Commercial Analyst

About the Role

The role holder will be expected to use a variety of levers to drive like-for-like sales growth, such as range improvement, optimisation of price and promotion, upselling and maximisation of the use of space, and will drive category performance e.g. hot drinks, as well as the performance of the brand or brands. He or she will use a range of tools and approaches to achieve gross margin improvement: working with stakeholders. This role requires a rigorous and thorough commercial modelling and analysis ensuring all commercial activity is profit additive, this role will present regularly to senior stakeholders, and plans must stand up to scrutiny, demonstrating that due rigour has been applied.

Working alongside the Commercial manager(s) / Head of Commercial to ensure EBITDA delivery to budget targets by;

• Weekly review of trading performance and recommend actions to improve performance
• Perform analysis to design and measure pricing and commercial trials using a mix of controlled experiment techniques, market research and ‘ad hoc’ analysis
• Conduct Post-trial analysis of impact that translates data into commercial stories, recommendations and actions
• The identification of key commercial opportunities and priorities for testing
• Develop analytical tools and templates

What you'll be doing:

Planning

• Work with the Commercial Managers to curate the commercial plan for each of the specified brand or brands – focused on ensuring plans will drive sufficient value to deliver stretch targets
• Support Head of Category to ensure budget and quarterly forecast capture planned impacts, that budgets are realistic and deliverable based on pipeline price and commercial activity
• Submit proposed sales and gross margin improvement activities to weekly trade / monthly commercial activity meetings for approval (background, financial value and suggested next steps)

Modelling

• Ensure activities are modelled with clear assumptions and rational to support the assumptions
• Test and learn activity is designed with robust control groups and expectations of success are clear before activities are live
• Working alongside Commercial managers to model any changes to range / space, forecasting sales mix at product level
• Support Head of Category (or) Head of Commercial in preparing proposals for trading or commercial forum sign off, delivering a narrative that tells the story of modelled data

Implementation & Analysis

• Work with Commercial Managers to ensure consistent implementation of the agreed strategy at brand level. E.g. Tracking compliance of activities prior to detailed reviews
• Reviewing data pre to post or year on year, normalisation of data to ensure seasonal and external factors driving performance are mitigated within reason
• Ensure that the true cost to the business of product decisions is considered, within analysis
• Propose, implement and analyse Pricing trials and post elasticity reviews
• Look for optimisation opportunities either in other brands or in other product categories where similar principles can be applied
• Support Commercial manager in preparing proposals for trading or commercial forum sign off

Reporting / MI

• Prepare report results for weekly trade and monthly commercial forum meetings to assess whether forecast has been achieved (what & why), what it means commercially (e.g. can forecast EBITDA be banked) and what if any actions should be taken moving forward
• Highlight new opportunities to improve performance through regular reviews of MI
• Ensure that opportunities are highlighted and discussed with Commercial Managers

To be successful in the role you'll need:

Essential:

• Strong commercial storytelling skills, with the ability to translate complex data into clear, concise and compelling narratives, presentations and recommendations
• Track record of analysing commercial data to drive insights and change in businesses
• Good grasp of commercial issues in a consumer/retail environment
• Advanced Excel skills, including scenario modelling and handling large datasets
• Confident presenting insights to senior stakeholders, clearly articulating the “so what” and influencing decisions through evidence-led recommendations
• Must be able to drive decision-making through analysis and based on evidence, rather than intuition
• Evidence of building effective working relationship with commercial teams
• Ability to self-manage and to work under pressure and deliver within deadlines
• Strong team member
• Must be able to develop innovative ideas to drive top and bottom line, testing, learning and refining and then operationalising them
• Structured and analytical thinker
• Exceptional attention to detail
• Innovative and bold – able to find new ways of doing things, challenge the status quo, take an entrepreneurial approach (measured risk, high reward)

Why join SSP?
At SSP, we’re passionate about creating places people want to be - whether that’s for our customers, our partners or our colleagues.When you join us, you’ll be part of a business where commercial thinking, collaboration and ownership really matter, and where your work can make a visible difference.

We Offer:

• Employee discounts across our brands
• Friends and Family Discount App
• Award-winning training, apprenticeships and development programmes
• Health and wellbeing support
• Hybrid working with flexibility to support work–life balance
• An inclusive and diverse workplace, with employee networks and communities
  
  

Start the best part of the journey with us.
At SSP, we value diversity and are committed to building a team that reflects a wide range of backgrounds, skills and perspectives.