Are you ready to shape M&S’ biggest brand partnership within Beauty? As our Sephora Partnership Lead, you’ll be at the heart of the relationship between M&S and Sephora, bringing together commercial strategy, trading performance and cross-functional teams to grow our concession business.
This is an exciting opportunity to lead a major beauty partnership and turn commercial plans into an outstanding experience for our customers.
Due to high interest, this role may close earlier than advertised. We recommend applying as soon as possible.
What you’ll do
Your key accountabilities will include
• Lead and manage the relationship with Sephora, including senior stakeholders, through structured monthly and quarterly business reviews that track performance and identify opportunities.
• Shape, refine and execute the end-to-end partnership strategy and ongoing trading plan with Sephora, aligning internal teams and external partners to deliver sustainable commercial growth.
• Own the full concession P&L and key KPIs, including weekly trading performance, annual budgets, reforecasting and long-term strategic planning.
• Influence and align cross-functional teams across Commercial, Finance, Store Operations, Supply Chain, Online and Marketing to deliver the business plan.
• Lead the planning, prioritisation and delivery of future Sephora rollouts and refresh programmes against agreed timelines, budgets and commercial return targets.
Who you are
Your skills and experience will include
• A strong understanding of end-to-end retail trading and operations, with knowledge of Property, Online, Marketing and Loyalty.
• Experience leading large projects or a functional area with significant cross-functional dependencies, ideally involving external partners.
• Strong stakeholder and partner engagement skills, with the ability to build credible relationships and galvanise support across indirect teams.
• Commercial acumen, with strong analytical and problem-solving skills to translate data and insight into executable plans.
• Confident decision-making, influencing and communication skills, with the ability to deliver at pace through ambiguity and complexity; Beauty brand management experience is desirable.
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
Discretionary bonus schemes linked to your performance and ours
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 servicesOne 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 are disrupting, innovating and leading the industry into a more conscientious, inspiring digital era. We are transforming 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 and put steps in place to help you be at your best through this process.
To stay close to customers, our support teams are in the office three days a week as we believe that skills are developed through collaboration, and that spending time together makes us more creative and connected.
#L1-AC1 #LI-Hybrid
Skills Required
- Strong understanding of end-to-end retail trading and operations, including Property, Online, Marketing, and Loyalty
- Experience leading large projects or a functional area with significant cross-functional dependencies
- Experience involving external partners
- Strong stakeholder and partner engagement skills
- Ability to build credible relationships and gain support across indirect teams
- Commercial acumen with strong analytical and problem-solving skills
- Confident decision-making, influencing, and communication skills
- Ability to deliver at pace through ambiguity and complexity
- Beauty brand management experience
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.
