Senior Internal Communications Manager – Strategy
Salary: Competitive Plus Benefits
Location: London Store Support Centre, London, EC1M 6HA
Contract type: Fixed-Term Assignment
Business area: Corporate Affairs
Closing date: 05 September 2025
Requisition ID: 400015382
We’d all like amazing work to do, and real work-life balance. That’s waiting for you at Sainsbury’s. This is where you’ll enjoy a broad range of projects, no matter what your level, because our Corporate Affairs team is non-hierarchical and truly plugged in to the rest of the business. Whether it’s internal, external or government relations, you’ll have the chance to collaborate with everyone from food waste to health, or general merchandising to Nectar, in order to support some amazing campaigns. You’ll help build trust around Sainsbury’s with customers, senior stakeholders, media and more. And if non-linear progression is what you’re after, you’ll find opportunities are all around.
Hybrid - London Store Support Centre and Home
Fixed Term Contract - 12 months
Why join us
At Sainsbury’s we are all proud retailers. We are committed to making good food joyful, accessible and affordable for everyone, every day.
By joining the team, you will have the opportunity to deliver colleague campaigns focused on reasons to believe in our purpose, business strategy and success, as well as the brilliance of our colleagues who deliver for our customers – both on the shop floor, and behind the scenes. You will also join a business that is focused on empowering managers to lead their teams to deliver exceptional customer service.
What you'll do
As one of two Senior Internal Communications Managers focused on strategy communications at Sainsbury's, you will be working with teams across the business to shape how we tell the story of business performance and strategic priorities to colleagues and leaders. You will also play a pivotal role in defining the communications needs of key commercial events and corporate initiatives. You will develop the comms and engagement strategies to deliver the outcomes we want and manage the implementation of the communications activities.
You will also play a leading role in equipping leaders to bring the Sainsbury’s story to life for their teams. Making the key touch points through the year really count, supporting leaders to have effective and regular face-to-face conversations with every colleague - the most important channel to reach our teams.
Campaigns are varied and would include supporting critical trading moments such as Easter and Christmas. And, as well as financial results, we need to tell a year-round story of progress against our bold plan which includes playing a key role in shaping leadership events and other Operating Board communications.
And, importantly, within our high performing Internal Communications team, you will play a key role in collaborating with other teams in developing our channels to ensure they meet the expectations of our colleagues and contribute to the effective delivery of our purpose led internal communications strategy.
There is a great blend of autonomy, collaboration and leadership in this role.
Who you are
A natural story teller who thrives on being connected to a wide range of stakeholders, intuitively works hand in hand with wider Internal Comms colleagues, is comfortable being a trusted
advisor to senior leaders and naturally leans into external comms colleague expertise. Content creation, story development, video direction and planning skills are second nature.
A passion for retail is essential. Deep experience in delivering strategic communications, within fast-paced, FTSE, purpose led, organisations is an advantage. As is a proven track record in exceptional stakeholder holder engagement skills that help you get to the nub of subject quickly, recognise what is needed and who to work with to get the results needed.
Essential criteria
- Proven experience in developing internal communications that align with business priorities and drive colleague engagement.
- Good business acumen with experience of translating sales information into digestible content
- Demonstrable ability to write impactful content across multiple formats, including video scripts and digital channels.
- Track record of managing multiple projects simultaneously in a fast-paced environment, meeting tight deadlines.
- Evidence of effective stakeholder engagement, including influencing and negotiating with senior leaders.
- Experience delivering financial performance communications within a publicly listed company (Plc) context.
#LI-UH1
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).
