Central Trade & Planning at Primark. As a Trade & Planning Analyst, you will play a key role in shaping commercial performance by providing high‑quality data analysis, trading insights, forecasts and recommendations to support decision‑making across Buying, Merchandising, Retail, Finance, Sourcing and Supply Chain.
The role is responsible for interpreting trading trends, building forward‑looking plans, identifying risks and opportunities, and supporting strategic initiatives that unlock growth and improve profitability.
This role acts as a central hub of analytical excellence, ensuring the business operates with one accurate, aligned version of performance data and future expectations. It requires a dynamic person who can take questions and challenges from the business and translate them into insights and refined, governed processes that consider their impact on the wider organization.
What You’ll Do as a Trade & Planning Analyst
We want you to feel challenged and inspired. Here, you’ll develop your skills across a range of responsibilities:
Reporting & Data Ownership
* Take full ownership of the reporting within your area and keep it accurate, consistent and easy for others to understand.
* Maintain one reliable version of the truth for performance data and ensure everyone uses it.
* Review, improve and streamline reports, dashboards and processes to make them more efficient and useful.
* Ensure reporting complies with internal standards and any regulatory requirements that apply.
Insight & Decision Support
* Break down broad or unclear business questions and turn them into structured analysis.
* Present performance in a clear story, explaining what happened, why it happened, and what we should do about it.
* Highlight key risks and opportunities, supported by evidence and commercial reasoning.
* Challenge assumptions when needed and ensure the data behind decisions is credible.
Forward Planning & Forecasting
* Gather inputs from Buying, Merchandising, Retail, Supply Chain and others to build accurate plans and forecasts.
* Help teams understand future scenarios by running analyses or highlighting early indicators.
* Identify risks early and recommend practical actions to mitigate them.
* Support the creation of forward‑looking trading plans that drive commercial performance.
Process Excellence & Centralisation
* Review current reporting and planning processes and help design cleaner, more consistent ways of working.
* Remove duplication, simplify workflows and make it easier for the business to access needed information.
* Promote good governance and act as the central point of alignment for performance data and planning activity.
* Work with different teams to embed these improvements and keep them up to date as the business evolves.
Stakeholder Partnership
* Build trust with colleagues across Buying, Merchandising, Retail, Supply Chain and Finance.
* Become the go‑to person for clear, grounded explanations of performance and forecasting.
* Support senior teams with timely insight, straightforward communication and well‑reasoned recommendations.
* Challenge constructively when the numbers point in a different direction than the conversation.
What You’ll Get
People are at the heart of what we do, so it’s essential we provide you with the right environment to perform at your very best.
Healthcare, pension and potential bonus. 27 days of leave, plus bank holidays and the option to buy five additional days. Primark also offers Tax Saver Tickets, a fitness centre and a subsidised cafeteria.
What You’ll Bring
* 4+ years of cross‑functional merchandising and analytical expertise.
* Desirable: 2+ years at Assistant Merchandiser level and a relevant fashion/analytics/commerce qualification.
* Strategic, commercially minded decision‑maker with advanced numerical capability, skilled at identifying opportunities and shaping data‑driven recommendations.
* Exceptional communicator and influencer, able to distil complex information into clear insights and build strong, credible relationships across all levels.
* Highly proficient in Excel and merchandising systems, leveraging forecasting tools, range‑planning platforms and data modelling to drive accuracy and efficiency.
* Organised, detail‑focused and proactive, adept at managing competing priorities and delivering results in fast‑paced retail environments.
* Collaborative, emotionally intelligent team player who thrives on new challenges and can confidently push back, align stakeholders and drive cross‑functional outcomes.
Apply to be part of Primark’s future today and enjoy career growth in our unique way.
About Primark
At Primark, people matter. They’re the beating heart of our business and the reason we’ve grown from our first store in Dublin in 1969 to a £9bn+ turnover business with over 80,000 colleagues and more than 440 stores in 17 countries. Our values—Caring, Dynamic, and Together—run through everything we do.
If you need any reasonable adjustments or have an accessibility request during your recruitment journey—for example, extended time, breaks between online assessments, a sign language interpreter, mobility access or assistive technology—please contact your talent acquisition specialist.
All offers of employment are subject to background checks, including right to work, reference education and, for some roles, criminal and financial checks. If you have any concerns, please reach out to our talent acquisition team to discuss.
REQ ID: JR‑6513
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