Overview
Head of Buying – London, Greater London
Everyone is welcome at M&S. No exceptions. It’s your background, abilities and differences that make you, uniquely you. And when you’re part of M&S, that individuality has the potential to make waves.
All the details
At M&S, we’re reinventing retail and creating products our customers love. We’re looking for an experienced Head of Buying to lead our Homewares Buying department within our Fashion, Home & Beauty division, shaping the product strategy, driving commercial performance, and inspiring high-performing teams to deliver market-leading ranges.
This is a pivotal leadership role with global responsibility for Home. You’ll combine customer insight, commercial acumen and product expertise to deliver exceptional product propositions that drive sales, margin and market share across multiple channels.
Due to high interest, this role may close earlier than advertised. We recommend applying as soon as possible.
What you’ll do
Your key accountabilities will include:
- Defining and delivering the long-term product strategy for Home, driving sales, margin and market share growth across all channels.
- Leading the commercial performance of the business, using customer insight, market trends and trading opportunities to shape a compelling product offer.
- Partnering with Design, Merchandising, Sourcing, Marketing and Digital teams to create market-leading ranges that excite customers and strengthen the M&S brand.
- Building and maintaining strong supplier and sourcing partnerships to deliver great product, value and profitability.
- Leading, developing and inspiring a high-performing Buying team, creating a culture of accountability, collaboration and succession planning.
Who you are
Your skills and experience will include:
- Significant senior Buying experience within a major home or multi-category retailer, with experience leading large teams.
- A proven track record of developing successful customer-focused product strategies that deliver strong commercial results.
- Strong commercial acumen with expertise in trading, margin management, supplier negotiations and global sourcing.
- Exceptional relationship-building and influencing skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across multiple functions and senior stakeholders.
- An inspiring people leader who thrives in a fast-paced environment, navigates ambiguity confidently and develops high-performing teams.
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
Everyone’s welcome
We are ambitious about the future of retail. We are disrupting, innovating and leading the industry into a more conscientious, inspiring digital era. We are 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.
To stay close to customers, our support teams are in the office three days a week as we believe that skills are developed through collaboration, and that spending time together makes us more creative and connected.
#L1-SP1 #LI-Hybrid
IMPORTANT: Before applying for this role, please make sure you have the right to work in the country where the role is based. Unless it clearly stipulates within in the job advert above that the hiring company is looking to or able to sponsor applicants it is deemed that the hiring employer will only consider applications from those able to comply with and work in the country where the role is based.
