Talent Programme Manager
Salary: Competitive Plus Benefits
Location: London Store Support Centre, London, EC1M 6HA
Contract type: Permanent
Business area: Group HR
Closing date: 12 September 2025
Requisition ID: 400011222
We’d all like amazing work to do, and real work-life balance. That’s waiting for you at Sainsbury’s. We’re the first to say we do HR differently here. For a start, we work as business partners and specialists. That’s whether we’re making sure that nearly 180,000 colleagues are paid on time, or that our strategy is helping us attract the right people, put them in the right place, and unlock their talent. This is a fast-moving business and our policies and rewards keep up too. That’s why we’re as flexible as we can be about where and when you work. We’re also flexible about your future. There’s always room to move up or across, if that’s what you want. We really value different perspectives so there’s no one opinion, no single path, and yours is important. What’s certain is that you’ll be joining one of the happiest, most engaged teams in the business.
About the team
Step into the People Division at Sainsbury’s, where our Talent Capability and Development team is passionate about shaping the future of our organisation through innovative talent strategies. We are a collaborative; forward-thinking group committed to creating exceptional opportunities for early careers talent and driving the continuous development of our colleagues. Working closely with stakeholders across the business, we combine insight, creativity and expertise to deliver initiatives that fuel Next Level leadership and empower our workforce to reach their full potential.
More about the role
As Talent Programme Manager, you’ll play a pivotal part in defining, designing and delivering our early careers programmes—these include graduate schemes, internships, apprenticeships and a variety of entry-level talent pipelines. You’ll take ownership of projects from discovery through to delivery, ensuring each programme aligns with Sainsbury’s strategic ambitions and workforce planning. Day-to-day, you’ll lead on the creation of an engaging early careers brand, partner with employer branding and marketing to share our story, and manage the implementation of innovative, market-leading initiatives.
You will work collaboratively with internal teams and external partners, gathering feedback and using data to refine and improve our offerings. You’ll have the chance to influence and agitate thinking at all levels, ensuring our programmes remain fresh, relevant and impactful. Expect to champion the end-to-end process—from scoping and product development to evaluation and continuous improvement—while mentoring colleagues and building lasting relationships across the organisation.
More about you
You are skilled at designing and implementing early careers programmes, with demonstrable experience in managing structured initiatives such as graduate schemes, apprenticeships or bootcamps. Your approach is grounded in project management best practice and a genuine passion for developing talent. You’re adept at building positive relationships with internal teams and external partners, and you thrive in environments that require creative problem-solving, analytical thinking and a solutions-focused mindset.
Your communication skills—both written and verbal—enable you to present ideas and influence effectively, while your commercial acumen ensures you develop cost-effective, impactful solutions. You are comfortable handling ambiguity and change, continuously seeking ways to enhance our early careers proposition and contributing to the wider People Plan.
Essential criteria
- Proven experience in designing and implementing early careers programmes (e.g. graduate schemes, apprenticeships, school leaver initiatives).
- Demonstratable ability to manage projects or portfolios through the entire project lifecycle, from initiation to closure.
- Evidence of building and maintaining productive relationships with internal stakeholders and external partners.
- Ability to gather and analyse qualitative and quantitative data to inform decisions and drive continuous improvement.
- Clear and effective communication skills, with experience presenting to and influencing diverse audiences.
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We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer so you’ll be welcomed whoever you are and wherever you work. Around here, there’s always the chance to try something new — whether that’s as part of an evolving team or somewhere else across the business - and we take development seriously and promise to support you. We also recognise and celebrate colleagues when they go the extra mile and, where possible, offer flexible working. When you join our team, we’ll also offer you an amazing range of benefits. Here are some of them: Starting off with colleague discount, you'll be able to save 10% on your shopping online and instore at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat, and we regularly increase the discount to 15% at points during the year. We've also got you covered for your future with our pensions scheme and life cover. You'll also be able to share in our success as you may be eligible for a performance-related bonus of up to 20% of salary (which may vary for Nectar360), depending on how we perform. Your wellbeing is important to us too. You'll receive an annual holiday allowance, and you can buy up to an additional week's holiday, and we provide private healthcare. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, interest free car loan of up to £10k, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, salary advance (where you can access some of your pay before pay day) as well access to a great range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers. And if you ever need it there is also an Employee Assistance Programme. Moments that matter are as important to us as they are to you which is why we give up to 26 weeks’ pay for maternity or adoption leave and up to 4 weeks’ pay for paternity leave. Please see www.sainsburys.jobs for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).
