Assistant Merchandiser (Maternity Cover)

Are you a confident Excel whizz with a keen analytical eye? Do you thrive on turning raw data into clear commercial insight? If you're passionate about stock planning, product performance, and forecasting—and love the idea of working in a creative, design-led environment—this could be your perfect next role. We're looking for an Assistant Merchandiser (Maternity Cover) to support our Merchandising team at Emma Bridgewater. This is an exciting opportunity to play a key part in keeping the right products in the right place at the right time, across both our e-commerce and wholesale channels. Sound like you? Read on…Job Title: Assistant Merchandiser (Maternity Cover)Department: Merchandising Location: London Office – Kings CrossHours of Work: 37.5 per week Salary: £30,500 per annum Contract Type: Fixed Term up to 12 monthsJob SummaryTo work alongside the Merchandiser to ensure that Emma Bridgewater will have the right stock, in the right place, at the right time across our web channels and for our wholesale business. To track and forecast both sales and stock across all of pottery ensuring sales and profit are maximised and costs and markdown are minimised. (using new WSSI tool implemented Oct 24)To provide EB weekly and monthly analysis and reporting, reviewing documents in detail with the Merch, maintaining key documents and the Seasonal Range Plans with absolute accuracy. Responsible for Personalised Pottery forecasting biscuit and reviewing wholesale performance and recommending actionExcel and system skills (Phocas and NetSuite) are essential to the role.Key duties and responsibilities:Builds and establishes strong working relationships throughout the business, with our pottery planning team, head of Pre-production planning Products sales, margin, and availability targets.Responds to requests from the Merchandiser and HOM for trading updates and ad-hoc reporting.Updates Trade information across pottery when required, highlighting risks and opportunities with the guidance of the Merchandiser, and working closely with the Buying Director and Buying Manager.Ensuring all Pottery Products data is maintained on our system (NetSuite) and any changes (e.g., prices, hierarchy etc) are actioned.Aids the Merchandiser to prepare documents for Range Reviews, Sign Offs, and Strategy presentations, including range building, and presenting in these meetings when appropriate. Contributes to the planning process with historical information and formulates ideas for growth. Helps to ensure all Range Plans are robust and accurate to meet sales plans. Reviews sales and forecasts monthly sharing all info with both Buying and Merch. Work alongside the Merchandiser to manage stock, commitment, and the Merchandising critical path, working closely with other areas of the business, including sales and marketing. Understands and helps to manage the Pottery OTB, commitment and BTA. To work with the Buying and Merch Team to review Seasonal Lessons Learnt and Strategy on Pottery across retail and wholesale. Responsible for the creation and management of an accurate line detail for all Pottery products each season.Working closely with the DC team, Pre-production and the Web team to ensure products launch on time.Thinks innovatively to create Excel spreadsheets that analyse the performance, availability, and stock holdings across the business. Applying formulae and pivot tables to automate reports to run on a weekly/monthly basis.Can analyse and manipulate large sets of raw data, drawing conclusions, developing recommendations, and providing solutions.Creates and maintains up to date Merchandising “best practice guides” for key reporting and process documents.Issuing key Merch Reports, such as the Delivery schedule & Open PO report.Other duties and responsibilities:Demonstrates sound commercial judgement showing flexibility and capability to react to changing circumstances and prioritise their workload accordingly. Think ahead, anticipate, and pre-empt, as well as being open to innovation and new ways of working.Makes decisions, takes action, and communicates clearly to all key stakeholders.Be able to build a constructive and effective working relationship with all areas of the business.Have a confident and measured approach to Junior Merchandiser and Senior Management.Manages large quantities of information, without losing sight of the main objective and selects the right issues on which to focus on.Deals confidently in challenging situations.Confidently deputise for the Merchandiser with the support of the HOM in all forums and at all levels.Seeks feedback to help self-development and understands their impact on others.Displaying behaviour consistent with the personality of the business Conducting any other reasonable tasks as required by the businessUndertaking training and development relevant to the role Working in a safe manner taking care for your own health and safetyEnsuring your work environment is safe, clean and tidyEssential Qualifications & ExperiencePrevious experience in merchandising, preferably in a similar retail or e-commerce environment.Strong Excel skills including use of formulas, pivot tables, and data manipulation.Experience with merchandising systems such as NetSuite and Phocas (or similar ERP/BI tools).Proven ability to manage, forecast, and analyse sales and stock performance.Comfortable working with large data sets to identify trends and make recommendations.Understanding of Open to Buy (OTB), stock planning, and critical path management.Commercial awareness with strong numerical and analytical abilities.Strong communication and presentation skills.Ability to build effective working relationships across departments (e.g. Buying, Pre-production, Web, Sales).High level of accuracy in reporting and maintaining documentation.Ability to prioritise tasks and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.Essential Personal Attributes Proactive and self-motivated.Strong problem-solving skills and commercial judgement.Able to take initiative and make informed decisions.Comfortable deputising for the Merchandiser when required.Flexible and adaptable to changing priorities.Creative and innovative approachExcellent communication skillsConfident individual with a good sense of humourExcellent organisational and time management skillsAn ability to perform under pressureAbility to prioritise and manage workloadAccuracy and eye for detailPositive attitude and enthusiastic approach towards workGood team-player skillsAbility to manage a number of tasks concurrentlyA willingness to undertake training as requiredProficient at Microsoft ExcelDesirable Qualifications & Experience Qualifications:Degree in a relevant field (e.g. Business, Retail Management, Fashion Merchandising).Training or certification in merchandising or supply chain software.Experience:Prior experience working with wholesale and e-commerce channels.Experience working with personalised/customisable product categories.Previous involvement in range planning, strategy reviews, or presenting at range sign-offs.Technical Tools:Familiarity with WSSI tools (especially if implemented recently).Ability to develop and improve Excel-based tools or templates for automation.Desirable Personal Attributes Innovation-minded: able to suggest improvements to reporting or processes.Resilience in handling challenges and feedback.Leadership potential: able to take initiative and grow into more senior roles.

Created: 2025-08-01