Merchandise Planning Manager - Toddler Boy - 3 Days Per Week - 12 Month Parental Leave Cover

About the role
As the Merchandise Planning Manager, you'll take ownership of the planning and trading strategy for our Toddler Boy category within Boyswear, helping shape a range that customers love while delivering strong sales, profit and stock performance.
Working at the heart of the business, you'll collaborate with Buying, Design, Sourcing, Supply Chain and Finance teams to drive category success across our UK, ROI, Central Europe and Online markets.
You'll combine customer insight, market trends and commercial expertise to build winning range plans, optimise stock investment and maximise in-season performance. You'll play a key role in identifying growth opportunities, responding to changing customer needs and delivering profitable growth for one of our most important categories. What is in it for you We’re all about the little helps. That’s why we make sure our Tesco colleague benefits package takes care of you – both in and out of work. Click Here to find out more!

• Annual bonus scheme of up to 20% of base salary.
• Holiday starting at 25 days plus a personal day (plus Bank holidays).
• Private medical insurance.
• 26 weeks maternity and adoption leave (12 months service required at the qualifying date) at full pay, followed by 13 weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay or Statutory Adoption Pay, we also offer 6 weeks fully paid paternity leave.
• Free 24/7 virtual GP service, Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) for you and your family, free access to a range of experts to support your mental wellbeing.

The above information is a shortened summary, refer to our policies for full details You will be responsible for

• Developing and delivering the category merchandise plan, ensuring alignment with departmental strategy and financial objectives.
• Managing category budgets for sales, stock, margin and markdown, identifying risks and opportunities and recommending actions to support target delivery.
• Leading the range planning process for Toddler Boy, using customer and commercial insights to shape category decisions along with another part time job share colleague
• Owning and managing the category WSSI, reviewing performance and driving actions to maximise profitability.
• Developing forecasts and intake plans to ensure stock investment is optimised and aligned to OTB targets.
• Driving in-season trade performance through regular analysis of sales, stock, availability and customer trends.
• Partnering closely with Buying to develop balanced ranges, pricing architectures and profitable category strategies.
• Reviewing store and online performance, ensuring stock is allocated effectively across channels.
• Working closely with Supply Chain teams to support stock flow, availability and inventory efficiency.
• Managing markdown and exit strategies to optimise margin and minimise aged stock.
• Building strong relationships with stakeholders across Buying, Design, Sourcing, Supply Chain, Finance and Central Merchandising teams.
• Supporting and coaching Assistant Merchandisers and Merchandise Assistants to deliver strong commercial outcomes.
• Identifying opportunities to improve processes and ways of working across the department.
• Following our Business Code of Conduct and always acting with integrity and due diligence.

You will need

• Strong merchandising and merchandise planning experience within a retail or multichannel environment.
• Experience managing category planning, forecasting and trading activity within a fast-paced commercial business.
• A solid understanding of WSSI, stock management, intake planning, markdown and OTB processes.
• Strong commercial awareness with the ability to balance customer, sales, stock and profit objectives.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills and experience working collaboratively across multiple functions.
• Ability to analyse data, identify insights and translate these into clear commercial actions.
• Strong analytical and numerical skills, with experience in planning and forecasting.
• Effective prioritisation and organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple deadlines.
• A proactive and solutions-focused approach to problem solving.
• Experience supporting and developing junior merchandising colleagues.

About us You might know us as a supermarket, technology company or even for our award-winning mobile network. Truth is, we’re all of those things, and much more. Our colleagues work with one goal in mind, helping to make every day a little better for our customers, colleagues and communities all over the world. No two customers are the same, neither are our colleagues. At Tesco, we champion a balance that lets you thrive both in and out of work. Spend 60% of your week collaborating with colleagues at our office locations or local sites and the rest remotely. Whether you're just kicking off your career, juggling passions, or navigating big life events, we're here to support you. We always welcome a conversation about flexible working, so talk to us throughout your application about how we can support. We're proud to be an accredited Disability Confident Leader, where everyone’s welcome. That’s why we commit to providing a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you need support with your application, click here  for more information. And if you're interested in joining our team but don't tick every box, don't let that hold you back from applying.