Assistant Merchandiser - Brands

We love seeing enthusiastic applications, and we want to help you make the best decision for your career! We encourage all applicants to self-assess against our key criteria. You’ll thrive in this role if you:

-Have proven experience as an Assistant Merchandiser (or a strong Trainee/Merchandising Admin Assistant background).
-Have strong technical merchandising skills across data analysis, inventory planning, and in-season trade.
-Are confident liaising directly with external brand partners and/or senior stakeholders, as well as presenting performance insights.
-Possess a solid grasp of commercial finance—managing sales budgets, profit targets, and markdown strategy.
-Enjoy combining numerical analysis with a genuine interest in retail products and market trends.


The Role
Joining the Brands Team at Next during this transformative period of growth offers an exceptional opportunity to shape category performance and drive measurable commercial impact across the UK’s leading fashion platform. As an Assistant Merchandiser, you will take strategic ownership and nurture high-profile brand partnerships across Womenswear, Menswear, and Kidswear—collaborating with market leaders such as River Island, AllSaints, Monsoon, Mint Velvet, and Hush.

We are looking for someone to be the face of our business, successfully influencing brand strategies from initial planning through to weekly trade execution; optimising sell-through, safeguarding stock health, and driving high-impact growth season on season.

What You'll Take On
Supplier Management
As the face of Next, you will build influential working relationships with brands, ensuring new partners are seamlessly onboarded and fully aligned with our operational processes. You will take accountability for KPIs across your assigned commission brands while partnering with the Trading Manager and Commercial Product Manager to support the negotiation of mutually beneficial commercial terms.

Strategic Planning
You will provide strategic phasing advice and sales projections for the season along with "Good/Better/Best" quantity guidelines, optimum option width and phasing advice to maximise full-price sell-through and minimise terminal stock.Through leading weekly reviews of commission trade, you will proactively identify risks to targets and pinpoint sudden growth opportunities. This culminates in your management of the Seasonal Review process where you will present performance summaries and outline future guidelines.

Insight & Product opportunity
By leveraging market research, competitor shopping, and internal data, you will identify distinct product-level opportunities. You will then translate these top-line insights into actionable guidance for our partner brands, influencing their future range builds to ensure they align with our customers' needs.

Financial Forecasting & Stock Management
To maintain the integrity of internal forecasts, you are responsible for ensuring all sales, profit, intake, markdown, and RTB figures are realistic, achievable, and strategically aligned with the wider business. You will take full ownership of the RTB and markdown processes by ensuring rule sets are accurate, timelines are strictly met, and that commission brands maintain the correct level of intake relative to sales generated / forecast. Additionally, you will guarantee that all LABEL+ volumes provided to logistics are accurate to facilitate efficient vehicle planning.

What You’ll Bring
Great Communication Skills: Prepare clear and engaging presentations for internal meetings and brand partner discussions. Proven ability to tailor your communication style to your audience, ensuring information is conveyed effectively. Actively listen to feedback and respond thoughtfully to questions or concerns.
Solid Technical Merchandising Skills: Utilise your technical expertise to analyse data and forecast sales. Ensure accuracy in merchandise systems and contract negotiations to support successful trading relationships. Stay updated on industry best practices and trends to enhance your merchandising capabilities.
Energetic, Enthusiastic, and Self-Confident: Approach your role with energy and enthusiasm, inspiring others with your passion and positivity. Demonstrate confidence in your abilities and decisions, especially when presenting information or leading discussions.
Open-Mindedness to New Ways of Working: Embrace innovation and creativity, actively seeking out new ideas and solutions to challenges. Be receptive to feedback and different perspectives, recognizing that diverse viewpoints can lead to better outcomes. Encourage a culture of continuous improvement and experimentation within your team.
Enjoyment of the Product and Trend Side of the Role: Immerse yourself in the world of product and trends, staying informed about the latest developments and innovations. Use your deep understanding for products and trends to drive creative merchandising strategies and inspire your team. Actively seek out opportunities to collaborate with brand partners to bring innovative products to market.

Sponsorship
Candidates wishing to apply who would require sponsorship for this role will be required to meet the Home Office sponsorship requirements. For further information please see: .

We encourage early applications for our roles, as our recruitment process begins as soon as the role is advertised. If we successfully fill the position, this advert may close earlier than planned.

At NEXT, we believe the best work happens when there are no barriers to collaboration. That’s why we are a Google-powered workspace. From your very first day, you’ll be using the full Google Workspace suite; Docs, Drive, and Meet, to stay connected and move fast.

If your previous experience is rooted in other software suites, don’t worry! We’ll point you to a digital Google toolkit the moment you join, packed with handy guides and insider tips to help you transition smoothly and hit the ground running.

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