Junior Merchandiser

The Science Museum Group (SMG) manage five National museums each with shops and online stores, with an annual turnover in excess of £5million. SMG stock a wide range of product categories including toys, homewares, apparel and food.

As Junior Merchandiser your role is to ensure that all sites have commercial ranges relevant to their customers and adequately stocked to achieve the sales plan, while managing inventory within agreed stock targets.

WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING: 

·         Providing commercial analysis of suppliers, ranges, products and promotions, proposing recommendations to the team.

·         Reviewing current trade and historical performance to identify risks and opportunities in future product ranges. 

·         Producing balanced option plans for category reviews with clear reasoning behind assumptions and proposed strategy.

·         Working with the buying team to ensure margin/MOQ/vendor issues are flagged and resolved before buy meetings so that solutions can be found in plenty of time.

·         Maintaining a good awareness of product performance by channel and market, identifying risks and opportunities to drive maximum profit whilst minimising terminal stocks and taking appropriate action in conjunction with the relevant teams.

·         Regularly visiting stores and developing and executing robust action plans.

·         Developing positive working relationships cross-functionally across departments and externally (e.g. buying, warehouse, suppliers) to build trust and influence growth.

·         Managing the Assistant Merchandiser and Merchandise Assistant to ensure that they are delivering stock to stores in line with departmental plans.

·         Coaching and developing your team (Assistant Merchandiser + Merchandise Assistant) by sharing knowledge and providing effective feedback.

·         Continuously demonstrating inclusive behaviours, valuing everyone’s contribution, and promoting a culture of openness.

·         Following training, you may be required to participate in SMG’s incident response and business continuity arrangements, helping us ensure the organisation’s preparedness and resilience.

·         As a colleague at SMG, you will learn about our Health and Safety Policies, procedures, and risk assessments, allowing you to take care of your own personal safety and that of others.

WHAT YOU BRING TO THE TEAM: 

You will have:

·         Experience and knowledge of working in a stock management/planning environment.

·         Experience of sales analysis and forecasting.

·         The ability to deliver results and meet ideal targets, with consideration of commercial objectives.

·         Good organisational skills with the ability to meet deadlines and prioritise tasks, whilst retaining a high level of accuracy.

·         A proactive and self-motivated approach to working autonomously, with the ability to take ownership of your role and make strategic decisions, with the support of the team where needed.

·         The ability to motivate and encourage continuous improvement in others.

·         A good eye for detail and experience of working to high degrees of accuracy.

·         Good communication skills to convey clear, effective messages to a range of stakeholders.

·         The ability to build and maintain good working relationships with managers, colleagues, and suppliers.

·         The ability to use your initiative and remain solutions-focused when solving problems.

·         Good IT skills, with good proficiency of Excel.

·         A values-driven approach and passion for contributing to an open and inclusive organisation.

SOME THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW: 

·         Science Museum Group is legally required to ensure that all prospective employees have the right to work in the UK before their employment starts. If you do not have this, but believe you are eligible for sponsorship or able to work with us through any other route, please contact us to check before starting an application.

·         SMG will request either a basic or enhanced criminal record check for the successful candidate, depending on the requirements of the role. We will consider every applicant on a case-by-case basis.

·         SMG will support any eligible applications to ‘Access to Work’, a government scheme which helps disabled employees meet additional access related costs at work.

·         Hybrid working is available in this role in line with the current hybrid working policy at SMG. You will be required to work a minimum of 40% of your working hours on-site, with the specific working arrangement to be agreed with the line manager of this role.