Merchandise Manager - Support Office - - 44307 - Fletcher Building

General Information

Job Type

Permanent

Description

Shape category strategy. Strengthen supplier partnerships. Deliver profitable growth.

PlaceMakers is transforming how we approach category, range, pricing and supplier partnerships—and we’re looking for a commercially strong Merchandise Manager to help lead the way.

Based at our Penrose Support Office, you’ll lead three Category Managers and three Assistant Category Managers, with end-to-end ownership of category performance across a significant part of our business.

This is broader than a traditional merchandise role. You’ll combine customer insight, category strategy, range, pricing, supplier performance and inventory to create propositions that help our branches win with customers and grow market share profitably.

What you’ll make happen:

You’ll be responsible for:

Developing and delivering customer-led category strategies that drive profitable growth.
Building relevant ranges supported by the right availability and inventory investment
Improving performance through disciplined management of pricing, costs, supplier terms, rebates and promotions
Leading significant supplier negotiations and building partnerships that create sustainable value
Turning customer, competitor and performance insights into clear commercial decisions.
Balancing customer availability and range breadth with inventory productivity and working capital
Translating national strategy into practical execution across our branch network.
Partnering with Operations, Sales, Pricing, Supply Chain, Finance and Marketing to deliver strong customer outcomes
Challenging established ways of working when there is a better commercial or customer outcome
Developing the capability and commercial judgement of your team

What you’ll bring:

You’ll be an experienced category, merchandise or commercial leader with a track record of delivering measurable business results.

Comfortable moving between strategy and execution, you’ll be equally confident analysing commercial performance, negotiating with a major supplier, coaching your team or working with operational leaders to solve customer problems.

You’ll bring:

Strong commercial acumen and an understanding of the drivers of sales, margin and return on investment
Experience developing and executing category or commercial strategies
Strong negotiation skills and experience managing significant supplier relationships
The ability to turn complex information into clear decisions and action
Proven people leadership and experience developing high-performing teams
Strong influencing skills and the ability to lead across functions
Curiosity, pace, ownership and the confidence to challenge established thinking

Experience in building products, trade, distribution, wholesale or B2B environments would be valuable, but it isn’t essential. What matters most is your ability to understand customers, create commercial value and make things happen.

Why PlaceMakers?

PlaceMakers plays a critical role in New Zealand’s building industry, supporting builders and tradespeople across the country.

We’re strengthening our customer proposition by resetting core ranges, simplifying pricing, improving availability and building stronger supplier partnerships.

You’ll join a business with scale, an established national network and genuine opportunity to influence how we work. If you want to make a meaningful impact on customers, commercial performance and team capability, we’d love to hear from you.

Come and help us build what’s next.

We are proud of the incredible diversity of people who make up our business! As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we strive to create an inclusive environment for all our employees across our national network of branches throughout New Zealand.