The Vacancy
Buyer – General Merchandise (12-Month Fixed Term Contract – Maternity Cover)
Location: Poundstretcher Support Centre, Kirby Muxloe, LE9 2BJ
At Poundstretcher, our Buyers are at the heart of everything we do. They shape the ranges our customers love, secure great value, and ensure our shelves are filled with exciting, relevant products.
We’re now looking for an experienced Buyer with a General Merchandise background to join our team on a 12-month fixed-term maternity cover contract, based at our Support Centre in Kirby Muxloe.
This role covers our Party, Kitchen, and Stationery categories and offers a fantastic opportunity to take real ownership of a diverse and fast-moving product area within a value-led retail environment.
The Role
As a Buyer at Poundstretcher, you’ll play a critical role in our product journey. You’ll lead your assigned categories end to end—planning ranges, managing budgets, negotiating with suppliers, and responding to market trends to ensure commercial success.
Working closely with the Senior Buyer and wider category team, you’ll help deliver ranges that exceed customer expectations while maintaining our strong value proposition.
Your Key Responsibilities
1. Own and maximise the performance of your General Merchandise categories, identifying opportunities and risks and making clear commercial recommendations.
2. Identify, create, and develop new range opportunities, leading the construction of robust and commercially successful plans.
3. Analyse customer insights, sales data, and market trends to inform buying decisions and react to changing shopping behaviours.
4. Visit suppliers and factories to develop ranges, negotiate cost prices, and explore new sourcing opportunities.
5. Support the development and delivery of category strategies through research, spend analysis, and cost benchmarking.
6. Work collaboratively across internal teams to ensure smooth execution of category plans.
Skills & Experience
We’re looking for an experienced Buyer from a retail General Merchandise background who is commercially sharp, analytically strong, and confident working in a fast-paced environment.
You’ll also bring:
7. Strong negotiation skills and the ability to build effective, long-term supplier relationships.
8. Proven experience delivering category strategies, plans, and targets, including KPIs, budgeting, forecasting, and performance reporting.
9. A proactive and agile mindset, comfortable adapting to changing priorities.
10. A strong understanding of the GM sector and competitor landscape.
11. A thorough understanding of the end-to-end supply chain process.
12. Advanced Excel and strong analytical capability.
What We Offer
13. Competitive salary (DOE)
14. Free on-site parking for a stress-free commute
15. Private Medical Insurance
16. 10% staff discount on most in-store purchases
17. My Staff Shop access for exclusive discounts across a wide range of brands
18. Life assurance cover
19. Health & wellbeing support, including an Employee Assistance Programme
20. Generous holiday allowance of 33 days per year (including bank holidays)
If you’re a commercially driven Buyer who thrives on building great ranges and delivering value for customers, we’d love to hear from you.
Apply today and be part of the Poundstretcher buying team.