VM Designer – Fashion and Beauty

About the role

The Visual Merchandising Designer's role is to support the VM Lead in the creation and maintenance of merchandising standards and guidelines. Working collaboratively to ensure the delivery of the visual strategy to create commercially driven and visually inspiring store environments through the optimisation of design, buying, planning, space utilisation and cost efficiency. You will need the ability to define the Brand through innovative merchandising & be a key Brand ambassador, managing communication at all levels, providing honest, detailed and well considered feedback following projects.

Part of the role is to create, design and develop product based design solutions for all types of store experiences, departments, formats & product displays. Ensuring that designs meet and deliver to the brief, commercial objectives and create a great customer experience from the concept design through to store execution. Design recommendations are needed to optimise a particularly high number of elements and to balance the views of a wide range of stakeholders and have a fundamental impact on the Brand store environment.

Provides advice and guidance to Store Design in accordance with their industry / design specialism.

• Expected salary - The expected salary for this role is up to £53400
• Contract type - This position is a 12 month Secondment/Fixed Term contract

• Working pattern/flexible working - The Partnership has adopted a hybrid working approach, meaning you ll be able to work a mixture between the office and home based upon your personal needs, whilst balancing the needs of the business. Within the Brand and Store Experience team, we believe in the power of connection, which is why our core office days are Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
  
  We typically aim for around three days a week in the office or visiting shops to allow for collaboration and attendance of key meetings.

• Location - This role is based at our London Head Office campus in Pimlico. Please note, any cost incurred as a result of travel to the office is the responsibility of the successful candidate. There is also a responsibility to visit our John Lewis branches when necessary and travel costs will be met in line with the travel policy.

Key responsibilities

• Create and evolve merchandising guidelines & Visual refreshes throughout the Season using the latest buying direction and customer profiles for all own brand and third party brands.
• Owns the development of designs for permanent and semi permanent merchandising equipment, including POS.
• Help define the John Lewis look and feel, delivering a consistent approach to the Brand look & feel of shops, through merchandising, fixturing, presentation kit and layout guidelines.
• Be responsible for managing the delivery of and communicating Brand merchandising guidelines with the knowledge of the market to inspire and engage with our Customers.
• Assist in the planning and delivery of Seasonal change, projects, collaborations and Store specific requests.
• Provide clear merchandising guidelines for new concepts.
• Design with cost in mind, working with our supply chain to develop the most affordable, effective materials and construction method. Works with internal and external design resources including design agencies. Ensuring all design solutions are in line with John Lewis brand guidelines and sustainability targets.
• Ensure all Health & Safety and DDA requirements are met and the approval level of due diligence has been completed.
• Maintenance of continual BAU design solutions and projects to keep brand standards effective and up to date; meeting commercials needs for specialist product presentation.
• Support the wider VM department with the planning and implementation of own brand seasonal set-up. Working closely with Retail teams on key actions and deliverables; reviewing execution.
• Demonstrating a balanced view, focusing on both Own brand and External brands to maintain their individual strategies & Brand integrity and ensure they show up in a consistent manner across the estate. Work streams - Core Lite/CSI
• Strategically plan movements to effectively support the goals of the VM department and business…