Obsessed with food? Step into this fast-paced, two-year programme where you'll learn how great products go from idea to shelf, helping deliver quality and innovation for one of the UK's most-loved Food businesses.
You’ll start with a four-month placement in one of our stores where you’ll scale up your understanding of our customers, colleagues and operations, gaining valuable experience to take into your commercial rotations.
You’ll then work within key commercial teams in Supply Chain, Space, Range and Display and Buying. You’ll analyse customer data to help forecast demand, get the right products on the shelves at the right time, work with great suppliers and plan new product ranges that get the nation talking.
What it takes to succeed
High standards and a passion for food. That’s what you’ll need. And it’s not about having a specific degree. This is about real enthusiasm for M&S and the quality Food products we create. What’s more, this is a commercial role, so you’ll need to be comfortable with numbers and able to look at data with an analytic mind.
Alongside that, you'll thrive if you can:
show an ambition to lead and the confidence to resolve situations
learn quickly and strive for high standards
bring a genuine interest in customer needs and innovating to meet them
build strong relationships and clearly communicate across teams.
Where it could lead
This programme is designed to give you strong commercial awareness, a deep understanding of how our Food business works and a clear sense of where you’re headed, which could be future leadership, influencing the future of M&S Food.
You’ll finish with a permanent role within the M&S Food business and be on track for a long-term career with leadership potential. That could mean roles involving buying, planning ranges, managing supply and demand or shaping strategies.
Why choose M&S Food?
Our food is not just any food.
We've built our reputation on quality, value and innovation, creating products that excite people. And it shows, with over 32 million customers and new stores continuing to open across the nation. This doesn’t happen without our Commercial teams, helping us find new ways to stay ahead in a fast-changing market.
Our five-year vision is to reshape retail for the future and as a future leader of our Food business, you could play an important role in this transformation.
The reason I love it so much is because the things I do feel like they’re actually making an impact. You get the opportunity to present to people who really value your opinion, and it’s nice seeing the work you do being put into play, especially when you’re making a difference for your store colleagues.
I’m encouraged to soak up and learn as much as possible and I’m given the freedom to guide my own learning and be curious about all aspects of the business. From structured personal development workshops to shadowing colleagues from across the Food team or our suppliers, I’m learning new things every day.
I like seeing the bigger picture, understanding how everything works, and then finding ways to improve it. What I really appreciate about the M&S graduate scheme is that I get to learn something new, become the expert in it, and then build on that knowledge in the next challenge – like looking at how we can grow our Foods business.
Bold ideas. Real impact. Clear progression. Wherever your ambitions lie within M&S Food, we’ll help you get there with structured learning and development, coaching and career mapping.
Once you’ve completed the programme, these are the kinds of career paths 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.
Buyer
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.
Senior Buyer
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.
Trading Manager/Head of Trade
The Food Graduate 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.
Supply and Demand Planner
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.
Lead Supply Planner
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.
Supply and Demand Manager
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.
Head of Supply Chain
The Food Business programme is designed to fast-track you into a future leadership role. We have big ambitions for you, so one day you could be heading up Supply Chain.
Being an in-person business
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.
Learning & support
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.
Benefits
Wellbeing hub
Get access to resources to support your wellbeing, including a free virtual GP service.
Giving back
Support your favourite charities by donating through your pay or even volunteering for them.
Pay
Earn a competitive salary.
Colleague discount
After completing your probation period, you'll receive 20% colleague discount across all M&S products and many of our third-party brands for you and a member of your household.
Please note only contracts of more than 12 weeks are eligible for this benefit.
Time off
Competitive holiday entitlement with the potential to buy extra holiday days.
Life assurance
Get cover for twice your salary up to age 70 (double with our Pension Plan).
Workplace savings
We’ll help you save through our Pension Savings Plan, Share Buy and Sharesave schemes.
My Choices
Save on everyday costs through discounts and offers and get access to great health benefits.
Cycle to work
Bike/accessory hire with Cycle to Work and save on tax and national insurance.
Smart tech
Buy the latest technology with interest-free financing directly from your salary.
Wellbeing hub
Get access to resources to support your wellbeing, including a free virtual GP service.
Giving back
Support your favourite charities by donating through your pay or even volunteering for them.
Pay
Earn a competitive salary.
Colleague discount
After completing your probation period, you'll receive 20% colleague discount across all M&S products and many of our third-party brands for you and a member of your household.
Please note only contracts of more than 12 weeks are eligible for this benefit.
Time off
Competitive holiday entitlement with the potential to buy extra holiday days.
Life assurance
Get cover for twice your salary up to age 70 (double with our Pension Plan).
Workplace savings
We’ll help you save through our Pension Savings Plan, Share Buy and Sharesave schemes.
My Choices
Save on everyday costs through discounts and offers and get access to great health benefits.
Cycle to work
Bike/accessory hire with Cycle to Work and save on tax and national insurance.
Smart tech
Buy the latest technology with interest-free financing directly from your salary.
Get application ready by exploring more aboutour programmes and connect with M&S Buddies on our dedicated Life@M&S platform.
We want you to feel supported throughout the assessment process. If you need a reasonable adjustment, just let us know and we’ll do everything we can to support you.
Eligibility Criteria
You must have the right to work in the UK for the full duration of the programme
You will have graduated from any degree by the time the programme starts in September 2027
Application Form
Your first step will be to complete our online application form. You can only apply to one programme per annual recruitment cycle, and we’d encourage you to choose the one that feels like the best fit for you.
We close our vacancies on a rolling basis and closing dates can change. We recommend submitting your application as soon as possible.
Online Assessment
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.
Assessment Centre
If your online assessment is successful, you’ll be invited to an in-person Assessment Centre. The recruitment process for store-based roles will also include an opportunity to attend your final interview in one of our stores.
You can find out more detailed information about our assessment process on Life@M&S.
