Junior Buyer

We're looking for a Junior Buyer to join us and develop a career with our experienced buying team. Our buying teams are responsible for providing our customers with the products that they love, and this role offers a rare opportunity for you to see the results of your hard work paying off every time you step into one of our stores and see your products on the shelves.

With the support of a Buyer or Commercial Buying Manager, you'll be working in a busy category collaborating with some major branded suppliers. You'll need to use your commercial and customer knowledge to build the customer offer, support the commercial goals, create value, and reduce costs. If you can bring us some buying experience and a passion for building your career in retail, we can offer you a chance to develop your skills in a business that puts people right at the heart of everything we do.

What you'll do

• Take responsibility for managing and developing your section within one of our trading categories


• Source products from suppliers and leading brands, and work closely with our internal teams to deliver ranges in line with business timelines


• Drive sales and profit in line with targets, using your commercial initiative to find new opportunities for growth


• Develop a competitive range and promotional offer with a sharp eye for detail and accuracy


• Lead supplier negotiations and represent the business in supplier meetings and visits


• Work in accordance with GSCOP regulations


• Be innovative and creative with new ideas to develop your category
  
  Experience of working in a commercial function


• Strong numerical and analytical skills


• Good communication and negotiation skills


• An ability to build relationships with suppliers and internal colleagues at all levels of the business


• A resilient attitude with the ability to manage multiple priorities
  
  At Co-op, we're proud to do things a different way. As one of the world's largest co-operatives, owned by millions of members, community is at the heart of what we do. Since our Co-op was founded in 1844, we've had a clear social purpose, and everything we do as a business helps to build a fairer world for our members, customers, colleagues, and communities.


We're actively building diverse teams and we welcome applications from everyone. If you have a disability, we can make reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process according to your needs. We're also part of the Disability Confident scheme, meaning we'll always offer an interview to disabled candidates who apply through the scheme if they meet the minimum criteria for a job.

We'll ask whether you'd like to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme when you apply.

If we invite you to take part in the recruitment process for any of our jobs, we'll ask you if you need any reasonable adjustments to enable you to participate.

If you've got the skills and experience we're looking for, we can offer you a competitive salary and great benefits package which includes 30% off Co-op branded products in our food stores (as well as other discounts on Co-op products and services). You'll also get:

• 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


• Access to a subsidised onsite gym (at our Manchester HQ)


• Coaching and training to support your career development


• Wagestream - a money management app that gives you access to a percentage of your pay as you earn it