Are you looking to take a step into Buying and Category Management? Do you have drive and ambition and aspire to work in a dynamic, commercial business? If so, this could be the perfect role for you As a Commercial Category Assistant at BSS you will play a vital role in being the first point of contact for our branches and suppliers, supporting our Category Managers in ensuring we have the right range of products for our customers at the right gross margin profitability, securing the maximum amount of funding from our suppliers to support that range. What you’ll do: Utilising your great communication skills, you will ensure requests and queries from our branches are dealt with quickly and efficiently. You’ll have an eye for detail, ensuring accurate data is provided to help us understand the trading performance of our categories and customers. A great team player, we will need you to collaborate effectively with internal stakeholders to deliver commercial projects across the business, as well as ensuring our product descriptions, images, prices and data is accurate and customer focused. This role is Hybrid working and you will be expected to travel to the BSS Crosspoint, Coventry office once per week also to supplier meetings when required. Day to Day: Responsible for the accurate set up and maintenance of all the products in a given category. Accountable for the reporting for a given category, using data studios and data lakes to provide the category manager with all the sales and performance information when it is needed. Responsible for building and understanding our competitors and what they are offering in the given product category. Responsible for supporting category managers to deliver compelling, on time, and accurate promotional and pricing plans. Mastering the ‘numbers’ part of the commercial role ie. being able to work out margins, calculate break even levels, and understand elasticity of pricing decisions to then be able to recommend pricing decisions. Build relationships with the supplier base and be able to have conversations with account managers. Who we’re looking for: Being a graduate or entry level opportunity, previous experience isn’t essential. We just need you to be great with numbers, sharp with data and able to balance lots of different tasks at the same time You will also need the confidence to build relationships, be prepared to work at pace and most of all not be afraid to get stuck in and become an integral part of the team. Sounds interesting? You may have retail experience, be a recent graduate or currently working in a BSS or Travis Perkins branch. If you are looking to build a career, this could be a great first step on your journey, with the opportunity to work in a dynamic business surrounded by passionate people who are driven to succeed. What’s in it for you? We are happy to extend this offer to join one of our LEAP Apprenticeships, whereby you will work closely with your line manager and course mentor to work towards a Level 4 within Buying & Merchandising. Joining BSS as a Category Assistant means joining a reputable and expanding business offering great company benefits such as discounts across our businesses and the support of an employer who values your development as much as you do. We’ll also equip you with a benefits package that grows as you grow with the company: Competitive performance related bonus Save-as-you-earn scheme Buy-as-you-earn scheme Contributory pension scheme Colleague discount across a variety of Group businesses A bit about us: As the Uk’s largest, leading distributor of pipeline and heating solutions, BSS Serves a wide range of sectors and trades. We provide bespoke solutions to customers including products, specifications, technical support and aftersales care. With a rich history that began over 110 years ago, today we are a nationwide business. We partner with the best brands and brains in the game and have worked hard to put the right products, services and solutions in the one place. It’s our job to make our customers, people and partners proud every day