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Location Hybrid < 1-2 days in the office/Support Centre on Hams Hall Distribution Park, Coleshill. Why The Works? We don't just sell products. We inspire reading, learning, creativity and play. You sell the paint that turns someone into an artist. You provide the book that unleashes an inner author. You supply the games that help bring families together. You give someone the puzzle book that reconnects someone with a late family member's memory. You never know who someone will become. So with your passion, and our products, you will help ignite the spark in helping people unleash their creativity, find new passions, hobbies, or rekindle fond memories. The unseen possibilities are limitless, and it all starts with you. Become a Seasonal Buyer Reporting to the Buying Manager, you will be part of the Stationary and Seasonal Team focusing on Strategy, Briefing, Selection, Critical Path Management and Trade. Developing and executing strategies for sourcing products, leveraging market data to identify trends and find opportunities for growth. Lead new product development initiatives by seeking unique offerings whilst collaborating with creative teams to ensure alignment with internal trends. You will curate the best product range balancing private label and branded items and implementing clear change plans for exiting lines. Manage the critical path to launch ranges on time, overseeing junior buyers and assistants. Drive sales and profit through proactive trade actions, including promotions, clearance, pricing strategies and seasonal space optimisation in collaboration with marketing. Financial accountability for circa £7m with accountability for all seasonal events including Easter, Halloween, and Christmas. Your Mission You will be responsible for setting your department budget for sales, margin and margin % and held accountable to the delivery of these key business metrics. Helping your manager keep tabs on supplier performance, finding new potential suppliers, and nurturing long-term relationships with them. Checking out our stores and website regularly, keeping an eye on what customers are into, trends, and what our competitors are up to. Working with suppliers and quality teams to make sure our products are top-notch. Managing the critical path to ensure QA team and involved at the key times and working with them to always ensure product and ethical compliance. Keeping all the systems and trackers in your department up to date, including sales performance, Sell through trackers, critical path management tools and KVI price tracking. Team up with the merchandisers, to make sure we're making the most of sales opportunities and getting products out to our customers when we say we will. Work with them to manage cost of markdown and be in regular WSSI meetings to agree any changes to budget and OTB spend accordingly. Putting together internal communications and presentations. Presenting to Board members your ranges for their sign off, completing all required sign off packs consistently Skills/Behaviours That Will Set You Apart Able to thrive in a fast-paced trading environment. Product development & sourcing experience Ability to work with a broad supplier base and develop own brand product. Commercial experience of 18 months/2 years essential, can demonstrate strong commercial acumen. Proven analytical, influencing & presentation skills. Confident, decisive, innovative, and creative. Highly numerate with high level of accuracy. Adaptable approach to working and ability to remain calm under pressure. Influencing, stakeholder management & negotiation skills Leadership skills to manage a Junior Buyer and/or Buying Assistant Actively manage self-development programme to achieve Buyer potential (working objectives). Computer literacy to include working knowledge of Microsoft systems (Word, Excel, and Outlook). Ability to multitask and prioritise workload alongside good time management. Always represent The Works in a professional manner at relevant trade shows, supplier meetings and internal meetings. Full clean driving license/prepared to travel when required. Our PERKS really are The Works' ?? 25% Colleague Discount! - Plus, exclusive Double Discount days! ?? MyWorks - Access exclusive online discounts across hundreds of retailers, holidays, utilities deals, tech and more! ?? Holiday 33 days including bank holidays. ?? Holiday Purchase - Purchase an additional 5 days ? Can-Do Academy - Grow your skills and career with instant access to further training and development in areas that interest you. ?? Wagestream - Claim early access to 50% of your wages as you earn them for when life' happens! ? Share Scheme - Unleash your inner Monopoly mogul and own a piece of The Works! ?? 24/7 support for you and your family - Through our partnership with the Retail Trust who provide an Employee Assistance Programme and so much more! ?? Healthcare Cash Plan To support your everyday healthcare costs ?? And loads more! Long Service Awards, pension, life assurance, Cycle to Work and optional charity giving. Our Purpose To inspire reading. learning, creativity and play - making lives more fulfilled. Our Values We are Crafty We are Caring We are Can-do We Listen. We Care Each year, we run an anonymous colleague engagement survey. This is so important for us to hear your feedback and suggestions. We want to know what's going great, and what needs a couple of tweaks to help make The Works the best place you've ever worked! You'll have opportunity to help give us that direction. Promoting Diversity, Inclusion, and Applying Reasonable Adjustments At The Works, we are proud to have an inclusive culture where everyone truly feels able to be themselves. Our roles are open to all, including under-represented groups such as ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, carers & members of the LGBTQ community (including those who identify as lesbian, gay, bi, trans, non-binary, or use another term). We are open to discussing part-time and flexible working and, where possible, will try to support this. If you need reasonable
