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  • Leeds
    Permanent
    £25,000 - £29,000

    Our client, based in Leeds, are a manufacturer of products which are supplied into a huge range of industries. They now present this exciting new role of Buyer to the market.

    • A small, growing manufacturer in Leeds is looking for a Buyer

    • This is a real opportunity to make a role you're own

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  • Merseyside
    Permanent
    £35,000 - £45,000

    My client is a renowned manufacturing organisation based in the North West that are adding headcount to the procurement function and are looking for a talented Buyer to join the team on a permanent basis.

    • Buyer - Projects

    • Indirect Procurement

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  • London
    Permanent
    £35,000 - £44,000

    End to end buying role within the Software Category, developing and implementing category strategy in an autonomous environment.

    • An opportunity to work for a multi-award winning Procurement function

    • Excellent development and growth opportunities internally

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  • Warrington
    Permanent

    Buyer - Aerospace - Warrington

    • Join a multinational aerospace business in a strategic and autonomous role

    • Opportunity to be part of a developed purchasing function

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  • Lancashire
    Permanent
    £26,000 - £35,000

    Buyer - Manufacturing and Production - Lancashire

    • Strategic Buyer role in a growing and established fast paced business

    • Join an experienced team with genuine chance of future progression

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  • West Midlands
    Permanent

    Michael Page Digital and Marketing are looking for a Digital Trading Manager.

    Are you currently in a Digital/Ecommerce trading role?

    • Digital Trading Manager-Retail

    • West Midlands

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  • Warrington
    Permanent
    £35,000 - £38,000

    This is a critical role supporting the management of overall Indirect spend across the business, working closely with the Procurement Manager to develop sourcing strategies and working collaboratively with stakeholder groups.

    • High performing team, leader in its sector.

    • Wide portfolio of spend in remit of the role

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  • Shoreham-By-Sea
    Permanent

    The Strategic NPI Buyer will be the link between the Programme team and the supply base, responsible for identifying suppliers, negotiating contracts and placing all project purchasing orders.

    • Strategic NPI Buyer

    • Growth Business, Strategic Procurement, NPI

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  • East Midlands
    Permanent
    £25,000 - £45,000

    This is fantastic opportunity to join the growing commercial department within a well-established and reputable house-builder. If you're a highly motivated individual who has at least 1 years' experience of house-building buying, this could be the role for you...

    • Exciting opportunity to make a difference within a growing private developer

    • Ideal for someone looking to further their career

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  • England
    Permanent
    £40,000 - £45,000

    We are currently supporting one of the world's leading chemicals and agriculture company's recruit a Senior Buyer Indirects and Packaging

    We are looking for a procurement professional who achieves the highest level of contribution to profit, growth, and competitive advantage by demonstrable best in class procurement performance and by leveraging global scale and skills in all areas of spend.

    • Global business based in Manchester

    • Excellent financial performance during pandemic

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  • Nottingham
    Permanent
    £40,000 - £50,000

    My Nottingham based FMCG client have an exciting opportunity for a Far East Buyer to join their team.

    • Partner with the best global suppliers in this strategic FMCG Buying role

    • FMCG manufacturing retail business in an exciting period of transformation

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  • Merseyside
    Permanent
    £45,000 - £55,000

    My client is a renowned household name in their field and are looking for a talented Senior Buyer with solid experience in heavy engineering projects reporting into the Head of Procurement on a permanent basis.

    • Senior Buyer - Projects

    • Indirect Procurement

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  • City of London
    Permanent
    £35,000 - £45,000

    Exciting end to end highly strategic Procurement Buyer role looking after the Telco & Infrastructure category. High level autonomy with a support network in place to foster development and training.

    • Industry leading training and development

    • Award winning Procurement team and leadership

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  • England
    Temporary
    £20 - £25 per hour

    Capex procurement specialist required with working knowledge of SAP.

    • Capex Procurement specialist required

    • Outside IR35

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  • City of London
    Permanent
    £35,000 - £44,000

    Exciting end to end highly strategic Procurement Buyer role looking after the Professional Services category. High level autonomy with a support network in place to foster development and training.

    • Award winning Procurement function

    • Excellent growth and development opportunities

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  • City of London
    Permanent
    £35,000 - £45,000

    Exciting end to end highly strategic Procurement Buyer role looking after the Facilities Management category. High level autonomy with a support network in place to foster development and training.

