Merchandiser – Home Fragrance & Beauty

We are working with a well-established and highly respected business within the home fragrance, beauty and gifting industry to appoint an experienced Merchandiser for a 12-month maternity cover contract.

With an impressive heritage and partnerships with some of the UK's best-known retailers, this business develops and supplies beautiful, commercially successful products across home fragrance, beauty and gifting.

This is a fantastic opportunity for a commercially minded Merchandiser who enjoys taking ownership, working closely with international suppliers and managing the full merchandising process from initial costings through to delivery.

You'll take the lead across home fragrance, while also supporting the beauty category, managing multiple retail accounts and working closely with product development, design, technical and commercial teams.

It's a hands-on role with plenty of responsibility, so we're looking for someone who can hit the ground running, take ownership of existing accounts and make an immediate impact. This is a hybrid role working 1 day per week from home and the rest in the central London HQ.

What You'll Be Doing

• Taking ownership of merchandising across key retail accounts, with a particular focus on home fragrance.

• Managing product costings, pricing and margins, ensuring commercial targets are achieved.

• Working directly with factories in China and Vietnam, negotiating costs, managing production and ensuring orders are delivered on time.

• Building and managing seasonal budgets, sales forecasts and trading plans.

• Monitoring stock levels, run-rates and orders, identifying opportunities to maximise sales while minimising stock exposure.

• Managing purchase orders, componentry, minimum order quantities and supplier relationships.

• Working closely with product development, design and technical teams to ensure critical paths and product launches stay on track.

• Producing and analysing sales, stock, intake and margin reports to support commercial decisions.

• Supporting and guiding Assistant Merchandisers within the team.

• Attending regular customer and internal trading meetings, ensuring accounts are managed effectively.

What We're Looking For

We're keen to speak with experienced Merchandisers who have a strong commercial understanding and enjoy working in a fast-paced, product-led environment.

Ideally, you'll bring:

• At least 3 years' experience in a merchandising role, gained within a supplier, manufacturer or retail business.

• Experience within home fragrance, although backgrounds in beauty, gifting or other own-label consumer products will also be considered.

• Strong experience working directly with overseas factories, particularly in China and Vietnam.

• A solid understanding of FOB pricing, landed costs, margins and international supply chains.

• Confidence managing budgets, forecasting, stock and multiple retail accounts.

• Excellent Excel skills, including pivot tables, lookups and trading models.

• Experience using ERP systems, ideally Syspro, although this isn't essential.

• Strong communication and negotiation skills, with the confidence to build relationships with both suppliers and retail customers.

Most importantly, you'll be organised, commercially astute and comfortable getting stuck in. As this is a maternity cover contract, the ability to quickly understand the business, build relationships and take ownership will be key.

Why Consider This Opportunity?

This is a great opportunity to join an established business with an impressive retail customer base and a strong reputation within the home fragrance and beauty industry.

You'll have genuine ownership of your accounts, exposure to international manufacturing and the opportunity to work across a diverse product portfolio alongside an experienced commercial and product team.

If you're an experienced Merchandiser looking for your next opportunity and enjoy working with beautiful products, established retail partners and international suppliers, we'd love to hear from you.

We would love to respond to every application however due to the volume of applications we receive this isn't always possible. If you have not heard within 2 weeks of applying, please assume on this occasion that your application has not been shortlisted. We may retain your CV to contact you about future employment opportunities that are being managed by The Growth Foundation Talent.

The Growth Foundation Talent is deeply committed to building a diverse & inclusive workplace and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.