Overview Our apprentices are relaxed about ‘reinventing the home’. At Dunelm, we are market-leaders, we evolve with change and embrace innovation and individuality. With our revolutionary insights and supportive mentoring, you’ll be chilled out about changing an industry straight out of school. Be comfortable thinking big. On the hunt for an Apprenticeship that’s challenging and exciting? Come and join our commercial team and take part in a Data Apprenticeship! Data plays a huge part in our business - driving smarter decisions, deeper customer insights, and a stronger competitive edge. By harnessing data, we unlock growth and innovation; without it, we risk relying on guesswork instead of evidence. That’s why we’re thrilled to offer an exciting opportunity for a Data Apprentice to join our Commercial Merchandising team as a Merchandising Assistant. This role offers the perfect blend of hands-on merchandising experience and structured learning through a Level 3 Data Technician apprenticeship. As a future retail leader this programme will equip you with practical skills to manage and interpret data effectively, covering key topics such as data types, preparation, analysis, visualisation, communication, anonymisation, compliance, and ethical handling. The programme allows you to earn whilst you learn, and with some hard work you’ll achieve your qualification in 18 months (full programme 2 years). This is a great opportunity where you will be part of the team that is responsible for the development and management of product and stock for Dunelm. Alongside your passion for data and Excel, you’ll also share our enthusiasm for product - we are a homewares company, after all! You’ll be part of a specific department and category Merchandising team helping with stock management, supplier coordination, and sales analysis. Your role ensures products are available for our customers and promoted effectively to drive sales. You’ll be motivated to grow your career with us, and we’ll support you through our internal development traineeship programme, designed to prepare you for progression into a Junior Merchandiser role. You’ll be focusing on Stage 1 of this three-stage journey, building the skills and confidence you need to succeed as a Merchandising Assistant. Apprentices typically spend 3 days in the office and 2 days working from home, giving you the right mix of collaboration and flexibility to support your development. What you'll be doing Critical Path Management for your department for all new range launches, marketing and promotional activity. Raising and maintaining purchase orders and ensuring the system accurately reflects intake. Complete weekly stock reporting & identifying risk & actions to your Merchandiser. Collaborating with suppliers and internal teams to gather product data, enhancing accuracy and compliance to support business systems and operations. Precisely input data into systems and collaborate with key stakeholders to support seamless operations. Support data consistency across commercial teams by maintaining alignment in various systems. Collaborate with various commercial teams to provide data and insights relevant to their operations. Generate regular reports on key performance indicators (KPIs), such as sales, margins and stock, to support the commercial team. Perform routine data quality checks and maintain data integrity by identifying and resolving errors in datasets. Support efforts to automate data processes and improve the efficiency of data workflows What we'll look for in you Passionate about product, homeware and data Numerically confident with a keen eye for detail Curiosity, Willing to listen and learn. Willing to ask for help when it’s needed. A good level of Microsoft office experience, particularly excel (VLOOKUPs, Pivot tables). Good verbal and written communication skills and will be able to liaise with internal colleagues, suppliers and third parties. Logical approach to problem solving. Ability to prioritise workload, make things happen and take initiative. Must be based in England for the duration of the apprenticeship and must have lived in the UK/EEA continuously for the last 3 years. Must have Functional Skills Level 2 / GCSE English and Maths (or equivalent) at grade C or above and be able to provide certificates or equivalent. Due to high interest in applications this position may close earlier than advertised. To avoid disappointment, we'd encourage you apply as soon as possible. Making the application process accessible for all is a priority for us. Accessibility allows everyone to have an equal chance when applying and showing off their potential. It also helps us create a more inclusive and diverse team, which brings fresh ideas and perspectives. Should you need it, we have an accessibility tool available on our careers site to support you when you’re completing your application. If you require any other reasonable adjustments during the application and assessment process, you can reach out to our team via earlycareers@dunelm.com