Category Assistant - VHMS (26852) in Coventry

We have a great opportunity to join us a Category Buying Assistant within our Vitamins and Minerals (VHMS) buying team. You'll be based at the Holland & Barrett International Nuneaton Hub, nr. Coventry (CV10 7RH). Holland and Barrett is going through a period of dramatic growth, with exciting plans for the coming year, and we're looking for a new Category Buying Assistant to support us in delivering the new strategy and ranges that will keep up this momentum.

Ideally would have previous experience of office-based admin roles and have worked in retail. Your role will be to support the Senior Category Manager and the Category Managers (Buyers), playing a pivotal role in setting up the department for success. You will help the VHMS Buying Team on all elements of the buying process, taking real ownership of all the administrative tasks for the team.

• Supporting the team with all aspects of the promotional process – chasing suppliers for info, updating and checking internal systems, with high accuracy and ensuring we hit internal deadlines
• Producing daily, weekly or monthly sales reports to support the buyers in their analysis of the team's trading performance to identify improvements
• Supporting the buyers with preparation for range reviews, including gathering new line form data and samples from suppliers
• Ensuring that all administration and data input relating to product information, cost prices, retail prices and supplier details are accurately maintained
• Support the team with monitoring competitor activity
• Owning the invoicing process, and dealing with any supplier queries
• Implementing and owning processes to ensure effective ways of working
• Managing deadlines around promotions and pricing
• Maintaining and managing and product samples for the team
• Answering questions from customer services
• Problem solving to sort out queries
• Booking meetings or making travel arrangements
• Attending meetings, taking notes and managing actions
• Organising supplier events at our offices
• Other admin support as required for the smooth running of all processes

Location: 

• Hybrid working – we typically work 2 days in Nuneaton per week, however, there could be additional days needed in Nuneaton, or travel to other sites for meeting

• Strong verbal and written communication, for internal and external stakeholders, and able to confidently use outlook, word, excel, powerpoint etc.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks and deadlines is essential due to the fast-paced and varied workload in this role
• Track record of working independently
• High attention to detail needed, to produce work to a consistently high standard
• Advanced excel skills required (able to do vlook ups etc.) as many of our reports and tools internally are excel-based
• Determined and tenacious
• Optimistic and open-minded to change, to continuously improve both yourself and the team's performance
• Experience of using promotions or pricing systems within another retailer would be advantageous
• Good level of numerical and analytical skills with a keen eye for detail
• Customer focussed – everything we do is to support our store colleagues and ultimately our customers
• Positive, resourceful and an energetic team worker
• Able to build relationships with both suppliers and internal multi-discipline teams
• You'll be regularly visiting our own stores, competitors, and possibly suppliers or trade shows, so a full driving licence is essential