Space Planning and Merchandising Manager

Space Planning and Merchandising Manager 
£55,000 to £65,000 plus great benefits (Work Level 5) 
Manchester city centre, in this role you’ll work in a hybrid way splitting your time between home, coming into the office and visiting our stores as needed (find out more about our hybrid working policy at colleagues.coop.co.uk/hybrid-working-policy).

12-month fixed-term contract 

We’re looking for a Space Planning and Merchandising Manager to join our Range & Display team here at Co-op. In this role, our customers will be at the heart of everything you do. You’ll own, define and develop our approach to micro-space optimisation aligned to our range and display strategy. We’ll look to you to run a team of up to twelve Micro Space Planners that will make our brilliant Coop ranges really easy for our customers to shop and for our store teams to manage. You’ll be responsible for making sure our overall proposition is merchandised in the right place at the right time for our customers, members, channels and colleagues.

What you’ll do

• Develop our merchandising principles and guardrails to make sure our proposition consistently shows up for our customers, members and colleagues
• Drive the change needed to embed strategies and objectives into ways of working processes and decision-making across our partner business areas 
• Look to continuously improve how we use our micro-space and merchandising capability to meet our business and customer needs, making sure it’s commercially successful and fit for the future
• Lead, coach and develop a large team of Micro Space Planners responsible for the optimisation and maintenance of all multi-channel planograms 
• Work cross-functionally and influence across the business to make sure the teams are aligned and can deliver successfully across customer, commercial and operational outcomes
• Make sure planograms are continually maintained accurately, on time and to agreed quality and outcomes 
• Work together with business leaders to set up the right conditions to enable the team to meet all merchandising principles and guardrails whilst delivering against range review and promotional objectives 
• Support and input into projects, tests, and trials that require a different approach to support our changing business strategy and objectives

This role would suit people who have

• Experience in motivating and leading a successful team whilst prioritising the delivery of business needs and objectives
• A customer-first mindset and commercial acumen
• A clear focus on future planning, to help influence the right decision making today
• The ability to champion change whilst building strong relationships internally and externally to create a rounded view and understanding of different priorities and perspectives 
• Excellent influencing, communication, and presentation skills with the ability to question and challenge where necessary 
• Category management and merchandising/display experience with an understanding of inventory and range review processes

Why Co-op?

At Co-op, we’re owned by our members. And because we’re owned by you, we can do right by you. So when you join us, you’re not just taking a job, you’re joining a movement. We’re an organisation that puts people and communities first, and we’re powered by purpose. We want this to be a place where you can thrive, so you’ll also receive:

• 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
• Private healthcare
• 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

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 at Disability Confident Scheme - Co-op Colleagues and more about our commitments to diversity and inclusion at Diversity and Inclusion

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 up to 50 minutes. If you're a current Co-op colleague, this does not need to be completed.