Working closely with marketplace partners, Finance and teams across the business, this role builds trusted relationships, shapes trading plans and unlocks new opportunities through effective pricing, assortment planning and performance management. It combines strategic thinking with hands-on delivery, supporting successful launches into international markets and helping to accelerate the global growth of the M&S brand.
The role also helps identify new marketplace opportunities and supports successful launches across international markets. Working with strategic partners, particularly Zalando, alongside About You and Veepee, it helps expand customer reach, unlock growth and support M&S as we continue to grow our global digital presence.
We are looking for someone commercially minded and data-driven, with marketplace trading experience and a strong understanding of strategic partners including Zalando, About You and Veepee, with particular focus on Zalando. This role would suit someone who thrives on building strong partnerships and delivering results, bringing strategic thinking, curiosity and a passion for growth, with the confidence to spot opportunities, influence others and help take the M&S brand to more customers around the world.
NB This is a full-time role and is based at our Paddington Support Office a minimum of three days a week.
What you’ll do
Your key accountabilities will include:
Own and deliver the international marketplace trading strategy, driving sales growth, profitability and commercial performance across global third-party marketplace partners
Lead marketplace trading performance with full P&L accountability, managing budgets, forecasting, margin delivery and trading plans to achieve ambitious sales and profit targets
Build and develop strategic relationships with marketplace partners, aligning trading calendars, product priorities and growth opportunities to maximise commercial outcomes
Use data, insight and continuous optimisation to drive performance, identifying opportunities to improve conversion, revenue, profitability and overall trading effectiveness
Identify and support new marketplace opportunities and launches, collaborating with cross-functional teams and key partners, with particular focus on Zalando and wider experience across About You and Veepee, to expand M&S's international marketplace presence and unlock future growth
Who you are
Your skills and experience will include:
- An experienced marketplace trading professional with a proven track record of driving sales growth, profitability and commercial performance through data-led decision making and continuous optimisation, with experience across strategic marketplace partners including Zalando, About You and Veepee
A commercially astute leader with strong financial acumen, including experience managing P&L performance, forecasting, budgeting and delivering sales, profit and margin targets
A relationship builder who can develop and grow strategic marketplace partnerships, influencing stakeholders and negotiating effectively to maximise performance, with proven experience of working with Zalando as a priority, and ideally About You and Veepee
A collaborative influencer who can align cross-functional teams across Buying, Merchandising, Digital, Marketing, Supply Chain, Operations and Finance to deliver shared commercial objectives
- A strategic and results-driven thinker, able to balance long-term planning with hands-on trading execution, identifying growth opportunities, supporting marketplace expansion and delivering exceptional commercial outcomes.
What’s in it for you?
Working at M&S means being part of something bigger - helping to deliver quality, value and service to millions of customers every day. We’re inclusive, fast-moving and always evolving, with a strong sense of purpose and a focus on doing the right thing.
Here are just a few of the benefits that make working here even more rewarding:
- 20% colleague discount on all M&S products and many third-party brands for you and someone in your household, available once you’ve completed your probation
- Competitive holiday allowance with the option to buy more
- Strong pension and life assurance to help plan for the future
- Tailored induction and training to support your development from day one
- Exclusive perks and savings through our M&S Choices portal
- Market-leading family policies, including parental, adoption and neonatal leave
- 24/7 wellbeing support, including virtual GP access and mental health services
- One paid volunteer day a year to support a cause that matters to you
Everyone’s welcome
We are ambitious about the future of retail. We’re reinventing, innovating and leading the industry into a more conscientious, inspiring digital era. We’re redefining how we work together and offering our most exciting opportunities yet. Marks & Spencer strives to be an inclusive organisation, trusted and admired by our colleagues, customers and suppliers. Join us and make change happen.
We are committed to building diverse and representative teams, where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and be at their best. We support each other and work together to win together.
If you feel you'd benefit from any support or reasonable adjustments during any stage of the recruitment process, please don’t hesitate to let us know when completing your application. This information will be picked up by our team, so we can try to put steps in place to help you be at your best through this process.
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Skills Required
- Proven track record driving sales growth, profitability and commercial performance through data-led decision making and optimisation
- Experience managing P&L performance, forecasting, budgeting and delivering sales, profit and margin targets
- Ability to build and develop strategic marketplace partnerships and negotiate effectively with partners (eg Zalando)
- Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams (Buying, Merchandising, Digital, Marketing, Supply Chain, Operations, Finance)
- Commercially minded, strategic and results-driven with hands-on trading execution experience
- Full-time role based at Paddington Support Office a minimum of three days a week (hybrid requirement)
What We Do
At M&S, we're dedicated to being the most trusted retailer, prioritising quality and delivering value. Every day, we bring the magic of M&S to our customers, whenever, wherever and however they want to shop with us. For over a century, we've set the standard, doing the right thing and embracing innovation. Today, with over 65,000 colleagues serving 32 million customers globally, we're putting quality products at the heart of everything we do. Tomorrow holds boundless opportunities with us. We're pioneering digital innovation and shaping the future of retail where our values drive every action. We stay close to customers and colleagues, always curious and connected. Our decisions are bold, our actions ambitious. Transparency is paramount, with straightforward, honest communication. We're constantly innovating, always striving for the best. Our focus is on aiming higher and winning together, combined with wise financial decisions to secure our future. Join us at M&S to shape the future of retail.
