professional or employment references. Due to the high number of applications we receive, it is with regret that we are unable to respond to all applications and therefore will only contact short listed candidates.