Visual Display Merchandise Business Partner - North of England
Department: Commercial
Employment Type: Fixed Term Contract
Location: Field
Reporting To: Louise Williams
Description
The Visual Display Merchandising Business Partner (VDMBP) plays a critical role in delivering River Island's brand identity through inspiring, commercially driven visual merchandising and great looking windows. The role focuses on coaching and training store teams, ensuring consistent visual standards, and enhancing team capability across the estate. Working closely with Area Managers and store leadership, the VDMBP ensures store-level priorities align with wider brand and business objectives. Support the VM Lead in delivering the department's operating plan and strategic visual goals, ensuring alignment with brand direction.
Benefits
* Generous 50% staff discount so you can treat yourself to the latest products.
* Reducing Islanders everyday expenses through discounts, benefits, financial advice, wellbeing solutions and more through the Retail Trust.
* Company car.
* Support for family arrangements including maternity, paternity, adoption and fertility treatment; dedicated support through the Retail Trust.
* Flexible working, payday and summer early finish Fridays.
* Give as you earn scheme, a ‘Giver Island’ day each year and matched funding.
* Support with upskilling through on‑the‑job training and qualifications; a succession plan if you want to progress.
* 23 days paid holiday, exclusive of Bank Holidays, with an option to purchase additional holiday twice a year.
Keeping You Safe
At River Island we are committed to the safeguarding of all of our employees regardless of age or job role. We will fulfil our obligation under the Prevent duty which seeks to stop extremism and extremist views from materialising in our business. We promote and encourage the belief in British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs.
We are committed to equality of opportunity and welcome applications from individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio‑economic background, religion and/or belief. We will consider flexible working requests for all roles unless operational requirements prevent otherwise.
Responsibilities
* Coaching & Training:
o Coach, inspire and upskill retail store teams to deliver high standards in windows, layouts, and visual merchandising with a clear commercial focus.
o Ensure basic visual merchandising principles are well understood and implemented clearly to drive consistency.
o Act as a partner to Area Managers and store leaders to set clear and agile visual priorities that reflect trading conditions and business focus.
o Build collaborative relationships across Retail to help drive visual capability and overall performance.
* Visual Merchandising Execution:
o Ensure consistent execution of visual standards across stores, adapting layouts to local needs while maintaining brand integrity.
o Champion the use of model stores to set up and share best practice.
o Ensure commercial awareness underpins all visual decision‑making to support trading priorities and customer experience.
o Maintain a strong focus on creating a safe working environment in line with health & safety standards.
* Display & Creative (In‑store Installations):
o Deliver high‑impact displays and window schemes aligned with seasonal direction, campaigns, and customer expectations.
o Implement all in‑store visual installations effectively during store openings, refits, launches, and seasonal transitions.
o Take a hands‑on approach to mannequin position and styling.
o Work alongside the central VM team on visual rollouts as and when required.
* Store Team Support & Visual Standards:
o Provide day‑to‑day VM support to store teams, ensuring visual expectations are understood and followed.
o Contribute to a culture of quality, pace, and attention to detail in all VM execution.
o Promote safe working practices in line with health & safety policies and visual operational standards.
o Strong communication, influencing and relationship‑building skills across all levels of retail and head office leadership.
o Excellent coaching and mentoring abilities with a focus on capability building.
o Commercial awareness with the ability to link visual execution to trading outcomes.
o Agile thinker with strong prioritisation and problem‑solving skills.
o Team player with a proactive, hands‑on approach and a solution‑oriented mindset.
o Comfortable delivering visual execution under tight deadlines during peak trading periods and store events.
o Commitment to promoting a safe and compliant working environment aligned with company health & safety practices.
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