Location Hybrid < 1-2 days in the office/Support Centre on Hams Hall Distribution Park, Coleshill. Why The Works? We don't just sell products. We inspire reading, learning, creativity and play. You sell the paint that turns someone into an artist. You provide the book that unleashes an inner author. You supply the games that help bring families together. You give someone the puzzle book that reconnects someone with a late family member's memory. You never know who someone will become. So with your passion, and our products, you will help ignite the spark in helping people unleash their creativity, find new passions, hobbies, or rekindle fond memories. The unseen possibilities are limitless, and it all starts with you. Become a Sourcing Assistant We're looking for an enthusiastic Sourcing Assistant to join the Commercial team at The Works. This is a new and exciting role within the team where you will be able to pay a key part in implementing new ways of working both internally across the trading teams and externally within our supplier base. Working closely with design, buying, merchandising, supply chain and quality teams you will be responsible for co-ordinating our key supplier relationships, supplier assessment, supplier strategy and supplier engagement. Reporting to the Sourcing Manager you will be an important part of the team to drive our business and commercial strategy forward maximising efficiencies in how we operate and end to end management of our key partners. Your Mission Support in the development of our sourcing base & supplier management end to end, aiding on building a clear process to assess our supplier base and drive key partnerships. Capture and record key metrics related to supplier performance, to ensure that they meet the company's needs and expectations. Engage with Tech Services to provide support developing a functional / interactive supplier database to capture all our supplier details and data. Support the implementation of a supplier scorecard process and embed within the trading teams for us to be able to assess our supplier base objectively. Assist in the development of an onboarding process for new suppliers and exit process to manage annual supplier numbers. Be involved in the day to day running of our ethical audit process with Verisio, our dedicated 3rd party ethical compliance partner. Support the management of our supplier T&C's, including payment terms, defect rates and rebates. Help with the development of supplier communication tools and an engagement plan. Support with setting up supplier communications and conferences. Deputise for the Sourcing Manager as and when required. Skills/Behaviours That Will Set You Apart Computer literacy to include working knowledge of Microsoft systems, including Word, Excel, and Outlook. Strong numerical skills and ability to analyse data. Ability to multitask and prioritise workload alongside good time management. Experience of working with suppliers and contacts from different countries, particularly in Asia, would be advantageous. Our PERKS really are The Works' ?? 25% Colleague Discount! - Plus, exclusive Double Discount days! ?? MyWorks - Access exclusive online discounts across hundreds of retailers, holidays, utilities deals, tech and more! ?? Holiday 33 days including bank holidays. ?? Holiday Purchase - Purchase an additional 5 days ? Can-Do Academy - Grow your skills and career with instant access to further training and development in areas that interest you. ?? Wagestream - Claim early access to 50% of your wages as you earn them for when life' happens! ? Share Scheme - Unleash your inner Monopoly mogul and own a piece of The Works! ?? 24/7 support for you and your family - Through our partnership with the Retail Trust who provide an Employee Assistance Programme and so much more! ?? Healthcare Cash Plan To support your everyday healthcare costs ?? And loads more! Long Service Awards, pension, life assurance, Cycle to Work and optional charity giving. Our Purpose To inspire reading. learning, creativity and play - making lives more fulfilled. Our Values We are Crafty We are Caring We are Can-do We Listen. We Care Each year, we run an anonymous colleague engagement survey. This is so important for us to hear your feedback and suggestions. We want to know what's going great, and what needs a couple of tweaks to help make The Works the best place you've ever worked! You'll have opportunity to help give us that direction. Promoting Diversity, Inclusion, and Applying Reasonable Adjustments At The Works, we are proud to have an inclusive culture where everyone truly feels able to be themselves. Our roles are open to all, including under-represented groups such as ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, carers & members of the LGBTQ community (including those who identify as lesbian, gay, bi, trans, non-binary, or use another term). We are open to discussing part-time and flexible working and, where possible, will try to support this. If you need reasonable adjustments to apply for this role, please contact and we'll be happy to help!
