Job Description

Space Planning and Merchandising Manager

£55,000 - £65,000 plus private healthcare, pension with up to 10% employer contributions and more great benefits (Work Level 5)

9-month fixed-term contract

Manchester city centre - in this role you’ll work in a hybrid way splitting your time between home, coming into the office and visiting our stores as needed (find out more about our hybrid working policy at https://jobs.coop.co.uk/hybrid-working-policy).

We're looking for a Space Planning and Merchandising Manager to join our Range & Display team and help us deliver a great shopping experience for our customers. In this role, you'll lead our approach to space planning and merchandising across our stores, making sure our ranges are easy to shop, simple for colleagues to manage and aligned to our commercial goals. Working across multiple teams, you'll bring people together, build alignment and help turn strategy into action.

Why this role matters

This is a great opportunity to lead a highly visible team at the heart of how our products show up in stores. You'll work with a wide range of stakeholders across commercial, customer and operational teams, helping to shape decisions that impact millions of customer journeys every week. If you enjoy leading through change, building strong relationships and bringing people together to deliver great outcomes, this role offers the chance to make a real difference across the business.

What you’ll do

• Lead, coach and develop a team of Micro Space Planners, creating an inclusive environment where people can thrive and perform at their best
• Develop and evolve our merchandising principles and ways of working, ensuring they support customer, commercial and operational priorities
• Work with stakeholders across the business to build alignment, manage competing priorities and deliver successful outcomes
• Identify and remove barriers to progress, helping teams make decisions and move work forward effectively
• Drive continuous improvement in how we use space planning and merchandising capability to meet changing business and customer needs
• Make sure all multi-channel planograms are delivered accurately, on time, and to the agreed quality standards
• Partner with business leaders to balance merchandising principles with range review, promotional and operational objectives
• Support projects, trials and new initiatives that require innovative approaches to merchandising and space planning

What you’ll bring

We’re committed to making our roles as accessible as possible, so we only ask for the minimum criteria. To thrive here, you’ll need to bring:

• Experience leading and developing teams, with the ability to motivate others while delivering against business objectives
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with experience building relationships across multiple teams and levels
• Confidence managing complex situations, challenging conversations and competing priorities to achieve the right outcome
• A customer-focused mindset combined with strong commercial awareness and sound decision-making skills
• Experience in merchandising, category management, range planning or a related retail function
• The ability to simplify complex challenges, remove blockers and drive delivery in a fast-paced environment
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to present ideas clearly and influence change

Why Co-op?

At Co-op, we’re owned by our members. And because we’re owned by you, we can do right by you. So when you join us, you’re not just taking a job, you’re joining a movement. We’re an organisation that puts people and communities first, and we’re powered by purpose. We want this to be a place where you can thrive, so you’ll also receive:

• An annual bonus (based on personal and business performance)
• 28 days holiday (rising to 32 with service) plus bank holidays
• A pension with up to 10% employer contributions
• Private healthcare
• Access to a subsidised onsite gym (at our Manchester HQ)
• 30% discount on Co-op products and 10% off other brands
• Stream – early access to a percentage of your pay as you earn it
• Virtual healthcare including GP appointments, mental health support, nutrition and fitness advice
• 24/7 colleague support service
• Training and support for your development and career progression
• Cycle-to-work scheme

A place you’ll belong

We’re building diverse and inclusive teams that reflect the communities we serve. We welcome applications from everyone and are committed to creating a workplace where colleagues can feel like they belong, supported by our inclusive policies and the ways we work.

We’re proud to be part of the Disability Confident scheme and offer interviews to disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria for a job. If you need any adjustments during the recruitment process, we’ll support you.

Learn more about our recruitment process at jobs.coop.co.uk/apply-process and our inclusion commitments at jobs.coop.co.uk/diversity-inclusion

Please note that we may close applications for this role early.

As part of your application, you'll need to complete an online assessment. This assessment typically takes up to 50 minutes. If you're a current Co-op colleague, this does not need to be completed.