Product Assistant

Team
Food
Store
London Support Office
Location
London, Greater London
Contract type
Permanent
Position type
Full Time
Salary
competitive + Benefits
Closing date: 22nd November 2024
Apply now

How We Hire

Everyone is welcome at M&S. No exceptions. It’s your background, abilities and differences that make you, uniquely you. And when you’re part of M&S, that individuality has the potential to make waves.

About the role

This section tells you all you need to know about the position and its responsibilities, outlining everything we hope to see in a successful candidate.

All the details
M&S Food is changing, and fast! We are undergoing one of the biggest transformations in retailing today to build a bigger, better, fresher food business. From Percy Pig to the freshest M&S Select Farms produce, we grow, source, and develop our own products to give our customers family-ready food that's unbeatable on flavour and innovation. We need motivated people who are ready to bring their whole self to work and give it their all in a fast-paced team committed to being the best. After all, this is not just food… This is M&S Food.

To assist the product development team in formulating, directing and delivering commercial product development for customers in line with category and project plans and business strategy.

We are looking for an individual with a design flair and passion for the non – food categories. An interest in the areas is a must and this role would suit an individual with a homewares, gifting or stationary background.

We have a flexible / hybrid approach - talk to us about part time or job share opportunities in this role, if it’s meaningful to you, it’s important to us.

What’s in it for you

Being a part of M&S is exactly that – becoming a part and playing your part. We’re an inclusive, dynamic, exciting, and always evolving business built on core values.

Here are some of the benefits we offer that make working for M&S just that little bit more special…

  • 20% Colleague discount on most things from furniture, fashion and food.
  • A first-class welcome to M&S with a tailored induction and a wide range of training schemes to help with your learning and development. Having options to progress is something we’re proud of at M&S.
  • Attractive annual bonus, based on company performance and personal objectives.
  • Competitive holiday entitlement with the potential to buy extra holiday days!
  • Amazing perks and discounts via our M&S Choices website. Including GymSave – that offers up to 25% off Gym Memberships and the option to become an M&S Shareholder using our ShareSave & ShareBuy Schemes
  • Charity Volunteer Day – A paid day away from work to support your chosen charity.
  • A very generous Defined Contribution Pension Scheme and Life Assurance
  • Every colleague at M&S has access to a fantastic range of wellbeing support – this includes access to our 24/7 Virtual GP, PAM Assist to support you & your family as well as many other schemes

What you’ll do

Your key accountabilities will include:

  • Manage online photography and content process for Hampers & Food gifts ensuring all product imagery and information is correct and showcases the product for our customers.
  • Examine the marketplace and competition to keep up to date with trends in homecare/cards & wraps and gifting, lifestyle and packaging that influence the customer, market and potential product direction supported with regular reporting to product development team.
  • Assist in delivering the stage gate process, managing all product samples, both incoming and outgoing, product information for photographic shoots, quality benchmarking, supplier meetings, press requests, travel tests and product sampling.
  • Collate product information, samples and build product displays to support all internal events, including category reviews and product forums, and all external events, including conferences and press shows.
  • Support the product development team in creating and coordinating presentations, accurate and timely management information, range planning documents and competitor & directional insight.

Who you are

Your skills and experience will include:

  • Highly organised at managing sources of information, systems and processes.
  • IT skills in PowerPoint, Excel and Word.
  • Automated New Product Development (NPD) systems.
  • Positive, proactive and motivated mindset.

Everyone’s welcome

M&S is ready to push boundaries to lead the retail industry into a greener, speedier, more inspiring digital era. That’s why we’re revolutionising how we work and offering our most exciting opportunities yet. There’s never been a better time to be part of our team. Marks & Spencer aims to be an inclusive organisation, trusted and admired by our colleagues, customers and suppliers. Join us and make an immediate impact.

We are committed to an active Inclusion, Diversity and Equal Opportunities Policy, which starts with our recruitment and selection process, and we are happy to talk flexible working.

