Description In a nutshell The Trade Planning purpose is clear – “Orchestrate the cross-functional development and execution of a bold Trading & Display Plan that inspires more customers to shop with us for more missions, more often ”. The Trade Planning team sits right at the heart of the Argos business, developing the long term Trade Plan, which is developed and delivered right through to final execution & response. The Display Plan is developed in parallel to the leading Trade Plan priorities. We work with a broad group of stakeholders across Argos & Habitat, across all channels. We build collective alignment and energy behind our plans. But critically we lead on the continued ownership of the Trade Plan, from long term development through to trade response, and we ensure that the right tunes are played through our channels to ensure we maximise our potential. This is a unique role & team that looks across our brands Argos & Habitat, and all of the channels which includes stores & digital, to deliver the strongest Trade Plan for our customers, that delivers on our commercial KPIs. You will be widely regarded as a positive, engaging, and curious person who is able to collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure our commercial plans are executed brilliantly for our customers and our operational teams. You will be comfortable managing multiple critical paths to allow us to plan across an 18-month horizon, ensure cross-functional teams are being truly responsive to the trading & display plan, monetisation opportunities and market movements and coordinate all the background activity that goes into launching our ranges and events. You will have excellent functional knowledge of how Argos operates, a strong passion for space, display and visual merchandising and operational excellence. You will engage in conversations with a wide range of stakeholders to be able to get things done on time. You will have interactions with Senior Leadership Teams from across the organisation. What you need to do Create appropriate briefs for various display elements to ensure that creative agency, production and studio teams are clear on what needs to be created and associated timelines. Support the annual Ranging Calendar and the interface into commercial, marketing (inc Zest) and digital teams for gathering all activity planning. Ensuring that all changes to launch dates are communicated and agreed with all stakeholders Work with cross-functional teams (Commercial, Marketing, Nectar, Retail and Creative Agencies) to ensure critical paths relating to Display and POS elements are on track. Support in providing progress tracking and report updates on compliance to timings and targets to the business on a weekly basis, as well as providing weekly summaries of ranging activity timings and escalate to the Trade Planner and Trade Planning Manager where necessary Ensure planograms are created and work with Retail to ensure appropriate store comms are issued to support right first-time execution. Pull together artwork instructions and associated costings, ensuring relevant marketing and finance teams have the information they need to submit against budget trackers. Liaise with cross-functional teams to ensure missing information is made available and that centrally we are holding the latest view of store formats, specifications and inventory across Display and Space elements. Support in the development if the initial display plan alongside the Annual plan at the beginning of each year Conduct store visits of both our own estate and competitors to get feedback or generate a view of best practise so that we continue to push our ambitions to lead on how we use Space and Display. Represent Trade Planning in a wide range of forums and meetings to ensure we maximise the opportunities across Eventing, Seasonal Showcases, Brand Activations, Licensing and our Props and Services Priorities. Develop a framework that captures all our potential Space and Display Assets and support with evolving our ways of working with cross-functional teams to lift our ambitions. Support with translating future store concept programmes into tangible plans for Space and Display. Support in managing critical paths and develop robust progress tracking to ensure blockers are reduced, putting in place appropriate resolutions to resolve any issues. Communicate with A&R teams to ensure the right level of stocks are in place for any product display launches such as providing store lists, timings, fixture dimensions, product dimensions and potential fill levels.. What you need to know and show Excellent forward planning and organisational skills with the ability to manage time & priorities effectively A good communicator with the ability to influence at C5 & C6 level Strong written and oral communication Experience of issue management and resolution High level of focus on customer service with demonstrated ability to establish and maintain excellent internal & external customer relationships You will have operational excellence at your core, alongside an ambitious & creative mind to drive forward a bold & differentiated Display Plan. Showcase analytical and problem-solving abilities. Demonstrate commercial acumen and understanding of financial implications of decision making Interest and/or experience in space and display planning, format, critical path management and integrating omni-channel best practise. Able to update & present where needed in relevant forums, meetings and working