VM Assistant Designer Home & EHT/Fashion & Beauty

You will be working alongside Visual Merchandising teams, Store leadership, Regional Retail Leads and Retail implementation to deliver retail visual excellence. You will be responsible for generating and influencing the use of Brand VM guidelines with the knowledge of the market to inspire and engage with our Customers, through stand-out VM.
You will need the ability to define the Brand through innovative management of all VM aspects & be a key Brand ambassador, managing communication at all levels, providing honest, detailed and well considered feedback following visits and projects taking into careful consideration the synergies and differences across the brand.

In addition to your contractual pay, any time worked between 22:00 - 06:00 will attract Night Premium at a rate of £4.50 per hour. This will also apply to existing Partners who have enrolled onto Enhanced Hours Premium arrangements.

• Expected salary - The expected salary for this role is upto £43000

• Contract type - This position is a 12 month Secondment/Fixed Term contract

• 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.   Within the Brand and Store Experience team, we believe in the power of connection, which is why our core office days are Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  We typically aim for around three days a week in the office or visiting shops to allow for collaboration and attendance of key meetings. 

• Location -  This role is based at our London Head Office campus in Pimlico.  Please note, any cost incurred as a result of travel to the office is the responsibility of the successful candidate.  There is also a responsibility to visit our John Lewis branches when necessary and travel costs will be met in line with the travel policy.

Key responsibilities

• Regularly spend time in shops/office  as reasonably required to fulfil the job role

• Support the Visual Merchandisers to create and evolve Visual merchandising guidelines throughout the Season using latest buying direction and customer profiles for all own brand and third party brands.

• Support in driving out clear solutions for updating guidelines, working alongside  the Retail Comms team and working through solutions for the RSS to ensure clear route to support for all store teams. 

• Support the wider VM department with the planning and implementation of Brand Seasonal Set-up. Working closely with Retail teams on key actions and deliverables. 

• Demonstrating a balanced view, focusing on both Own brand and External brands to maintain their individual strategies & Brand integrity and ensure they show up in a consistent manner across the estate. 

• Maintain an awareness of Retail and Brand activity to assist Stores with decision making and ensuring integrity of the Brand is maintained at all times.

• Apply Commercial acumen and market awareness with all Visual solutions to maximise sales and potential of Stores. 

• Strategically plan movements to effectively support the goals of the VM department and business needs, remaining agile to Trade.

• Involvement and support of projects to drive the Brand forward and achieve VM Department strategy.

• Supporting Visual Merchandiser with ensuring Window & Internal Creative elements have been implemented in stores to the latest Brand guidelines.

• Work closely with the Visual Merchandisers on Identifying and producing agile VM training strategies with line and Regional Retail leads, to support the development of the John Lewis VM teams. 

• Consistently endorse Brand big deals ensuring Stores are delivering on all aspects of layout, VM and latest Brand thinking.

• Work in partnership with Space Planning  to assist in the planning and delivery of Seasonal change, projects, collaborations and Store specific requests. 

• Assisting at new store openings and modernisation.

• Supporting as a team when business requires

• Support Store / RRL with the organisation of new store openings /  modernisations, assisting with set up teams, training requirements, equipment and graphic audits

• Proactive with driving own development; seek feedback through peers and business network to drive KPI’s. 

• Enjoy working in a fast paced, high energy environment.

Skills

• Layout and visual merchandising skills.

• Communication and influencing skills, ability to liaise at all levels + and reach compromise when needed.

• Strong training and coaching skills.

• Ability to organise and manage your own time effectively.

• Ability to work on own initiative and self-motivation.

• Ability to build strong relationships with key business areas.

Essential skills/experience you’ll need

• Strong retail customer knowledge.

• An innovative approach to support business growth 

• Strong stakeholder management experience with excellent communication style

• Demonstrate the ability to stay positive under pressure and stay focused on goals
   

Desirable skills/experience you may have 

• Creative problem solving + Global mind set of the Brand.

• Demonstrate and application of Commercial acumen and market awareness with all Visual solutions to maximise sales and potential of Stores

• Retail Management experience

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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. 

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