Job Description

What's in it for you?

Working at M&S means being part of something bigger - helping to deliver quality, value and service to millions of customers every day. We’re inclusive, fast-moving and always evolving, with a strong sense of purpose and a focus on doing the right thing.

Here are just a few of the benefits that make working here even more rewarding:

· 20% colleague discount on all M&S products and many third-party brands for you and someone in your household, available once you’ve completed your probation

· Competitive holiday allowance with the option to buy more

· Discretionary bonus schemes linked to your performance and ours

· Strong pension and life assurance to help plan for the future

· Tailored induction and training to support your development from day one

· Exclusive perks and savings through our M&S Choices portal

· Market-leading family policies, including parental, adoption and neonatal leave

· 24/7 wellbeing support, including virtual GP access and mental health services

· One paid volunteer day a year to support a cause that matters to you

What you'll do

The Head of Field VM Is accountable for driving the instore experience strategy across Fashion Home & Beauty, - encompassing the pillars of layout, product handling, kit usage and styling. Manages a clear end to process from engagement, through to training and implementation, in order to deliver a defined standard of visual excellence across our stores, which delivers to the business strategies to enable commercial growth through our UK retail spaces. Leads through expertise of the fashion retailing sector, with a detailed lens on the evolving landscape of competitors, globally.

Leads through decisive and commercial strategic planning, and provides the Field VM team with clear prioritisation and structured ways of working. Takes the central guidance and implements with an expert understanding of space, layout and market opportunity, measuring commercial impact of decision making practical implementation to inform the ongoing evolution of our stores.

Working across the UK, the Head of Field VM is an ambassador to delivering the marketing and product strategies and ensuring buy-in, to deliver the customer journey which both inspires and delivers ease of shop.

This is a field‑based role, with travel and on‑site working expected as part of the remit.

• Manages the plan to deliver the Model Store strategy by division which delivers in seasonal best practice and enables a format for delivering training to all VM colleagues . Leads all new store / renewal planning, including managing resource requirements
• Manages the flow of trade actions both from retail and into retail (via the support centre)
• Proposes updates to guidance in season to maximise commercial gain
• Manages the day to day ways of working with the Field VM Team, leading by example in terms of effective movements with a cost conscious lens.
• Confirms the tools required to deliver the Store Experience strategy across the varied store formats and concepts – i.e kit, new formats of POS, additional information.
• Is the primary contact for senior leadership within Retail and works in collaboration with support centre team, to engage and knowledge share at a senior retail level (Regional Managers, Store Directors)
• Manages relationships with key stakeholders and ensures the correct level of information is provided – Inform/ consult/ engage/ collaborate
• Champions an open dialogue with Retail to obtain feedback on strategy, as well as initiating regular instore review enabling informed feedback / PIR, to obtain key learnings and inform the way forward
• Champions a customer point of view and relates everything back to our customer, using relevant customer insight, commercial / industry data / KPIs to inform decision making and measure success
• Supports strategic opportunities, inclusive of our Omni proposition, to aid business transformation, and encourages innovative thinking across team
• Drives company values and behaviours across immediate and wider team, through effective leadership
• Accountable for enabling an informed, engaged, and effective team who are experts in their roles

Who you are

• Proven experience working in VM in FH&B at senior manager level with proven leadership capability
• Strategy management with proven commercial success in driving KPIs
• Shows resilience and persistence through periods of change and challenge
• Excellent technical Visual Merchandising and coaching capability
• Excellent communication and key stakeholder management
• Confident understanding / articulation of the brand identity

Everyone's Welcome

We are ambitious about the future of retail. We’re disrupting, innovating and leading the industry into a more conscientious, inspiring digital era. We’re transforming how we work together and offering our most exciting opportunities yet. Marks & Spencer strives to be an inclusive organisation, trusted and admired by our colleagues, customers and suppliers. Join us and make change happen.

We are committed to building diverse and representative teams, where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and be at their best. We support each other and work together to win together.

If you feel you'd benefit from any support or reasonable adjustments during any stage of the recruitment process, please don’t hesitate to let us know when completing your application. This information will be picked up by our team, so we can try and put steps in place to help you be at your best through this process.

#LI-CA1