groups A good problem solver with ability to implement change Proactive, self-motivated, organised and diligent with an excellent attention to detail. Good MS Office skills with emphasis on Excel, PowerPoint and strong in project planning tools Good levels of curiosity, with a passion for discovering and sharing new insight or lessons learnt. Comfortable building new relationships and working collaboratively, whilst effectively influencing and communicating with a broad range of stakeholders across all levels. Anticipating risks and knock-on implications outside your team and division, and proactively & independently defining the action plans and solutions. Essential Criteria Demonstrated ability to track progress, resolve blockers, and deliver projects on time across multiple stakeholders. Evidence of collaborating effectively with cross-functional teams and leading meetings effectively. Ability to use Excel for data analysis, PowerPoint for presentations, and project planning software to manage complex schedules. Experience in understanding financial implications of decisions and applying problem-solving skills to optimise plans. Our Valued Behaviours are our common DNA that every colleague should live by and provide the benchmark for how we deliver our goals/individual contribution, and how we relate to other colleagues in the organisation. Own it Always do what you say you’ll do and suggest solutions for problems as you spot them Ask questions and contribute honestly in discussions or conversations Prioritise your work in line with team or project goals Make it better Willing to try new approaches in order to improve and simplify Embrace variety and open to opportunities to transfer your skills to new challenges Seek information to better understand your role and how teams around you operate Act on feedback you receive and give accurate and timely feedback to others Be human Show care and respect to everyone Seek opportunities to connect with others and build trusted relationships Walk in the shoes of your internal and external customers, considering their needs in all you do What decisions I can make including budget The role holder will need to understand the impact of their decisions on cost and the customer. Present recommendations for developing process, ways of working and sign off of budget spend related to POS and Display formats. Support we will provide Support of broader Trade and Supplier Planning Teams, Retail Ops, Marketing and Nectar. Training in project management skills, commercial acumen, influence, process mapping & reporting Personalised development plan and ongoing coaching. ArgosCommercialandDigital Responsibilities Joining the team at Argos, you'll find yourself at the forefront of UK retail, in a brand that is loved by millions of customers across the country. Argos is a market leader in the general merchandise sector, with the third most visited retail website and a market leading same day delivery and click&collect service. Whether it's working across our amazing owned-brands of Habitat, Chad Valley and Bush, or working with the biggest global consumer brands like Apple, Lego, Xbox or Samsung, we have a breadth of opportunity to nurture your career. With roles across Buying, Merchandising, Design, Technical, or Commercial Planning or Operations, we have teams that always strive to make amazing product to delight our customers. The Argos Commercial teams work closely with many other functions across the business like Digital, Marketing, Retail and Logistics to deliver for our customers, allowing you to develop connections and learn from teams across the business. Development is important to us and you’ll have the full support of your line manager in developing and growing your skill set and aiding your career aspirations. Qualifications We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer so you’ll be welcomed whoever you are and wherever you work. Around here, there’s always the chance to try something new — whether that’s as part of an evolving team or somewhere else across the business - and we take development seriously and promise to support you. We also recognise and celebrate colleagues when they go the extra mile and, where possible, offer flexible working. When you join our team, we’ll also offer you an amazing range of benefits. Here are some of them: Starting off with colleague discount, you'll be able to save 10% on your shopping online and instore at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat, and we regularly increase the discount to 15% at points during the year. We've also got you covered for your future with our pensions scheme and life cover. You'll also be able to share in our success as you may be eligible for a performance-related bonus of up to 5% of salary, depending on how we perform. Your wellbeing is important to us too. You'll receive an annual holiday allowance and you can buy up to an additional week's holiday. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, salary advance (where you can access some of your pay before pay day) as well access to a great range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers. And if you ever need it there is also an employee assistance programme. Moments that matter are as important to us as they are to you which is why we give up to 26 weeks’ pay for maternity or adoption leave and up to 4 weeks’ pay for paternity leave. Please see www.sainsburys.jobs for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).