Puma Uk&i

If you love fashion and retail and want to gain a real understanding of how products make it on to our shelves, this opportunity with Puma UK is just for you.

PUMA is one of the world’s leading sport lifestyle companies that designs and develops footwear, apparel and accessories. It is committed to working in ways that contribute to the world by supporting Creativity, Sustainability and Peace, and by staying true to the principles of being Fair, Honest, Positive and Creative in decisions made and actions taken.

The Puma UK operation is a wholesale and retail operation with around 250 employees across 3 sites. All design is done in the US or Germany with the manufacturing being done overseas.

**The Role**

This is an excellent opportunity to gain an overall understanding of merchandising through working directly with our key global partner, JD Group. Do not confuse this with a visual merchandising placement.

Puma UK's operation is a wholesale and retail operation, and the merchandisers select the correct products from the whole international range for the UK market. This requires an awareness of trends, and you will produce monthly product and trend reports for distribution. You must also have an awareness of markets, competitor information and innovation in the market, and you will undertake a review of competitors’ activity in terms of product, quality, availability and retail support.

You will work closely with the sales team and buyers to forecast demand, plan manufacturing and get the ordering right. This will give you an insight into the function of the Sales, Marketing, Supply, Planning & Purchasing Team, and its relation to the Merchandising Department.

Ultimately, you will work across the footwear and apparel departments, to review product opportunity and manage exclusive products within JD Group. This will include trend research, critical path management and sell thru analysis.

You will also assist with the implementation of product launches. This involves sourcing samples, setting up displays, travelling to the showrooms and showcasing the range to JD buyers.

You will work closely with the UKI Merchandising team, the JD Group team and will get involved with administrative support. Finally you will assist in the compilation of a best practice document after having gained experience in all areas of product merchandising.

**Essential Skills**:
**Skills Required**:
You will be a current student on a fashion related business, marketing or retail degree course looking to undertake your sandwich placement in 2023-2024.

You will have a good level of planning and organising skills, and will be self-motivated with the ability to work on your own initiative. You will have well-developed problem-solving skills along with strong attention to detail, and the ability to make decisions with conflicting information. You will be a confident, assertive and hardworking individual with excellent communication skills. You must have strong interpersonal and networking skills, with the ability to work as part of a team.

Excellent written and spoken English and knowledge of MS Office computer packages will be of benefit. Due to the analytic nature of the role, strong excel skills will be beneficial as well as confidence with business analysis and running market reports.

You must be able to demonstrate your strong interest in and passion for sportstyle and sport.

Finally, you will be commercially aware and have a desire to make a difference for a global market leader.

**About Company**:
**Essential Requirements**:** Skills Required**

You will be a current student on a fashion related business, marketing or retail degree course looking to undertake your sandwich placement in 2023-2024.

You will have a good level of planning and organising skills, and will be self-motivated with the ability to work on your own initiative. You will have well-developed problem-solving skills along with strong attention to detail, and the ability to make decisions with conflicting information. You will be a confident, assertive and hardworking individual with excellent communication skills. You must have strong interpersonal and networking skills, with the ability to work as part of a team.

Excellent written and spoken English and knowledge of MS Office computer packages will be of benefit. Due to the analytic nature of the role, strong excel skills will be beneficial as well as confidence with business analysis and running market reports.

You must be able to demonstrate your strong interest in and passion for sportstyle and sport.

Finally, you will be commercially aware and have a desire to make a difference for a global market leader.