Responsibility for a product will shift formally to the Merchandiser at an agreed date after its in-line exit, at which point full accountability for the exit strategy and clearance P&L transfers from the category managers. The role will be instrumental in building the merchandising tools, processes, and relationships – including with clearance partners – that give the business a structured and commercially disciplined approach to product lifecycle management.

Specific Responsibilities

• Buying Support & Range Planning

  • Work alongside category managers to support the buying process across all product categories, providing data-led insight to inform range decisions, intake timing, and depth of buy.
  • Partner with the rest of the Business Intelligence team to develop buying tools that give category managers clear visibility of stock positions, sales forecasts, and category performance – with a view to implementing an open-to-buy adjacent framework over time.
  • Monitor forward order commitments and provide analysis to support supplier negotiations and buying reviews.
  • Partner with category managers and operations team to optimise product delivery schedules to reduce stock holding time.

• In-Line Product Management

  • Support the category managers to maintain high standards of product data quality for all active products throughout the in-line period, particularly highlighting where gaps or errors might be impacting a products sales rate.
  • Monitor sell-through rates across categories and channels, surfacing underperformance early and working with category managers to identify appropriate responses, including promotional activity or reorder decisions.
  • Produce regular trading reports and performance analysis to keep category managers and senior stakeholders informed on product performance against plan.

• Exit Strategy & Clearance

  • Take full ownership of the exit strategy for all products from an agreed date after their in-line exit date, developing category-level clearance plans with clear financial recovery targets.
  • Manage the clearance P&L for all exiting stock, tracking markdown spend and recovery performance and reporting outcomes to the Head of Business Intelligence.
  • Build and manage trading relationships with clearance house partners, negotiating terms to maximise recovery value on discontinued lines.
  • Manage D2C clearance channels, ensuring an effective and brand-appropriate approach to stock reduction through owned digital and physical channels.
  • Collaborate with finance and operations to align clearance activity with cash flow planning and warehouse capacity.

• Data & Systems
  • Contribute to the development of merchandising dashboards and analytical tools that support ongoing commercial decision-making across the product lifecycle.

This role will be based at the Southampton office. Working hours to be agreed and may be varied depending on the requirements of the candidate and the role.

Measures of Success

• Sell-through rates across in-line categories meeting or exceeding commercial targets.
• Clearance P&L performance: recovery targets met or exceeded on exiting stock.
• Inventory days reducing across the distribution business.
• Product data quality maintained to a high standard across all active and exiting ranges.
• Positive feedback from category managers on the quality and timeliness of merchandising support and analysis.
• Clearance house and D2C channel relationships delivering competitive recovery outcomes.

Package

• A commercially meaningful role with real influence over product lifecycle decisions across a £30m group.
• The opportunity to build merchandising processes and tools from the ground up, with the support of an established Business Intelligence function.
• Exposure to industry-leading data infrastructure, including Microsoft Fabric and Power BI.
• A collaborative environment with a flat structure and clear progression pathways as the function grows.

Department: Business Intelligence

Reports to: Head of Business Intelligence

Location: Southampton – onsite (hybrid working available)

Contract: Full time, permanent

Salary: £38,000–£43,000 depending on experience

To apply or receive further information regarding roles at Specialist Sports please email a copy of your CV with a covering letter to ewan.mitchell@specialistsports.com.