Our people are the heart of our business. As our greatest asset, they make Musgrave a great place to work and in return we aim to be the very best place to work, grow and thrive.

We have an opportunity for a Trading Manager (9 month fixed term) to join our Trading team. Our buying/trading teams are responsible for buying the right products for our customers at the right price, analysing data and negotiating with suppliers to ensure that we drive sales and profit for both Musgrave and our retail partners. They work closely with internal stakeholders in Marketing, Sales, Own Brand Development and Supply Chain in ensuring the right product range is available, delivering competitive promotions to drive sales and innovating to meet the needs of our customers and upcoming trends.

As part of the Growing Good Business Agenda the role of Trading Manager is to lead the development and implementation of an effective range strategy for their portfolio, grounded in the overall trading strategy and consumer insight that supports the delivery of our brands. The strategy will be designed and delivered through engaging with customers and suppliers and leading cross functional project teams incorporating, merchandising, product development, marketing, sales, HR, store development and finance.

Responsibilities of the role include (but not limited to):

Developing and implementing an effective range strategy for assigned portfolio:

• Management of the portfolio product range and category plans through the range management process to reflect market and consumer trends and to ensure consistency with the company’s brand position and profit objectives.
• Reviewing product range on a regular and ongoing basis based on best practice category management principles and informed by market and consumer research, retailer, marketing and sales department input and supplier innovations.
• Ensuring full understanding, buy-in and implementation of the category strategy and plans through engagement with Sales, Marketing, Store Design, HR, Supply Chain, Suppliers and Retailers with a view to optimising sales effectiveness and profitability.
• Developing seasonal supply plans to meet anticipated demand uplifts and down turns.
• Assessing customer loyalty issues and identifying ways to increase in line with Musgrave’s expectations through working with the Sales departments and other stakeholders.

Developing annual plans and budgets based on defined strategy:

• Development of Sales, Margin, and Supplier Income targets for the coming year by Supplier and Article Group.
• Preparation and delivery of annual Buying Plan outlining income strategy and actions to achieve all financial targets, OB and Range Review plans.
• Quarterly review of budget and business plan with Category Manager

Manage the sourcing and introduction of Own Brand product in conjunction with the product development teams to enhance margins and provide consumers with competitive VFM offers:

• Identifying Own Brand product gaps and opportunities based on actual versus targeted participation levels.
• Developing products from concept through to commercial launch in conjunction with cross functional teams.
• Agreeing appropriate pricing points to optimise revenue and margin performance.
• Monitoring Own Brand product performance and identifying value engineering opportunities to increase revenues and margin.

Negotiate the total purchase cost of products for Musgrave and its customers:

• Monitoring the performance of all products in terms of volume, margin contribution and market share and taking appropriate steps as necessary to achieve category targets.
• Analysing supplier cost base to ensure optimum purchase prices are achieved.
• Negotiating purchase price, supply terms and conditions and supplier income in line with Musgrave policies and guidelines.
• Balancing the mix of cost price, discounts, bonuses, rebates, special offers and promotional activity to achieve the Brand positioning of a quality value for money consumer offer.
• Leveraging the overall buying power of the Musgrave Group in all negotiations.
• Developing detailed promotional strategies and plans to optimise revenue and margin opportunities.
• Identifying income opportunities and achieving Income targets.

Set wholesale and retail selling prices and monitor portfolio and product margins to ensure that profitability objectives for both the company and customers are being met

• Analysing competitor pricing and promotional activity to ensure competitive position is maintained and appropriate for market conditions.
• Regular review of Retail Price position to ensure that category is within agreed Price Basket targets.
• Balancing the margin mix between cost, wholesale price and retail selling price to deliver annual Musgrave and Retailer margin category targets in line with policy.
• Accurately maintaining the portfolio price file.

Develop excellent long-term supplier and customer relationships

• Attending customer cluster meetings and other retailer forums
• Regular visits to stores to develop strong working relationships with retailers and customer colleagues
• Regular engagement with all suppliers to ensure that agreed Joint Business Plan activity is agreed and delivered throughout the year.
• Regular supplier review meetings to track range performance, profitability, market activity, product innovation and promotional plans against targets.
• Working closely with Supply Chain to monitor supplier performance (inbound service level, out of stocks, PA supply etc.) and taking steps to address poor performance as necessary.

Leading and participating in Projects:

• Planning and organising internal, cross-functional or cross-divisional project teams to deliver category initiatives
• Developing detailed project plans including, activity schedule, milestone plan, resource plan, timeline and budgets
• Reporting on project progress & taking corrective action to address issues as appropriate
• Developing appropriate risk / contingency plans to ensure delivery of plan
• Conducting post project implementation review and reporting on same