#GRADUATE PROGRAMME
A fast-paced programme for those who are passionate about food. Discover how to deliver quality and innovative products for one of the UK’s most-loved Food businesses.
Salary: £32,500
Closing Date: 23/11/2025
Apply now
A fast-paced programme for those who are passionate about food. Discover how to deliver quality and innovative products for one of the UK’s most-loved Food businesses.
Discover more about what to expect from the Food Business Programme, what kind of skills are best suited for each track and the career prospects this programme can offer you.
This is a very competitive programme, so we may close applications earlier than advertised.
Bold ideas. Real impact. Clear career path. Wherever your ambitions lie within the M&S Food business, we’ll help you get there with structured learning and development, coaching and career mapping.
Once you’ve completed the programme, these are a few examples of the kinds of career path you could take.
If buying is your passion, you could step into the role of Trainee Buyer. You’ll support the Buying team in delivering commercially successful product ranges and will gain hands-on experience across the buying process.
When you’re ready, you could move into the role of Buyer. Here, you’ll be creating and delivering commercially strong, customer-focused product ranges that align with our brand values. You’ll lead the buying strategy for a category, working closely with merchandising, design, sourcing and suppliers.
The next step would be moving into a Senior Buyer role, becoming responsible for leading the buying strategy and execution for a key product category. You will lead a team to deliver strong commercial outcomes and lead on key relationships with suppliers, to deliver profitable, high-quality product ranges that reinforce our values of innovation, value, quality and sustainability.
The Food Business programme is designed to accelerate you into a senior leadership role. So one day, you could find yourself in the role of Trading Manager or even Head of Trade.
If Marketing is where your strengths lie, you could step into the role of Assistant Marketing Manager. You’ll support the execution and delivery of marketing campaigns across various channels including digital, in-store, print, social and email. You’ll work closely with senior marketing managers, creative teams, and external agencies to keep campaigns on brand, ensure they resonate with customers, and achieve commercial goals.
Next, you could move up to lead the development and execution of marketing strategies that drive brand awareness, customer engagement, and sales growth across the Food portfolio.
Here, you would begin to take responsibility for shaping and leading the strategic marketing vision across the entire Food group portfolio, driving long-term brand growth and market differentiation. You would lead on delivering high-impact campaigns and innovation that enhance customer loyalty and business performance.
We see our graduates progressing quickly. We’ll support your ambitions for a senior leadership role and one day you could find yourself in a role like Head of Marketing.
If Supply Chain is where you want to be, you could step into the role of Supply and Demand Planner. You’ll be responsible for ensuring the right products are available, in the right place, at the right time. You’ll analyse sales trends, manage stock levels, coordinate with suppliers, and work closely with our buying, merchandising, and logistics teams.
Next, you could progress to overseeing end-to-end supply planning. This senior role involves leading planning cycles, managing supplier relationships, and driving supply chain efficiency across categories.
After a few years in the business, you could take on more senior and strategic responsibility, leading the supply planning function across a complex and fast-paced product portfolio.
The Food Business programme is designed to fast-track you into future leadership role. We have big ambitions for you, so one day you could be heading up Supply Chain.
If you’re keen to move into Product Development, your first step would be a Trainee Product Developer role. You’ll support the creation and improvement of new and existing M&S Food products by assisting in recipe development, quality testing, and supplier collaboration, all while learning how to meet the highest standards of taste, innovation, and sustainability.
Next, you could begin to lead the development and refinement of our industry-leading Food products, working closely with suppliers and internal teams to ensure quality, innovation, and compliance with brand standards.
Your next step might be to drive the end-to-end development of our world-class products. You’ll manage our amazing people and collaborate closely with our suppliers and internal teams to achieve innovation, quality and efficiency across our food portfolio.
We have really big ambitions for you and will support you to grow into a senior leadership role. You could take on one of our Senior Manager or Head of roles in the future.
We're at our best when we're close to customers, and for many of us at M&S, that means working in store every day.
To stay close to customers, our support teams are in the office three days a week as we believe that skills are developed through collaboration, and that spending time together makes us more creative and connected. It also means we can solve problems as soon as they arise, learn and grow as a team, build trust, and get closer to our colleagues.
Your development is our priority. We’ll give you a structured programme including mentoring, on-the-job training, and opportunities to solve real challenges that will help you build a long-term career at M&S. And, if we believe you can reach your potential faster, we will give you the tools and opportunities to do it. But the person who is really going to make this happen is you. With our support, we want you to own and drive your development.
We’ll provide reasonable adjustments during the assessment process. Just tell us what you need, and we’ll do everything we can to accommodate you.
Whichever programme track you choose, you’ll need to roll your sleeves up and get hands on. You’ll have the ambition to lead and a genuine enthusiasm for food. You’ll be confident, curious and a good communicator, ready to get close to our customers and challenge the status quo.
For each track, you’ll need the following skills:
Commercial: Comfortable interpreting and analysing data and numbers
Marketing and Product: Detail-orientated, innovative and creative thinker
In addition:
Your first step will be to complete our online application form and tell us more about who you are and why you want to work with us.
You can only apply to one graduate or school leaver programme during this recruitment cycle that starts in September 2026.
We close our vacancies on a rolling basis and closing dates may be subject to change. We encourage you to submit your full application as soon as possible.
We’ll invite you to take part in a two-stage online assessment, where you can find out more about M&S whilst we find out more about you.
If your online assessment is successful, you’ll be invited to an assessment centre alongside your peers. The recruitment process for store-based roles will also include an opportunity to attend your final interview in one of our stores.