    • Best in class, award winning Procurement function

    • Excellent development and progression opportunities from within

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  • Leicestershire
    Permanent
    £35,000 - £40,000

    A global name, my client is looking for a procurement professional to run the procurement function for their manufacturing arm of the business.

    • Secure Company in Uncertain Times

    • Excellent Opportunity to Join a Global Name

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  • Sheffield
    Permanent
    £30,000 - £35,000

    Our client, based in Sheffield, are looking to recruit a Senior Buyer. The role will be relatively autonomous and be responsible for a broad range of commodities. The business are able to offer excellent training and future career progression to the right individual.

    • A technical engineering business in Sheffield with global reach

    • A position which offers future progression

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  • Exeter
    Permanent
    £35,000 - £40,000

    Working within the Indirect Procurement team to identify cost savings.

    • To work for a leading manufacturing company.

    • Joining a successful and growing organisation.

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  • Birmingham
    Permanent
    £25,000 - £35,000

    This role will require a junior indirect procurement professional, who is ambitious and motivated, to support the procurement function of a large business.

    • Excellent career progression

    • Opportunity to join a market leader

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  • Manchester
    Permanent
    £40,000 - £47,000

    My client is a leading main contractor who focus on a number of high profile utility projects and who are looking for a talented Senior Buyer to join their team on a permanent basis.

    • Senior Buyer

    • Indirect Procurement

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  • Leeds
    Permanent
    £25,000 - £30,000
    • Join a great team to assist with the development of procurement / category plans / strategies
    • Lead your own transactional & operational procurement projects



    • FTSE Business

    • Great development & full CIPS Support

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  • England
    Temporary
    £30 - £34 per hour

    Currently recruiting for an Interim Senior Buyer (Capital Projects) for an energy organisation based in Cheshire for an initial 6 month contract to support on a number of ongoing CAPEX projects.

    The Interim Senior Buyer (Capital Projects) will work on the delivery or procurement & payment activities, safeguarding the commercial & legal interests of the end clients & also supporting the achievement of internal business goals.

    • Interim Role focused on Capex Procurement Projects

    • Global procurement team

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  • Eastleigh
    Temporary

    The Senior Buyer will be responsible for Supply Chain specific categories/suppliers within the UK and Global Operations and be the daily focal point for assigned Projects.

    • 12 Month FTC - Senior Buyer

    • Senior Buyer, Buyer, Manufacturing, Global Supply Chain

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  • England
    Permanent
    £48,000 - £55,000

    Currently recruiting for a Senior Buyer to cover Core Process Technology for an energy organisation based in Chester.

    • Global Procurement Team

    • Cheshire location

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  • Watford
    Permanent

    My client is looking to grow its Legal Function during an exciting period of change and growth.

    Reporting directly into the Head of Legal you will take on a broad mix of general in-house legal work and help establish a high calibre legal function.

    • Join this well known brand at an exciting time of growth & change.

    • Brilliant opportunity to take on a diverse and varied workload.

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  • Luton
    Permanent

    A brilliant in-house general commercial role with a well known consumer brand based in Bedfordshire.

    • Fantastic opportunity to join a Major Consumer + Retail Brand

    • Join an established high calibre legal team.

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  • South Yorkshire
    Temporary
    £40,000 - £45,000

    To carry out the day to day purchasing of packaging and services for the group ensuring all products are within specifications and at the best sustainable cost.

    • 12 month Fixed Term Contract

    • A large growing food manufacturing business

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  • Leeds
    Permanent
    £35,000 - £60,000

    This is a real gem of an opportunity. This business is growing rapidly and looking for someone to join them to drive forward the white goods area of the business.

    • Brand new role for a rapidly growing organisation

    • You must have experience in White Goods/Built in

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  • Portsmouth
    Permanent
    £30,000 - £32,000

    Create actionable insight from data analysis on customers behaviour, trend and loyalty, analysis of the market and marketing effectiveness and supporting data segmentation for campaign activity.