If you consider yourself to require reasonable adjustments to any part of our recruitment process, we invite you to share those requirements with us when completing your application. We will make every effort to ensure your needs are met to provide a fair and transparent process of assessment.

A group of colleagues gathered around a table, smiling and discussing work with laptops open in a modern office setting.

Being an in-person business

We're at our best when we're close to customers, and for many of us at M&S, that means working in store every day.

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. It also means we can solve problems as soon as they arise, learn and grow as a team, build trust, and get closer to our colleagues.

Click to skip quote slider carousel
Beth Own Brand Lead
Hetal Buyer

We want to succeed by earning and deserving the trust of consumers. We try to do the right thing for customers, whether it’s creating healthy everyday food or delivering the small moments of joy in their lives. People rely on M&S and that’s what makes it such a privilege to work here.

Beth (She / Her) | Own Brand Lead Read full story

What motivates me is getting to learn something new, and the best thing about buying is that you can go into any area, and you’ll become an expert in it. I started in food – ambient snacking and soft drinks – then moved into homecare, buying pet food and household products. Now I’ve been promoted to a Senior Buyer role within our Bakery team.

Hetal (She / Her) | Buyer Read full story

Make Your Mark

Opportunities to be heard

Your voice matters here. You can share your ideas ‘Straight to Stuart’, our CEO, or get involved in our BIG (Business involvement Group). Our colleague networks are also great places to find support, listen to each other and encourage debate.

Experience the business

We’re passionate about our customers and colleagues. To get closer to our customers we work in our stores 7 days per year. That way we can see how operations run and look for ways to do better each day.

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Colleague Networks

We want you to feel supported, no matter what.

The Gender Equality Network

This group is focused on helping to create a workplace where gender-related challenges are addressed. They raise awareness of common barriers faced and offer support. They also challenge the business to act and empower individuals to ensure that everyone has equal access to opportunities.

The Menopause Network

Here, our colleagues can share their concerns, as well as interesting facts and articles. Our aim is to help everyone feel comfortable talking openly about the menopause - providing a listening ear and finding positives in the experience.

Forces Community Network

A community of colleagues who are affiliated with the Armed Forces in various ways. We work to support colleagues readjusting to civilian life, to be there for those who have friends or family members in the forces, and to make M&S attractive to those leaving the forces. 

The Health and Wellbeing Network

This network helps colleagues manage their own mental and physical health. We also support people with disabilities or health conditions throughout M&S. We're a safe place to share your personal journey, coping strategies and top tips.

The LGBTQ+ Network

Open to all members of the LGBTQ+ community and spectrum (and their allies), we promote equality, celebrate inclusivity and diversity, and encourage everyone to be themselves - whatever their sexual or gender identity.

The Family & Carers Network

This group represents the different types of families that exist. We act as a support network and sounding board for ideas which help our colleagues as parents or carers. We also run an interactive blog, where you can write your own posts or hear about others' experiences.

The Culture and Heritage Network

Celebrating all faiths, cultures and ethnicities, this group promotes racial and religious equality. We create space to discuss, challenge and take action. And we mark key calendar moments  - like Black History Month - to remember the past, promote the present and build for the future. 

The Cancer Network

This is a network driven by personal experiences, with the purpose of ensuring that anyone in the M&S family affected by Cancer feels supported and has access to the information they need.

Benefits

How to Apply

Here’s what to expect at each stage of the application process. This can change depending on the role you’ve applied to. If you need any reasonable adjustments made at any stage, let us know and we can help.

Send us your application

Fill in our short application form and hit submit.

Online assessment

We’ll invite you to take part in an online assessment. This could be before or after your interview.

In-person assessment centre

We’ll invite you to an in-person assessment centre for an interview. This process may differ depending on the role you’ve applied to.

Decision

After we’ve decided, we’ll be in touch. If you’ve been successful, we’ll officially invite you to join the team and let you know the next steps.

Product Assistant

Team
Food
Store
London Support Office
Location
London, Greater London
Contract type
Permanent
Position type
Full Time
Salary
competitive + Benefits
Closing date: 22nd November 2024
Reference: 90804
Apply now