M&S Food is changing, and fast! We are undergoing one of the biggest transformations in retailing today to build a bigger, better, fresher food business.

From Percy Pig to the freshest M&S Select Farms produce, we grow, source, and develop our own products to give our customers family-ready food that's unbeatable on flavour and innovation.

We need motivated people who are ready to bring their whole self to work and give it their all in a fast-paced team committed to being the best. After all, this is not just food… This is M&S Food.

This exciting role will form part of the UK Franchise New Business Team at the heart of bringing the exciting 3-year new business channel strategy plan into fruition. You will be delivering the M&S UK Franchise New Business Strategy through the prioritisation of the new business opportunity, establishing the relationship with new partners, developing the business case and being a key part of the negotiation team in order to get the opportunity over the line and ready for delivery. Post implementation you will be a key part of the review process assessing against the business case to recommend next steps.

Main responsibilities include:

Scope and develop the UK Franchise new business opportunities

• Working with potential new franchise partners to bring new channels of growth into reality
• Work closely across M&S Foods to gain insight and expertise relevant for the project / business opportunity
• Lead cross-functional project engagement – both internally and externally
• Writing and articulating clear Business Case’s to support the opportunity
• Identify any risks associated with the opportunity and form appropriate mitigations
• Ensure that the business benefits identified in the case during scoping can be delivered through the set up and delivery of the project
• Agree the Heads of Terms creation with new and/or existing business partners for the opportunity
• Support the Head of UK Franchise New Business in all contract negotiations with new Franchise Partners / Business partners
• Maintain internal governance and evaluation templates ensuring all opportunities are assessed on the same basis
• Generate innovative insights from analysis and translate these into simple, clear practical plans for opportunity identification
• Represent the Marks & Spencer brand externally

You will need:

• Consistent record of building and maintaining great business relationships
• High commercial acumen to be able to analysis key information and make key recommendations to the business
• Current knowledge of external market trends
• Confident communicator with ability to influence across all levels
• Experience in leading partnerships
• Experience in negotiating commercial contracts
• Strong tenacity, agility and resilience with ability to adapt to business and partner change
• Strong planning and organisational skills and ability to optimally balance multiple projects at one time
• Exceptional problem solving and analytical skills with a proven track record to turn findings into executable plans

M&S is ready to push boundaries to lead the industry into a greener, speedier, more inspiring digital era. That’s why we’re revolutionising how we work and offering our most exciting opportunities yet. There’s never been a better time to be part of our team. Marks & Spencer aims to be an inclusive organisation, trusted and admired by our colleagues, customers and suppliers. Join us and make an immediate impact. We are committed to an active Inclusion, Diversity and Equal Opportunities Policy, which starts with our recruitment and selection process, and we are happy to talk smart/flexible working.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process. If you consider yourself to have a disability or learning difficulty which means you are unable to complete the application process online, please get in touch either by phone on 0345 300 3725 or by email recruitment.online@marksandspencer.com so we can make alternative arrangements for you.