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Salary: Competitive Plus Benefits
Location: London Store Support Centre and Home, London, EC1M 6HA
Contract type: Permanent
Business area: Food Commercial
Closing date: 21 September 2025
Requisition ID: 400016674

We’d all like amazing work to do, and real work-life balance. That’s waiting for you at Sainsbury’s. Here, everything in our Sainsbury’s stores starts out in Sainsbury’s Commercial. Whether it’s the product, proposition, packaging or price, or the fact that something tastes great, our team is responsible for all food, non- food and Clothing items available in Sainsbury’s stores, digitally and on demand. You’ll discover it’s incredibly fast-paced. People here are in it together and not afraid to take risks. They’re enthusiastic too, and their amazing leadership team is right behind them. The knowledge and experience you gain here could set you up for career moves anywhere else in the business. So, if you’re passionate about your products and just as hungry to learn, you’ll fit in perfectly.

About the team

At Sainsbury’s, our Food Commercial team is at the heart of delivering our vision to help everyone eat better. We work collaboratively across supermarket, convenience, and online channels to create a distinctive and value-competitive customer offer. Innovation, strategic thinking, and cross-functional teamwork drive our success in a fast-paced retail environment.

This job advert is part of our proactive interview scheme across Food Buying at Sainsbury’s, where we interview talented individuals to benchmark and build a talent pool for future vacancies.

More about the role

As a Buyer, you will own, deliver, and optimise the buying and selling strategy for your category. You will be responsible for the commercial performance of the range, working across all channels to grow market share and cash profit. Your day-to-day will involve developing customer-focused category plans, negotiating product costs, implementing pricing and promotional strategies, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to drive product improvement and new product development.

You will lead key projects, including range reviews and supplier tenders. Your decisions will shape the buying and selling strategy, and you’ll have access to a dedicated support team and industry-leading resources to help you succeed.

More about you

You are a commercially-minded individual with a proven ability to analyse financial, market, and customer data to identify opportunities. You demonstrate accountability for results and have a track record of delivering against key performance indicators. Your negotiation skills and understanding of product cost drivers enable you to influence outcomes effectively.

You communicate clearly and work well in cross-functional teams, inspiring and engaging stakeholders to gain commitment to plans. You are proactive in managing your personal development and thrive in a dynamic environment where prioritisation and strategic thinking are key.

Essential criteria

  • Proven experience in developing and executing customer-focused category plans.
  • Demonstratable ability to analyse financial, market, and customer data to identify opportunities.
  • Experience in negotiating product costs and managing supplier relationships.
  • Ability to lead cross-functional projects through to delivery.
  • Knowledge of buying systems and processes, and ability to prioritise workload effectively.

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We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer, so you’ll be welcomed whoever you are and wherever you work. Around here, there’s always the chance to try something new - whether that’s as part of an evolving team or somewhere else across the business - and we take development seriously and promise to support you. We also recognise and celebrate colleagues when they go the extra mile and, where possible, offer flexible working. When you join our team, we’ll also offer you an amazing range of benefits. Here are some of them:
 
 Starting off with colleague discount, you'll be able to get 10% off at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat after 4 weeks. This increases to 15% off at Sainsbury’s every Friday and Saturday and 15% off at Argos every pay day. We've also got you covered for your future with our pensions scheme and life cover. You'll also be able to share in our success as you may be eligible for a performance-related bonus of up to 20% of salary, depending on how we perform.  
 
 Your wellbeing is important to us too. You'll receive an annual holiday allowance, and you can buy additional holiday. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, interest free car loan of up to £10k, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, pay advance (where you can access some of your pay before pay day) as well access to a great range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers. And if you ever need it there is also an Employee Assistance Programme, you will also be eligible for private healthcare too.

Moments that matter are as important to us as they are to you which is why we give up to 26 weeks’ pay for maternity or adoption leave and up to 4 weeks’ pay for paternity leave. 
 
 Please see www.sainsburys.jobs for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).

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