Job Description

Our Food Commercial team sits at the heart of delivering great quality products for our customers, at the right price. Based across Holborn and flexible home working, the team works closely with Supply Chain, Own Brand, and Retail colleagues to shape category strategy and drive commercial performance. You’ll be part of a collaborative, fast-paced environment where market insight, innovation, and strong supplier partnerships are key to maintaining a competitive edge.

More about the role

As a Senior Buyer, you will take ownership of the Laundry & Dish categories worth £400m in annual sales, executing sourcing and selection strategies aligned to wider business objectives. As the Senior Buyer within the Household department, you’ll lead the team on strategic planning, supplier negotiations to secure optimal cost prices, identify the most effective sourcing routes, and implement pricing, promotional, and ranging strategies that drive performance across sales, profit, and market share. You’ll also be one of two buyers across the total business to pilot key elements of Core Commercial Transformation (CCT) and involved in shaping the rollout of that across the business.

Day-to-day, you’ll collaborate with Category Directors, Head of Buying and Category Planning, and cross-functional teams to shape the product range, support new product development (NPD), and ensure a strong balance of quality and cost. You’ll also monitor supplier performance, benchmark against competitors, and identify future commercial opportunities to keep your category ahead in a dynamic retail market.

More about you

You bring a strong understanding of buying and category management within a retail or commercial environment, with the ability to analyse market trends and translate insights into action. You are confident negotiating with suppliers and can demonstrate accountability for delivering commercial outcomes across sales, profit, and cost optimisation.

You are a collaborative team player who builds effective relationships across functions, communicates clearly, and uses data to inform decisions. Comfortable in a fast-paced environment, you are proactive in identifying opportunities, driving improvements, and supporting innovation within your category.

Essential criteria

• Proven experience managing product ranges or categories within a commercial or retail buying environment

• Demonstrable experience negotiating with suppliers to achieve cost savings or improved commercial terms. Experience with large branded suppliers in particular.

• Experience delivering pricing, promotional, or ranging strategies that have impacted sales, profit, or market share

• Demonstrable ability to analyse product, market, and financial data to inform commercial decisions

• Proven ability to work cross-functionally with supply chain, product development, or retail teams

#LI-ET1

We’d all like amazing work to do, and real work-life balance. That’s waiting for you at Sainsbury’s. Here, everything in our stores starts in Sainsbury’s Commercial. From product, proposition, packaging and price, to whether it meets our sustainability commitments or simply tastes great, our team is responsible for, all food, non- food and Clothing items available in Sainsbury’s stores, online and on demand. It’s an incredibly fast-paced environment. People here are in it together and aren’t afraid to take risks. The knowledge and experience you gain here could set you up for career moves anywhere else in the business. So, if you’re passionate about your products and just as hungry to learn, you’ll fit in perfectly.

We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer, so you’ll be welcomed whoever you are and wherever you work. Around here, there’s always the chance to try something new - whether that’s as part of an evolving team or somewhere else across the business - and we take development seriously and promise to support you. We also recognise and celebrate colleagues when they go the extra mile and, where possible, offer flexible working. When you join our team, we’ll also offer you an amazing range of benefits. Here are some of them:

Starting off with colleague discount, you'll be able to get 10% off at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat after 4 weeks. This increases to 15% off at Sainsbury’s every Friday and Saturday and 15% off at Argos every pay day. We've also got you covered for your future with our pensions scheme and life cover. You'll also be able to share in our success as you may be eligible for a performance-related bonus of up to 20% of salary, depending on how we perform.

Your wellbeing is important to us too. You'll receive an annual holiday allowance, and you can buy additional holiday. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, interest free car loan of up to £10k, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, pay advance (where you can access some of your pay before pay day) as well access to a great range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers. And if you ever need it there is also an Employee Assistance Programme, you will also be eligible for private healthcare too.

Moments that matter are as important to us as they are to you which is why we give up to 26 weeks’ pay for maternity or adoption leave and up to 4 weeks’ pay for paternity leave.

Please see www.sainsburys.jobs for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).