You’ll step into a role where the commercial frameworks are already in place and the next job is to build a high-performance culture. It is a leadership seat on the Merchandise Leadership Team, reporting to the GM Merchandise, where you partner with Heads of Business, influence trading decisions, and hold the commercial discipline that keeps supplier value and member benefit front of mind.
The team of commercial analysts are professional, self-sufficient and mostly made up of chartered accountants. You will lead them, resource them, and give them the strategic air cover so they can keep delivering the fact base the trading teams rely on. Your own time will go to the forward-looking work: annual trade budgeting, commercial governance, and the conversations that decide where the next sale, unit and dollar of profit comes from.
It is a high-performance environment. You will be expected to challenge constructively, stay comfortable with the trade-offs between pure analysis and commercial judgement, and bring the temperament to operate at pace without losing the relationships that make the work possible.
The Company
Foodstuffs South Island is the co-operative that feeds the South Island and works to create successful communities. It is one of the region’s largest employers, owned by its members and present in nearly every community across the island.
The Merchandise division sits at the centre of that. It negotiates with suppliers, manages the commercial terms that apply at product and supplier level, and partners with trading teams so the right product arrives for the right customer at the right cost. You will work alongside Retail, Supply Chain, Finance and the wider Merchandise leadership group.
The purpose is straightforward: better commercial outcomes that ultimately benefit members, customers and the communities the co-operative serves.
The Role
Your week will include:
- Lead the commercial performance of the Merchandise function, identifying opportunities to maximise profitability, supplier value and member benefit.
- Drive the annual trade budgeting process with Finance, Retail and the Heads of Business, then cascade and review it through the year.
- Oversee supplier commercial agreements, trading terms and rebate programmes so activity matches expected commercial outcomes.
- Partner with Merchandise, Retail, Supply Chain and Finance teams to surface, prioritise and deliver commercial opportunities.
- Provide timely, accurate commercial insight that supports both operational decisions and longer-term strategy.
- Lead and develop a high-performing commercial team, including performance, capability and succession.
- Monitor commercial performance against budget and forecast, and lead the analysis and business cases that improve returns.
You will bring:
- Significant leadership experience in a senior commercial, category, supplier management or business leadership role, typically 10–15+ years of relevant depth.
- Proven ability to drive commercial performance and deliver financial outcomes in a complex, multi-stakeholder environment.
- Strong commercial acumen, including experience managing supplier relationships, commercial negotiations and value-creation work.
- The ability to influence senior stakeholders and contribute effectively as a member of a leadership team.
- Experience developing and leading high-performing teams, preferably with analytical or accounting specialists.
- Strong financial literacy and the capacity to move quickly from a high-level view to the detail that shows where money is made or lost.
- Comfort operating in a high-performance culture: constructive challenge, clear expectations, and the temperament for pace and trade-offs.
How to Apply
Full working rights are required, and no sponsorship is offered.
If this is the scale and influence you have been looking for, apply via the relevant link or contact us for a confidential chat;-
Simon Lawrence - 021 240 2620
Louis Bentley - 0224 269 569
Tim Best - 021 502 791
We are committed to diversity and inclusion. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, disability or any other protected characteristic. Gender-neutral language is used throughout this advertisement.
