Vacancy NameL2 Buyer - Pet Vacancy NoVN1011 Job TypePermanent LocationHatfield Job Details
L2 Buyer - Pet
Contract type: Permanent
Location: Hatfield (Hybrid working -3 days in the office)
Working hours per week: 40 hours
Level: Mid-level
Application closing date: Thursday 21st August 2025
About us
Our mission is to deliver joy in every shop, through unbeatable choice, unrivalled service and reassuringly good value.
We’re Ocado Retail, a market-leading, joint venture between Ocado Group and M&S and the world’s largest dedicated online supermarket. Not only is Ocado.com the only place to shop a full range of M&S food online, it’s also the home to the widest online supermarket range in the UK and champion of small, independent brands. We’re also the brains behind, our same-day grocery delivery service.
About the team and the role
We're looking for an experienced Buyer to manage our Cat portfolio within the Pet department. In this role you will be responsible for ensuring your supply base and the product range is optimised, proactively using data and analysis to maximise performance to and drive sales, profitability, and share growth to support the overall Ocado Retail strategy and goals.
Based within the Non-Food Grocery buying team, this role is at the forefront of delivering great value & quality on key strategic categories. The role is an ideal opportunity for a buyer to create a category strategy and work cross functionally around the business to develop the category and deliver share growth, and hone their skills in building effective promotional plans and delivering value for customers.
What you’ll do
1. Manage the category P&L and deliver against KPIs
2. Complete category reviews to refine the range and align to the business and category strategy
3. Deliver an effective trade, promotions, and events plan
4. Identify opportunities to improve all-in margin and, with support, negotiate with suppliers to deliver savings
5. Negotiate with suppliers to agree and deliver market-leading plans aligned to the customer plan and category strategy
6. Analyse and assess performance issues and opportunities using data and reporting tools and devise and implement solutions
7. Identify and analyse potential first-to-market / Ocado exclusive product innovation opportunities using customer, market and supplier insights
8. Manage and review the performance of the supplier base across small or emerging categories through communicating and developing relationships with suppliers to drive engagement and performance
9. Work closely with Supply Chain and the supplier base to ensure best-in-class availability
10. With support, identify and create plans to mitigate potential issues/events that may impact the supply
11. Work closely with suppliers and the category quality team to ensure product quality remains high
12. Adhering to all Ocado policies, storage, and handover protocols and successfully completing all of your training so that you have zero GSCOP breaches. Ensuring all agreements are recorded in writing, reporting GSCOP complaints to Legal within 48 hours of receipt
13. Following our Business Code of Conduct and always acting with integrity and due diligence
Who you are
14. Substantial experience in a buying role
15. Strong negotiation skills
16. Good commercial acumen
17. Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
18. Strong planning and organisational skills
19. Communicate and influence a wide range of audiences
What’s in it for you
By joining Ocado Retail you’ll have the chance to experience life at the world’s largest online retailer, work with an amazing bunch of people who challenge what’s possible each day and grow your skills and career in online retail.
If that’s not enough to tempt you, you’ll also get access to loads of great benefits to sweeten the deal. Here’s a taste of what we offer:
Health & Wellbeing: Private medical insurance with option to add your family, Digital GP appointments, market leading family policies, mental health support, discounted gym memberships, dental insurance and more.
Spend & Save: Annual bonus scheme split between personal and business objectives, recognition with reward platform, up to 7% matched pension contributions, 15% Ocado discount, 20% M&S discount, free breakfast everyday in the office, electric vehicle leasing scheme and free shuttle bus from Hatfield station to the office.
Never miss the moments that matter: Blended/Hybrid working, 26 days holiday plus 8 flexible bank holidays, options to buy extra holiday, 2 weeks work from anywhere and lifestyle break opportunities.
Our Hiring Process
Lucky for us, we get loads of great applications and we really appreciate that so many people put the time and effort in to apply. To recognise that, we treat all applications respectfully and fairly. So, if yours stands out, you’ll follow our standard hiring process - one of our Talent Partners will talk you through this in an initial call.
Everyone’s welcome
We’re an equal opportunities employer. That means that we make sure all potential colleagues are treated fairly and equally. If you require reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know on the application form.