BUYING MANAGER – GREETINGS CARDS

Based; Swindon (3 days per week, 2 from home)

Grade; D+ plus car allowance and private medical

The Role  

At WHSmith our people are at the heart of everything we do. They are the ones that go the extra mile for our customers.  The ones that enable our growth.  That’s why our Trading team is passionate about creating an environment where people can be creative and trailblazing in order to do their best work. 

We now have an exciting opportunity for a Buying Manager to join our High Street Greeting Cards Trading team at our Support Centre in Swindon. 

The Greetings Card category is worth over £40m in the High St Business and delivers a remarkably high profit margin, making it one of the most important categories in the business. It is a complex area demanding high levels of commercial understanding, alongside close and careful supplier relationship management.

The main purpose of a Buying Manager is to lead and drive the commercial agenda. You will have full accountability and an opportunity to shape the future of the business through your team of buyers.

What you will be doing

• Developing and leading a high performing team – providing guidance and coaching to bring out the best in your people

• Complete P&L ownership of the budget for your category with a focus on net profitability. Budgets for sales/contribution/margin, costs, capex, income

• Understanding the total business strategy & your categories role within it. Ownership of annual trade / category plan process. Full involvement in origination, trialling and development of ‘3-year-plan' ideas

• Review of longer trading outlook (6 months+), mitigation plans to hand (Plan B's), and engagement with wider business on developing trends

• Managing your own category pricing including development of pricing elasticity trials where appropriate

• Managing detailed and complex trials and trials that cross beyond your own category, be the cross functional 'go to' for category/department

• Full ownership for department supplier income delivery & responsibility for reporting performance across business. Management of month-end processes

• Having a long-term supplier strategy in place covering annual deals, payment terms, cost prices, marketing spend and conduct regular grow/hold/decline reviews

• Engaging in and leadership of new store format development

What we are looking for

• You will have strong experience within relevant buying or commercial roles, ideally from the Greetings Cards industry

• A bold leader who holds the team accountable for category strategies and is passionate about delivering best in class results through the team

• Understands the importance and takes a proactive approach to the development of wider trading team members

• Takes an interest in longer term resource management (succession planning etc.)

• A strong role model across Commercial

• An individual who has the ability to work cross-functionally to deliver results

• Strong business acumen

• Is a compelling voice of the business and category(s) externally (suppliers, landlords), and internally (stakeholders, stores)

• Leads and develops a positive culture

How we reward our teams 

• Hybrid working model from home and in the office 

• 4pm Friday finish 

• Flexible Working 

• 25 days holiday, plus your Birthday off, plus Bank Holidays with an opportunity to buy extra days holiday  

• Family friendly leave 

• Company pension scheme 

• Sharesave Scheme 

• Annual Bonus based on company and Personal Performance 

• Competitive salary plus car allowance

• Private Medical

• Staff discount card for stores and online 

About us 

Celebrating over 230 years, we’re proud to have grown and evolved into a globally recognised brand present in over 30 countries around the world, and we’re proud to be that air of familiarity people love and trust on their journey, both in life and through life. As a diverse group of over 12,000 colleagues, we are all on the same journey to a better business through our commitments to our planet, people and the communities we serve. 

WHSmith have occupied our place as the Hub of the High Street and in our customers’ hearts since 1792. Across our diverse estate of over 500 stores on UK high streets, with our wide-ranging store sizes and formats, we sell a large range of products including stationery, greeting cards, art and craft, newspapers, magazines, books and drinks. We are an ambitious team that thrives on pace, collaboration and innovation resulting in a real entrepreneurial culture. 

WHSmith are proud to be an inclusive employer, we want our colleagues to feel welcome, and free to be themselves with us.