Buying Assistant
£24,000 to £27,000 plus excellent benefits (Work Level 6B)
Manchester city centre, in this role you’ll work in a hybrid way splitting your time between home, coming into our Manchester office at least twice a week and visiting our suppliers (find out more about our hybrid working policy at colleagues.coop.co.uk/hybrid-working-policy). 

Permanent and 12-month fixed term contract available

We’re looking for Buying Assistants to join our brilliant Commercial team.

In Commercial, we’re all about buying the products our customers love. We’re passionate about sourcing amazing products at the best possible price. That’s what it means to us to do right by our member-owners.

But because we’re Co-op, we do things a bit differently. Getting the best value for customers can’t come at the expense of other businesses in our supply chain. We work fairly and co-operatively with all our suppliers (the clue’s in the name).

Most of all, we’re committed to doing right by you – our colleagues. You’ll work hard here, but we’ll give you balance. And we promise to protect your wellbeing through flexible working arrangements, supportive leadership and a wide range of forward-thinking people policies and services. 

What you’ll do

• Complete administrative tasks to assist our Buyers in managing the implementation of standard and promotional ranging
• Support with any promotional and systems-related admin or set-up
• Deal with a range of internal and external queries and disputes; working with suppliers to rectify product costs and financial disputes
• Build strong working relationships with internal and external partners and become the ‘go-to’ person for any queries 
• Gain a comprehensive understanding of SAP, which you’ll use daily within your role, with support and mentorship from your colleagues
• Gain a core understanding of commercial operations 

This role would suit people who have

• The ability to organise and prioritise tasks within a fast-paced environment with a keen eye for detail and accuracy 
• Good Microsoft Office skills, particularly in Microsoft Excel
• The ability to work with data and quickly adapt to using new systems
• Great communication and team-working skills with the confidence to build successful internal and external relationships 
• An interest in food retail

Why Co-op?

If you have the skills that we need, we can offer you a competitive salary and great benefits package which includes 30% off Co-op branded products in our food stores (as well as other discounts on Co-op products and services).

• An annual bonus (based on personal and business performance)
• 28 days holiday (rising to 32 with service) plus bank holidays 
• A pension with up to 10% employer contributions
• Access to a subsidised onsite gym (at our Manchester HQ)
• Coaching and training to support your career development
• Wagestream app – giving you access to a percentage of your pay as you earn

At Co-op, we’re proud to do things a different way. As one of the world’s largest co-operatives, owned by millions of members, community is at the heart of what we do. Since our Co-op was founded in 1844, we’ve had a clear social purpose, and everything we do as a business helps to build a fairer world for our members, customers, colleagues, and communities.

Building a diverse environment

We’re actively building diverse teams and we welcome applications from everyone. If you have a disability, we can make reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process according to your needs. We're also part of the Disability Confident scheme, meaning we'll always offer an interview to disabled candidates who apply through the scheme if they meet the minimum criteria for a job.
We'll ask whether you’d like to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme when you apply.

If we invite you to take part in the recruitment process for any of our jobs, we’ll ask you if you need any reasonable adjustments to enable you to participate.

You can find out more about our recruitment process at jobs.coop.co.uk/apply-process.

You can find out more about the Disability Confident scheme and all our commitments to diversity and inclusion at colleagues.coop.co.uk/diversity-inclusion-and-wellbeing

Please note that we may close applications for this role early. 

As part of your application, you'll need to complete an online assessment. This assessment typically takes between 45-60 minutes.