Overview

Home. There’s no place like it. And there’s no feeling like helping people create the joy of feeling truly at home.

At Dunelm, that’s what we do.

We’re the UK’s number one choice for homewares because we make home life lovelier for our customers. And the caring and supportive culture we’ve created makes this a place you’ll feel right at home too.

Our approach to how we work has been to create and encourage an environment of “Feeling at Home Wherever You Work”, ensuring we can work where it is effective for us, and at the same time we are able to collaborate and connect regularly with our teams and networks, so we are offering a balance of time working from home, working in the store centres and other locations.

Here at Dunelm, we are looking for a Merchandiser to join our team in our Store Support Centre in Leicester.

As a Merchandiser, you will be accountable for ensuring great availability to maximise sales whilst delivering the stock and trading strategy with the department. You will have sound commercial acumen, and excellent communication, influencing and negotiation skills. You will know what and how to pull the levers to maximise sales and profit and be a quick to react to issues and opportunities. You will work collaboratively with colleagues in the category and together will constantly evolve the plans to achieve the biggest impact and growth in the short/medium term.

What you’ll be doing

• Confidently create, present, and deliver the departmental strategy and sign off alongside the buying team
• Identify key insights and actions to improve performance and customer experience
• Prepare markdown proposals and communicate the impact of the category going forward
• Help shape the sales and margin budget for the financial year and contribute to the commercial review meetings balancing opportunities and risk
• Drive and implement actions using the stock tool to ensure the stock budget is met and sales are maximised providing updates on these actions for the monthly stock budget reviews
• Manage the critical path working cross-functionally within the category team to ensure on-time launch
• Provide historical data to help propose a new range direction
• Support decisions on product mix, option planning, price architecture and churn with the Buyer
• Rank and grade products with the Buyer to ensure we are making the best use of the graded space available
• Propose an exit plan for all end-of-season (EOS) lines to ensure maximum profit and recommend the best deal on supplier stock and pricing to the buying team
• Ensure the web is used as a platform for trialling new ranges and the web is the first and last in stock
• Lead weekly departmental trade with my Buying counterpart to agree on what levers can be pulled to maximise sales and profit
• Conduct post-implementation reviews (PIR) with the Buying team and implement actions to maximise best sellers and reduce risk in under-performers
• Sign off purchase orders within my threshold, balancing stock/availability and warehouse capacity
• Attend overseas trips to build relationships, negotiate with the supply base and find new routes
• Ensure POs (Point of Sales) are managed on the system, so they accurately reflect the intake plan
• Manage DTS suppliers to ensure their forward stock pipeline is healthy
• Check presentation levels are set appropriately against ROS, pack size and space
• Agree on offers for TV Ends, key events and new store opening offers

What we’ll look for in you

• Proactive and Organised: Highly organised with the ability to prioritise workload and meet deadlines.
• Analytical Skills: Strong analytical skills with a keen eye for detail, identifying both risks and trading opportunities.
• Communication: Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, to liaise effectively with internal teams and suppliers.
• Tech Proficiency: Proficient in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint; able to handle data and create reports.
• Team Player: Collaborative mindset, willing to work closely with cross-functional teams to achieve common goals.
• Curiosity and Drive: Stay curious, ask questions, and be proactive. We value self-motivation and a can-do attitude.