Visual Merchansing Manager Reports To: Brand Director Location: Hybrid / The Nest Who are Bird & Blend Tea Co.? Bird & Blend Tea Co. is an eco-conscious, people-focused, award-winning & B Corp-certified Tea Mixology company on a mission to spread happiness & reimagine tea Bird & Blend was set up & is run by Krisi & Mike, who met whilst studying Politics (of all things) at university. Building Bird & Blend from scratch while staying true to their ethos & values has been Krisi & Mike’s passion for over 10 years. From the early days of packing tea in their bedroom & attending markets, to now, with an awesome team, multiple retail stores & a thriving international online store, Bird & Blend is leading the way in tea innovation in the UK. Bird & Blend has grown out of a core belief in doing business in a better way. This is ultimately our why - it’s why we are in business & what we believe in. Of course, we want to welcome as many people as possible into our Magical World of Tea but fundamentally it’s what we care about other than great tea that makes us magical. You can read heaps more information about us and our mission here: https://www.birdandblendtea.com/pages/our-story What’s the Role? As our Visual Merchandising Manager, you will provide essential brand, creative & commercial input for the visual merchandising across our entire retail store estate. This is a brand new role offering a unique opportunity to make your mark at a business with 25 stores & big ambitions to grow this in the coming years. Our retail stores are a place for our passionate Tea Mixologists to create unique, memorable & personalised experiences for our customers, and visual merchandising is an essential part of this. Reporting directly to the Brand Director, you will work closely with our creative & retail teams to own the overall look of our stores by bringing our unique customer experience & industry-leading products to life and telling our brand story. This includes our existing estate as well as playing a key role in the planning & build for new stores. This is a hybrid role based between our offices near Worthing & on the road visiting stores to support with visual merchandising installations, seeing the products in action, building relationships with store teams & getting to know our local communiTEAs. Responsibilities Include Bringing brand to life in store Collaborate with retail teams to develop effective in-store visual merchandising plans that enable fantastic experiences, tell the brand story & drive purchases. Develop planograms for new & existing store layouts, working with unique store footprints across our estate. Adapt visual merchandising strategies for different store sizes and categories including flagship stores around the UK. Work with operational teams to plan exact materials needed for store fit-outs to achieve desired layouts & in-store experience. Contribute to the plan, layout & zoning for new store openings, offering a creative & commercial eye alongside robust knowledge of the brand customer journey & story. Source materials including props, fabrics, hardware, & lighting for stores, being mindful to minimise wastage & invest in sustainable materials, working to a set budget. Work with creative & retail teams to contribute to exciting, innovative & pioneering visual merchandising & in-store display strategies for campaigns & seasonal launches. Create clear briefs for artwork, printed materials & visual assets for our in-house Creative Studio to produce, as well as working with external suppliers. Develop impactful visual merchandising for new growth avenues for the business including pop-ups, kiosks, concessions & with B2B partners. Exterior Merchandising Contribute to the development of ambitious, attention-grabbing window displays to support brand messages & campaign launches, working with creative & retail teams. Oversee & provide support to each store with window product change for every campaign or rotation, physically assisting with the installation when required. Collaborate with brand & retail team members on additional exterior merchandising including sampling experiences & A Boards. Interior Merchandising Collaborate with retail teams to develop creative, compelling, commercial & on-brand zonings for each product category, reviewing product mix & best-seller analysis to ensure displays in line with customer demand alongside brand standards. Support in the installation & execution of campaign focus areas & zones for each rotation, in line with the campaign vision. Training & communication Carry out training & in-person visits with our teams to ensure products are consistently displayed & merchandised in line with brand & campaign guidelines. Provide on-the-ground coaching & knowledge to build our store teams’ capabilities. Share feedback & recommendations with the brand team & Retail Area Managers to ensure the visual merchandising is as strong as possible. Deliver customer journey & visual merchandising training for new team members to support in the opening of new stores Own the visual merchandising section of our campaign packs delivered to all stores, providing robust guidelines including visual aids & instructions for store managers to follow. Work with the Retail Ops Manager to ensure stores are maintained to a high standard, with all lighting, windows, props, merchandising units & furniture kept in good condition. Skills & Experience Experience in a similar role for a challenger, experience-focused, creative brand Passionate about sustainability & minimising waste Interest in design & lifestyle trends High standards & an eye for detail, able to stick to and champion brand guidelines Excellent communication & negotiation skills We are committed to equality of opportunity for all, applications from individuals are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support you throughout the application or interview process please let us know.