    • Established UK retail group - analysing customer behaviour & market opportunity

    • Customer insight and analysis to support directional growth

    Save job View job

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Our Retail insights

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Market update video: How consumer behaviours are shifting demand for specialist skills
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The new normal for customer experience in retail: How it will impact hiring
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Speed to consumer: Luxury to necessity
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A guide to retail jobs

Retail careers can vary greatly but all typically provide services to either both businesses and individual customers or specialise in products specific to one or the other. Retailers normally have their staff working in teams and those teams can be located within stores, an office, or even a warehouse. Working times are usually allocated on a shift basis and will vary depending on the specific products and/or services being provided. The type of products that retailers sell can vary, they may sell very specific products or offer a diverse range of merchandise. For example, a retailer might specialise in selling electronics, produce, entertainment or clothing while some larger stores might offer a mixture of these. Good customer service is a key part of any retail sales success and most retailers now have an online presence that bridges the gap between online sales and the high street shops.
 
Michael Page Retail & Fashion have forged strong relationships with our clients over the past 40 years. The jobs we recruit for range from positions within traditional stores to multiples and department stores, as well as multi-channel operations, online retailers, mail order and TV shopping channels, covering food, non-food and general merchandise.

Retail jobs we recruit

  • Assistant Store manager
  • Head of Merchandising
  • Buyer
  • Technologist - retail
  • Retail Store Manager
  • Merchandiser
  • Sales Advisor
  • Retail Customer Services Manger
  • Sales Consultant - retail

Key retail tasks

  • Greet customers as the first point of contact.
  • Deal with customer refunds.
  • Handle customer complaints.
  • Work within established guidelines, particularly with brands.
  • Receive and store stock deliveries.
  • Set up displays and POS material.
  • Assist customers in finding the products they are looking for.
  • Process cash and card payments.
  • Stock shelves with merchandise.
  • Report any problems or discrepancies.
  • Provide customers with advice and guidance on product selection.
  • Balance cash registers with receipts.

Key retail skills

As a retailer, good communication skills are a must when dealing with queries and executing a sale. If the customer can’t understand you or if you fail to get your point across, that oversight could impact any potential sale. You need to be comfortable working directly with members of the public because sales roles require regular interaction with customers, whether that’s on the phone or face-to-face. You also need to possess a confident demeanour, not only will this improve a customer’s confidence in you as a sales representative but it will also increase their association with the brand or product you are selling to them. A shy and uncertain sales person might discourage a customer from making a purchase. 
 
Being helpful and polite, while possessing a comprehensive understanding of your area of sales is a must. The better you know your product, the more confident you will be in selling it and similarly your potential buyer will have more confidence in you. Finally, a person that works within retail needs to be able to work effectively as part of a sales team which would include getting point of sales (POS) items ready, filling in if a colleague is away, completing a sale on behalf of a colleague or helping a colleague by persuading a customer that the product that they’re considering is the right one.
 

Qualifications and experience

Retail jobs have no formal educational requirements. However, most employers look for what you already know. For a lot of retail jobs, experience is learned while training on the job, although some large stores have training programs for new hires. If you have any prior experience with the products you'll be expected to sell it will be a plus, such as IT experience when applying for a sales position at a computer or electronics store. Prior experience will help boost your initial salary.
 
However, if you’ve set your sights on long-term career progression then there are various levels of qualifications available for you to choose from and these qualifications enable employers to make better informed decisions during the crucial recruitment stages. The levels range from entry level through to level 8. The higher levels begin from the City &Guilds Higher Professional Diploma in Retail Management (level 4) and the BTEC Higher National Diploma in Retail Management (level 5) and are reserved for those that want to be leaders in their field, e.g. managing directors.  The topics covered do these courses range from customer service, managing retail operations, finance, managing retail environment, to consumer behaviour, supply chain, and retail marketing. Westminster Kingsway College and the University of Brighton offer diploma courses too, like the Access to Higher Education Diploma Business level 3.
 
If you're interested in undertaking a foundation degree then there are courses available, supported by Skillsmart Retail – the sector skills council. There are higher education institutes that also offer courses including Manchester Metropolitan University, the University of the Arts London, and Leicester College. The degree courses offer a more specialist focus like fashion retailing, retail marketing or buying. There are also postgraduate degree options that include retailing MBAs.
 
A few big employers are also offering workplace-based courses which allow flexibility to students and provide valuable hands-on experience to better equip them when they progress with their career.
 
If you would like to discuss your career options, get in touch with our team of specialist retail consultants. Alternatively, if there is a specific position you are interested in contact the listed consultant directly.
 
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