Buying Graduate Programme 2025

Job summary

At Musgrave, we support thousands of retail and foodservice family businesses. Every day we feed one in three people in Ireland through 18 market-leading food and beverage brands that include SuperValu, Centra, Daybreak, Mace, and Musgrave MarketPlace. Our values and purpose challenge and inspire us to do the right thing, with a focus on practising good, fair, and honest business, a commitment to profit with purpose, and working relentlessly to innovate and lead the way in our market.
Our buying teams ensure we have the right products, at the right price, and at the right time for our customers. They are key stakeholders in our supplier relationship model and are responsible for delivering competitive offers through professional, competitive, and efficient buying processes, controls, and performance.
Our brands are successful because they meet the changing needs of today’s shoppers and are developed in collaboration with outstanding local entrepreneurs based in the communities they serve. Our Buying teams work closely with internal stakeholders in Marketing, Sales, Own Brand Development, and Supply Chain to ensure the right product range is available, delivering competitive promotions to drive sales and innovating to meet the needs of our customers and upcoming trends. They also work with our retail partners, foodservice customers, and use customer insights data to provide the best solutions.
Our Buying (Trading) Graduate Programme is a key commercial talent pipeline for us to grow our own talented buyers. We are looking for emerging talent with a passion for business, food, and customer experience. The purpose of this role is to hone your commercial, negotiating, and influencing skills to meet the commercial needs of our customers and our business. Our Programme has proven to be highly successful at developing our commercial talent, with former graduates progressing to senior roles in the business. This is an excellent opportunity for graduates with a keen interest in the food and beverage retail/wholesale industry and who are results-driven, commercially focused, and with a desire to drive business performance.
The scope of the Buying (Trading) Graduate role comprises a two-year experiential development programme. To support your commercial development and business knowledge, you will work in at least two different buying teams across Cork, Dublin, or Belfast over the course of the Programme. The Programme will provide you with wide experience across retail and wholesale brands and buying for different market requirements.

Key Activities

Depending on the rotation, activities and responsibilities may vary depending on the relevant market and portfolios. The key activities across the business include:
• Sourcing: Support and learn the management of the portfolio product range, product quality, and category plans to ensure that it reflects both market and consumer trends. Manage the sourcing and introduction of own label products in conjunction with the product development teams. Develop excellent long-term relationships with key stakeholders including suppliers, retail partners, and foodservice customers. Retailer/supplier/site visits as required.
• Market and Competitor Analysis: Assess market and competitor trends in your product area and manage the product range to capitalise on/counteract trends.
• Price Positioning: Assess current pricing and margin performance, review competitor price positioning, and look to maximise retailer margins and competitive position within the market.
• Promotion Planning: Plan events and promotions as per event calendar and brief, communicate to suppliers, and review proposals to ensure they meet stated criteria. Conduct post-promotional analysis. Brief suppliers on promotional requirements, review proposals, and negotiate improvements to offers.
• Profitability: Learn to design and deliver compelling shopper/consumer propositions that are operationally efficient, commercially successful, and which deliver optimum End-to-End profitability for Musgrave and our Retail/Foodservice partners.
• Performance Management: Learn to take accountability for the delivery of Sales, Margin, and Income metrics.
• Supplier Management: Work on the development and implementation of joint business plans with key suppliers. Manage supplier service levels and product availability. Negotiate the total purchase cost of products for Musgrave and our Retail Partners for the relevant portfolios. Develop strong cross-functional working relationships with key stakeholders including sales, marketing, operations, and finance, promoting a strong customer-focused offer at all times. Support project development and rollout within the category. Administrative activities linked to accurate maintenance of product/pricing files, promotional handbills, etc.
• Development: Participation in formal development modules and projects on the Graduate Development Programme.

Salary

Starting salary is €31,000 and increases to €33,000 after 12 months subject to performance. Your salary when moving into a role on completion of the Programme will be commensurate with the market and experience.
Salary scales will vary in Northern Ireland

5% Programme completion bonus

Additional benefits include:
• WorkSmart@Musgrave – hybrid working
• 23 days holidays
• Market Leading Pension Scheme
• Subsidised Cafeteria
• Be Well Work Well: our health and wellbeing programme including online yoga and HIIT classes
• Employee Assistance Programme: Free, independent and confidential advice on mental health, wellbeing, financial or legal issues
• Employee discount in Musgrave MarketPlace
• Award-Winning Development (gradireland Graduate Employer of the Year in 2019 and 2021, Best Training and Development Programme – Business/ Management in 2020 and 2022)
• Online learning and development courses
• Individual coaching
• Life Assurance
• Income Protection
• Bike to Work scheme
• Free parking
• Digital Doctor
• Home office equipment
• Employee Resource Groups

Location

We enjoy a flexible hybrid way of working which allows us to focus on our outcomes and contributions. Work Smart @Musgrave is our hybrid approach which gives us the option to alternate our time between connecting and collaborating in the office and working remotely. Working this way allows us to enjoy the best of the remote working experience while also giving us the opportunity to connect in person and work together onsite. Across Musgrave, our roles allow for different levels of flexibility.
Hybrid arrangements are currently 2 days in the office. Office locations are in Cork, Dublin or Belfast, subject to your rotation. You must be flexible to rotate location as part of the Programme. Travel to suppliers/store will be required as part of the role and a clean driver’s licence would be an advantage.

Number of positions 3
Start date details 25th August 2025