Trade Planning Manager

As a Trade Planning Manager, you will develop a customer focused, optimised trade plan, collaborating closely with Category Proposition Groups (CPGs). You will champion a customer-centric approach in all planning decisions, strategically managing secondary space to maximise commercial returns.

This critical, high-impact role requires you to combine your hands-on expertise with crucial people leadership, ensuring the development, performance, and engagement of your team. Together you will be responsible for delivering a robust, accurate, and well-governed trade plan across the business.

By mastering cross-functional collaboration, you will ensure trade activity is effectively planned, executed, and reviewed, enabling the delivery of our commercial objectives, excellent customer outcomes, and operational simplicity.

• Salary - £63,600-£95,300  

• Contract type - We are recruiting for multiple positions, with the majority of these being Permanent positions, however we do have one 6 month fixed term contract position available on a part time basis (3 days per week).

• Working pattern/flexible working - The Partnership has adopted a hybrid working approach, meaning you'll be able to work a mixture between the office and home based upon your personal needs whilst balancing the needs of the business. The team complete 3 days per week in the office to connect.

• Location - Bracknell Head Office

• Interviews - Interviews for this role are expected to take place towards the end of May

Key responsibilities

● Trade Planning & Coordination: Coordinate the end-to-end trade planning process across categories, maintaining the central trade plan and acting as a senior point of contact for queries.

● Commercial Governance & Control: Ensure all trade activity adheres to agreed governance and

commercial guardrails, supporting approval forums and proactively identifying and resolving risks.

● Performance Tracking & Insight: Track and report trade performance, produce actionable

insight to support trading reviews, and lead post-event reviews to embed learning.

● People Management & Team Leadership: Provide day-to-day leadership, coaching, and support to Space Planners, and manage team capacity.

● Stakeholder Management: Build strong, trusted relationships with Commercial, Pricing,

Finance, Supply Chain, and Operations, providing confident challenge and guidance on trade plans.

Essential skills/experience you’ll need

● Degree level or equivalent level

● Very strong analytical skills and critical thinking

● Very strong commercial/marketing experience

● Financial acumen

● Stakeholder management and influencing

● Strong organisation and planning skills

● Recent management experience

For internal Partners, your existing benefits would remain unchanged during your secondment.

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We’re the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We’re not just employees, we’re Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world. As we look to our future, there’s never been a more exciting time to join us.  

We’re ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose.   

As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect. 

We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong. Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we’re free to be ourselves and can THRIVE. Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective. 

As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it.  

Important points to note:  

It’s important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you’ll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles.  

We occasionally close vacancies early in the event we receive a high volume of applications, and therefore, we recommend you apply early. If you require a reasonable adjustment due to a disability which means you may need longer to complete your application please contact us as soon as possible.

We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.