Senior Margin Optimisation Analyst

Senior Margin Optimisation Analyst
Location: UK (Corby or Manchester)

At RS we’ve been solving engineering problems for over 80 years: big ones, small ones, easy and difficult ones. We turn the ‘what ifs’ into the ‘why nots’, the impossible into the possible.  
Our purpose? Making amazing happen for a better world.  

We offer service and product solutions. We send out a parcel every 2 seconds, to over 130 countries. We provide over 700,000 in-stock and over 3 million unstocked products to more than 1.2 million customers.

The primary purpose of this role is to define and implement effective pricing strategies while proactively optimizing margin performance for assigned product categories and/or sales organizations across the EMEA region. 

This will be achieved through margin and performance analysis, interpreting market and commercial strategies, leveraging external market insight and overlaying effective pricing techniques. 

Working closely with the pricing team and other relevant commercial functions, this role plays a significant role in optimising ongoing margin performance by leveraging data / analytics and commercial understanding to define and implement effective pricing strategies in close collaboration with relevant stakeholders. 

Responsibilities: 

• Develop differentiated pricing strategies to optimise margin performance by applying knowledge of RS value proposition, customer base, market and commercial strategies, external market conditions including competitive landscape.
• Analyse and interpret large data sets and insights to assess potential outcomes of proposed pricing strategies and offer counsel based on data to business stakeholders.
• Understand and assess relevant competitors and their market position to ensure RS pricing strategies are aligned to market dynamics and customer expectations.
• Monitor margin, customer, market and financial performance to:
  • identify trends and drivers of performance change,
  • identify whether implemented pricing strategy is delivering forecasted outcome,
  • trigger a review of pricing strategy as appropriate.
• Collaborate with Pricing Specialists on regular basis to ensure alignment of strategy and implementation and highlight/resolve issues and opportunities for margin optimisation as they arise.
• Communicate pricing strategy and reviews, and with key drivers of change, follow collaboration with key stakeholders and partners.

How I make a difference in this role

• Commercial understanding: Gaining a comprehensive understanding of the company's value proposition, customer base, and market strategies will support in making well-informed pricing recommendations that align with the company's objectives. Additionally, combining large data sets and insights will support and enable informed decision-making, backed by solid data, to optimise sales and margin.
• Analytical curiosity:  Deep dive into data with a curious mindset and integrate with market insights and expertise.  Focus on the data and analytics to help drive decision making process and performance reviews.
• Stakeholder management: Build and maintain strong relationships with stakeholders. Effective collaboration and influencing skills are essential for gaining support and driving successful initiatives.  Coupled with effective communications and clear articulation of the benefits and risks of price changes will ensure full understanding of rationale and will thereby support success.
• Continuous improvement:  Stay curious and continuously seek opportunities to learn and grow. Regularly analysing performance of price strategies, market trends and ways of working.  This will continuously improve our pricing approach and performance.
• Cross-functional collaboration: Work closely with end-to-end (E2E) functions, such as Sales, Marketing and Category management to support the delivery of key performance indicators (KPIs). This holistic approach ensures alignment and efficiency across the organisation.

Org Structure

The role is part of a team of Margin Optimisation Analysts, reporting into a Margin Optimisation Manager. The team forms part of the regional Product & Supplier Management organization and its Margin Optimisation function which is accountable for category management, supplier partnerships and margin optimisation for the EMEA region.  

What we are looking for:

• Data Analysis and Interpretation: Ability to analyse large data sets, identify trends, and derive actionable insights to inform pricing decisions.
• Proficiency in Excel: Expertise in Excel, including advanced functions, pivot tables, and macros to enable forecasting of pricing impacts and optimise strategies.
• Business Acumen and Customer focus: Ability to interpret the external and internal market conditions that that may influence pricing decisions and identify opportunities for margin improvement.
• Knowledge of Pricing Strategies: Understanding various pricing models (e.g., cost-plus, value-based, dynamic pricing) and when to apply them to maximize revenue and margin.
• Strategic Thinking: Ability to think long-term and align pricing strategies with overall business objectives and market dynamics.
• Communication and Influence: Able to clearly communicate complex information and collaborate effectively with stakeholders.
• Market Research Skills: Ability to conduct competitor and market analysis to understand external factors that may influence pricing decisions.
• Experience with Pricing Software: Familiarity with pricing tools and software that can automate and optimize pricing strategies (e.g., Vendavo, PROS)
• Project Management Skills: Strong organisational skills to manage multiple pricing initiatives, deadlines, and cross-functional projects simultaneously.

We are RS Group

At RS we’ve been solving engineering problems for over 80 years: big ones, small ones, easy and difficult ones. We turn the ‘what ifs’ into the ‘why nots’, the impossible into the possible.  
Our purpose? Making amazing happen for a better world.  

We offer service and product solutions. We send out a parcel every 2 seconds, to over 130 countries. We provide over 700,000 in-stock and over 3 million unstocked products to more than 1.2 million customers.  

We want people like you, as you are curious about things, you like doing things differently and also in a human way with empathy. Because that’s exactly how we partner with people – our customers, suppliers, colleagues and communities – to solve problems.  

We’ll also invest in your development and wellbeing – because building a more diverse and inclusive culture, being ethical, responsible and committed to our Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) action plan is at the heart of everything we do. 

Come and join us and over 9000 employees worldwide – and we’ll help you to think big, do more and unleash your brilliance, so you do amazing things too.

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