Programme Development Manager (12 month Fixed Term Contract)
Salary: Competitive Plus Benefits
Location: London Store Support Centre and Home, London, EC1M 6HA
Contract type: Fixed-Term Assignment
Business area: Retail
Closing date: 29 August 2025
Requisition ID: 400013199
We’d all like amazing work to do, and real work-life balance. That’s waiting for you at Sainsbury’s. As the link between sellers and buyers, retail and head office, our retail operations team is the cog that keeps things running. With teams focused on store facing, labour, transformation, online, delivery and contact centre work, we touch almost every part of the business. It’s an incredibly fast-paced environment where you need to pivot not just daily, but often hourly. So while we plan all we can, it’s vital that we all think outside our job descriptions and look to optimise and improve how we do everything. There’s also a real team ethos. After all, it’s people like you who are going to truly transform this part of the business.
This is a 12-month Fixed Term Contract. You can be based from any of our Store Support Centres or Depots, across the country. Travel is required in this role as you’ll spend time on site as well as working from home.
Why join us
Joining Sainsbury's as a Programme Development Manager means being part of a dynamic team within the Transformation Division, where you will play a pivotal role in translating the company's strategy into impactful projects that drive business growth and enhance customer experience. With a focus on strategic project management, and problem-solving, you will have the opportunity to lead cross-functional teams, foster innovation, and deliver tangible business change from concept to execution. At Sainsbury's, you will be empowered to make a difference, drive lasting transformation, and work collaboratively to achieve sustainable success in the ever-evolving retail industry.
What you'll do
You’ll plan and manage strategic projects to ensure delivery within cost and timescale constraints. You’ll manage business change from concept to delivery / review, collaborating with cross-functional teams to drive change across various business functions, and fostering a positive team environment where empowerment and innovation thrive. Additionally, you will be instrumental in creating and communicating clear strategies and visions to engage stakeholders, monitoring progress against milestones and budget, and proactively addressing any issues or barriers to progress to ensure that the customer and business needs remain at the forefront of every decision made throughout the project lifecycle. You could be working across any of our transformation programme in Argos fulfilment, including proposition, network, operating model and warehouse management systems.
Who you are
You’re a strategic thinker with a strong focus on delivering exceptional customer experiences. With your strong project and programme management qualifications, coupled with a deep understanding of the UK retail market and Home Delivery / Customer Fulfilment, you have the resilience and persistence to navigate challenges and setbacks while driving impactful business transformation initiatives. Your ability to translate high-level business ideas into clear strategies, engage stakeholders, and deliver lasting business change, positions you as a key driver of success in the dynamic and evolving retail industry.
Essential criteria
- Demonstrable experience managing complex, cross-functional business change projects from concept through to delivery, including stakeholder engagement and issue resolution.
- Proven ability to translate strategic ideas into actionable delivery plans
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, 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).
