Pricing Strategy Lead – Retail

SUMMARY:
Shape the strategy. Influence the decisions. Deliver the commercial impact.

Our client seeks a commercially astute Pricing Strategy Lead to develop, implement and optimise pricing strategies across a large retail environment.

This is a substantial leadership opportunity for someone who understands the relationship between pricing, customer behaviour, sales volumes and profitability. You’ll combine strong numerical reasoning with commercial judgement to build pricing approaches that improve competitiveness, protect margins and deliver customer value.

Leading a team of Analysts and Data Scientists, you’ll take business ownership of the pricing tool and work closely with category, merchandising, promotions and marketing teams to turn analytical insight into practical business decisions.

POSITION INFO:
Minimum Requirements: Postgraduate Degree in Finance, Economics, Business or a related field. Additional qualifications or training in pricing strategy, revenue management, analytics, statistics or data science advantageous. Minimum 5 to 10 years' relevant experience in pricing strategy, merchandising, category management or revenue management within retail or e-commerce. Grocery retail, FMCG or e-commerce experience preferred. Demonstrated experience developing, implementing or optimising pricing strategies. Practical experience configuring or managing pricing or revenue management tools. Strong understanding of price elasticity, competitive benchmarking and promotional pricing. Proven experience in sales forecasting, margin management and profitability analysis. Advanced Excel skills, including data modelling and scenario simulation. Proficiency in SAP Retail, Tableau or comparable business intelligence and analytics tools. Experience collaborating with analytical and technical teams. Demonstrated ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive the adoption of commercial recommendations. Key Responsibilities: Pricing Strategy and Commercial Performance: Develop and continuously refine pricing strategies aligned with revenue, gross margin, profitability and market share objectives. Translate commercial goals into practical pricing frameworks, methodologies and decision parameters. Tailor pricing recommendations to different categories, business divisions, store formats and customer profiles. Balance competitive positioning, customer value and commercial returns. Identify pricing opportunities and risks through sales performance, competitor movements and customer demand. Analytics, Modelling and Decision Support: Lead pricing optimisation through advanced analytics, elasticity modelling, forecasting and scenario planning. Work with Analysts and Data Scientists to develop, test and refine pricing algorithms and models. Assess the likely impact of pricing changes on sales volumes, revenue, margins and profitability. Evaluate promotional scenarios and competitor pricing to inform recommendations. Translate complex analytical findings into clear, actionable commercial advice. Ensure recommendations are supported by reliable data and sound assumptions. Pricing Tool Ownership: Act as the business owner of the pricing tool, ensuring its configuration supports the approved strategy. Define and manage pricing parameters, decision rules and business requirements. Work with technical and analytical teams to maintain reliable tool inputs and outputs. Prioritise enhancements according to commercial value and operational needs. Ensure configuration changes are appropriately documented and controlled. Escalate data, technical or analytical issues that could compromise pricing decisions. Category and Promotional Support: Advise Category Managers on pricing opportunities, margin performance and commercial trade-offs. Align pricing strategies with category plans and broader business priorities. Partner with Promotions and Marketing teams to evaluate promotional effectiveness. Identify conflicts between promotional pricing, everyday pricing and profitability objectives. Recommend corrective action where pricing initiatives fall short of expectations. Leadership and Stakeholder Influence: Lead and develop a team of Analysts and Data Scientists. Present pricing insights, scenarios and recommendations to senior leadership and business stakeholders. Build support for pricing recommendations through evidence, commercial insight and clear communication. Lead workshops and guide stakeholders in interpreting and applying pricing recommendations. Gather operational feedback to improve the practicality and adoption of pricing strategies. Performance and Continuous Improvement: Establish and monitor pricing performance indicators. Track the impact of implemented strategies on sales, margins, profitability and competitiveness. Identify performance gaps and implement appropriate adjustments. Refine methodologies, analytical capability and tool functionality as market conditions evolve. Maintain consistent pricing governance and quality reporting. The Person: You have a sharp numerical mind, broad commercial understanding and the confidence to form a view and support it with evidence. You can assess complex trade-offs, challenge assumptions constructively and explain your recommendations in language that makes business sense.