Purchasing, Marketing & Commercial Manager

Purchasing, Marketing & Commercial Manager

Ice Box Liquor | Newcastle / Hunter Region

Shape our buying strategy. Drive commercial performance. Help grow two established

retail brands.

Ice Box Liquor is a proudly independent, family-owned liquor retail business with a strong presence across the Hunter and regional NSW. With two distinct retail brands, Ice Box Liquor and George’s Cellar, we are focused on delivering value to our customers while continuing to grow and strengthen our market position.

We are seeking an experienced Purchasing, Marketing & Commercial Manager to lead our purchasing, pricing, promotions and marketing functions across both businesses.

This is a key leadership role with a strong commercial focus and the opportunity to influence what we buy, what we pay, how we price, how we promote and how we grow our business.

We are looking for someone who combines strong buying and negotiation skills with commercial acumen, analytical capability and the ability to lead a team to deliver measurable results.

About the Role

Your primary objective will be to maximise sales, gross profit, supplier income and overall commercial performance through effective marketing & promotional activity, purchasing, competitive pricing and building strong supplier partnerships.

Reporting to the General Manager, you will lead the Purchasing & Marketing team. You will translate business objectives into practical strategies that deliver results across our store network.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Analysing sales, margin, purchasing and market data to identify opportunities and improve business performance.
• Ensuring marketing and promotional investment delivers measurable commercial returns.
• Leading the Purchasing & Marketing team, setting priorities and ensuring accountability for results.
• Developing and managing the promotional calendar in line with commercial priorities.
• Leading purchasing strategy, supplier negotiations and commercial trading terms across both businesses.
• Maximising supplier rebates, promotional funding, trading terms and other commercial opportunities.
• Developing and implementing pricing strategies that balance competitiveness, sales growth and gross profit.
• Managing product ranges, category performance and ranging decisions to meet customer needs and brand positioning.

Marketing & Promotions

Marketing is an important part of the role, with responsibility for ensuring our marketing activity supports the overall commercial strategy.

You will lead the Purchasing & Marketing team to develop and deliver effective campaigns across both brands, including:

• Developing and implementing marketing and promotional campaigns that drive traffic, sales and profitability.
• Aligning promotional activity with buying opportunities, supplier support and category priorities.
• Managing the promotional calendar across catalogues, digital channels, websites and social media.
• Identifying opportunities to strengthen the Ice Box Liquor and George’s Cellar brands while maintaining their individual market positions.
• Using customer insights, market trends and sales data to improve campaign effectiveness.
• Supporting loyalty, SMS, email and other customer engagement initiatives.
• Evaluating promotional results and identifying opportunities to improve future activity.

You won’t be expected to do everything yourself. Your role will be to lead the team, establish

priorities and ensure purchasing, marketing and promotions work together to deliver the best

commercial outcomes.

Purchasing & Supplier Management

Purchasing & supplier management is a key component of this role. You will take a hands-on approach to buying, working closely with the existing purchasing team to ensure we range the right products, negotiate the best possible commercial outcomes and deliver a consistent strategy across Ice Box Liquor and George’s Cellar.

You will be responsible for:

• Providing leadership, direction and support to the existing purchasing function, you will coordinate day-to-day buying activities and implement agreed commercial strategies.
• Developing strong, productive relationships with suppliers and key brand partners.
• Negotiating competitive cost prices, rebates, trading terms, promotional support and volume-based opportunities.
• Reviewing product ranges, supplier performance and category results to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Ensuring purchasing decisions align with customer expectations, brand positioning, pricing strategy and sales objectives.
• Identifying opportunities to improve buying efficiency, stock productivity, gross profit and overall commercial returns.
• Establishing clear purchasing priorities, performance measures and reporting to support informed decision-making.

We want someone who can build on the existing teams knowledge and relationships while bringing fresh ideas, commercial discipline and a clear focus on improving results.

About You

You are a commercially driven and results-oriented professional who understands how effective purchasing, supplier partnerships, pricing and promotions contribute to retail success.

You are confident negotiating with suppliers, comfortable analysing business performance and capable of turning commercial opportunities into tangible results. You also have the leadership skills to bring people together, set direction and build a high-performing team.

Ideally, you will bring:

• Proven leadership and team management experience.
• Experience in retail marketing, FMCG promotions or integrated promotional planning.
• Experience in purchasing, buying, category management or commercial management.
• Strong supplier negotiation skills and a track record of securing favourable commercial outcomes.
• A sound understanding of pricing, gross profit, rebates, promotional funding and category performance.
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret sales, margin and product data to make evidence-based decisions.
• Excellent communication, relationship-building and influencing skills.
• A collaborative, hands-on approach and the ability to work effectively across purchasing, marketing and store operations.
• A strong focus on accountability, continuous improvement and measurable results.

Experience in liquor, FMCG, supermarket or multi-site retail is essential.

Why Join Ice Box Liquor?

This is an opportunity to join an established, independent, family-owned business where your decisions will have a genuine impact.

You’ll have the opportunity to influence the commercial direction of two growing retail brands, work closely with senior management and make a tangible difference to purchasing outcomes, supplier partnerships, pricing, promotions and profitability.

We value strong relationships, practical thinking and people who take ownership of their work. We are looking for someone who can build on our existing strengths, challenge the status quo where appropriate and help us continue to evolve and grow.

If you’re an experienced buyer or commercial leader ready to take the next step and make a real difference, we’d love to hear from you.

Apply Now

Please submit your resume and a brief cover letter outlining your relevant experience, commercial achievements and why you would be a great fit for this role.

Ice Box Liquor is an equal opportunity employer.