Lead Category Buyer - Milton Keynes, United Kingdom - BP

Description

Grade HResponsible for coordinating activities of a team to support the delivery of category plans by managing price changes and pricing standards, supporting the implementation of products and promotions that drive profitability, and managing supplier and operational issues.Entity:
Customers & Products

Job Family Group:
Retail Group

Job Description:

The Lead Category Buyer works in partnership with our branded suppliers to present customers with the right products at competitive prices. Enticing them into bigger baskets through personalised, market-leading promotions, and thereby growing both sales, profit and supplier income.

In this role, you will have individual buying responsibility for one or more product categories, and also take ownership for leading initiatives or projects within the team. You may also have responsibility for leading 1-2 Buying Assistants.

Key Responsibilities

• Responsible for supporting the Buying Manager in crafting the strategic direction of the branded trading offer and mentoring the team to improve short, medium and longer-term deliverables.
• Lead larger turnover categories, including purchasing, ranging, and ongoing category management
• Develop and implement category plans (including supporting category buyers) to ensure delivery of sales, margin, and income targets
• Build, handle, and maintain supplier relationships to source products, negotiate cost prices and optimise income to maximise profit
• Work with suppliers and marketing to develop shop promotions which drive incremental sales and margin, and acquire new customers
• Maximise the opportunities across new and emerging channels (i.e. digital) present and take the lead in this space as required
• Work closely with supply chain to support supplier management of stock availability and optimised working capital, coupled with robust forecasting to ensure strong store availability
• In conjunction with space planning; identify, develop and implement range, layout and equipment opportunities (macro and micro) to maximise sales and customer impact

Key Skills:

• Previous experience partnering with and building strong third party relationships to deliver outstanding performance
• Experienced retail buyer, or relevant equivalent experience within a trading environment
• Experience of remaining highly motivated whilst handling pressures associated with high intensity / high profile role
• Strong team-working skills with the ability to collaborate cross functionally with the wider business
• Highly numerate with strong analytical and MS Office skills
• Strong communicator with exceptional negotiation skills and the ability to tailor language and style dependent on audience

This role is based in our Milton Keynes office 2/3 days per week with some travel to stores/suppliers as needed

At bp, we provide an excellent working environment and employee benefits such as an open and inclusive culture, a great work-life balance, tremendous learning and development opportunities to craft your career path, life and health insurance, medical care package and many others.

We support our people to learn and grow in a diverse and exciting environment. We believe that our team is strengthened by diversity. We are committed to crafting an inclusive environment in which everyone is respected and treated fairly.

There are many aspects of our employees' lives that are significant, so we offer benefits to enable your work to fit with your life. These benefits can include flexible working options, collaboration spaces in a modern office environment, and others benefits.

Travel Requirement
Up to 10% travel should be expected with this role

Relocation Assistance:
This role is not eligible for relocation

Remote Type:
This position is a hybrid of office/remote working

Skills:
Agility core practices, Agility core practices, Agreements and negotiations, Analytical Thinking, Commercial Acumen, Commercial acumen (Inactive), Communication, Continuous improvement, Continuous Learning, Creativity and Innovation, Customer centric thinking, Customer data knowledge, Data Analysis, Data visualization and interpretation, Decision Making, Digital Collaboration, Digital fluency, Industry knowledge and advocacy, Integrated pricing, Knowledge Sharing, Leading transformation, Negotiation planning and preparation, Offer and product knowledge, Offer execution and growth, Operational Excellence {+ 11 more}

Legal Disclaimer:

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, socioeconomic status, neurodiversity/neurocognitive functioning, veteran status or disability status. Individuals with disabilities may request a reasonable accommodation related to bp's recruiting process (e.g., accessing the job application, completing required assessments, participating in telephone screenings or interviews, etc.). If you would like to request an accommodation related to the recruitment process, please contact us to request accommodations.

If you are selected for a position and depending upon your role, your employment may be contingent upon adherence to local policy. This may include pre-placement drug screening, medical review of physical fitness for the role, and background checks.