Location Hybrid: 1-2 days in the office/Support Centre on Hams Hall Distribution Park, Coleshill. Why The Works? We don't just sell products. We inspire reading, learning, creativity and play. You sell the paint that turns someone into an artist. You provide the book that unleashes an inner author. You supply the games that help bring families together. You give someone the puzzle book that reconnects someone with a late family member's memory. You never know who someone will become. So with your passion, and our products, you will help ignite the spark in helping people unleash their creativity, find new passions, hobbies, or rekindle fond memories. The unseen possibilities are limitless, and it all starts with you. Become a Merchandiser With a newly expanded Merchandising function, this role is an incredible opportunity to really help to shape our future buying and merchandising structure and the way we deal with our stock. Reporting to the Merchandising Manager, you will play a key role in our Supply Chain function. Your Mission Oversee timely delivery of stock into the warehouse, to maximise availability in line with agreed KPI's and timelines for all channels. Ensure on-time delivery through supporting the achievement of merchandising milestones within the critical path, ensuring any issues are resolved or raised where appropriate, and negotiating confidently with suppliers accordingly. Work within stock budgets to ensure stock is maintained throughout the year at the correct levels, particularly through peak periods including new product range launches, Christmas, promotion periods. Accountable for order management in line with agreed parameters and critical path. Own and manage category/range & SKU level forecasts to ensure sales, stock holding, margin and availability is optimised. Able to maintain and update the WSSI and line card management and will have had exposure to OTB and budget management. Plan and present product ranges alongside Buyer (with support of Senior merchandiser), with considerations of budget, space, ranking, buy quantities and intake phasing. Review attribute analysis to support range reviews and promotional analysis providing clear recommendations. Review weekly trading performance to identify issues and opportunities, providing clear actions to maximise profitability. Deliver the sales in line with budget and agreed strategy. Coach and develop of direct reports to potentialise performance. Skills/Behaviours That Will Set You Apart Strong numerical skills and ability to analyse and interpret data with recommendations. Experience of working in a fast-paced trading environment Currently a Merchandiser, or a Junior Merchandiser looking for your next challenge, able to demonstrate experience of forecasting and updating a WSSI. Evidence of developing and training in your current role Demonstrate commercial and financial awareness Be a team-player and be able to work equally as well on your own ?? 25% Colleague Discount! -Plus, exclusive Double Discount days! ??MyWorks - Access exclusive online discounts across hundreds of retailers, holidays, utilities deals, tech and more! ?? Holiday 33 days including bank holidays. ?? Holiday Purchase - Purchase an additional 5 days ? Can-Do Academy - Grow your skills and career with instant access to further training and development in areas that interest you. ?? Wagestream - Claim early access to 50% of your wages as you earn them for when life' happens! ? Share Scheme - Unleash your inner Monopoly mogul and own a piece of The Works! ??24/7 support for you and your family - Through our partnership with the Retail Trust who provide an Employee Assistance Programme and so much more! ?? Healthcare Cash Plan To support your everyday healthcare costs ?? And loads more! Long Service Awards, pension, life assurance, Cycle to Work and optional charity giving. Our Purpose To inspire reading. learning, creativity and play - making lives more fulfilled. Our Values We are Crafty We are Caring We are Can-do We Listen. We Care Each year, we run an anonymous colleague engagement survey. This is so important for us to hear your feedback and suggestions. We want to know what's going great, and what needs a couple of tweaks to help make The Works the best place you've ever worked! You'll have opportunity to help give us that direction. Promoting Diversity, Inclusion, and Applying Reasonable Adjustments At The Works, we are proud to have an inclusive culture where everyone truly feels able to be themselves. Our roles are open to all, including under-represented groups such as ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, carers & members of the LGBTQ community (including those who identify as lesbian, gay, bi, trans, non-binary, or use another term). We are open to discussing part-time and flexible working and, where possible, will try to support this. If you need reasonable adjustments to apply for this role, please contact and we'll be happy to help! #LIHybrid