Head of Food WMS Transformation
Salary: Competitive Plus Benefits
Location: Coventry Store Support Centre - Field Based and Home, Coventry, CV1 1FL
Contract type: Permanent
Business area: Supply Chain & Logistics
Closing date: 25 July 2026
Requisition ID: 400071446
We’d all like amazing work to do, and real work/life balance. That’s waiting for you right here. Supply Chain and Logistics is the engine room that gets thousands of products from farms and factories, through the business and to millions of customers every day. We plan around everything from barbecue weekends to Sunday roasts, supporting those who want oven-ready cauliflower cheese and those who prefer to make it from scratch. Insight and data are everything. But so is judgement — when there’s an issue or ambiguity anywhere, we’re often the first to spot it. There’s a big transformation underway. It calls for people who champion change, bring others with them, and collaborate and communicate. Because those people can go a very long way here.
Why join us
Joining Sainsbury's as the Head of Food WMS Transformation offers a unique opportunity to lead a pivotal role in shaping and delivering strategic initiatives within our Logistics division. With the chance to influence and drive change across our Food WMS transformation, you will play a key role in enhancing our warehouse capabilities and driving efficiencies. As part of a collaborative and innovative team, you will have the support to develop your skills, foster a culture of continuous improvement, and make a tangible impact on our operations, ultimately contributing to Sainsbury's ongoing success and growth.
What you'll do
As the Head of Food WMS Transformation, you will play a pivotal leadership role within the Logistics division, responsible for shaping and delivering the strategic transformation of Sainsbury's Food Warehouse Management System (WMS) across all depots and operational areas. Your key responsibilities will include leading programme and project delivery, defining and driving the transformation roadmap, executing the business change management plan, overseeing complex cross-functional projects, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement and innovation in delivery practises. Your deep understanding of logistics systems and operations, strong strategic thinking, excellent communication skills, and ability to simplify complex problems will be essential as you collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to drive business change and unlock operational efficiencies.
Who you are
You are an accomplished leader with a deep understanding of logistics systems and operations in a retail environment, particularly within warehouse management systems. Your strategic thinking, excellent communication skills, and proven experience in project and change management enable you to drive the strategic transformation of Sainsbury's Food WMS, leading cross-functional teams and fostering a culture of continuous improvement and innovation. With strong organisational skills, attention to detail, and the ability to manage numerous concurrent projects, you play a pivotal role in shaping and delivering change programmes to unlock value and drive business success.
What you need to do
- Lead programme and project delivery across Food WMS Transformation by leading a market leading governance process
- Influence teams not within your reporting structure to deliver their objectives within the programme
Define and lead the transformation roadmap, including Generation 3 tech and future logistics warehouse capabilities.
Own and execute the business change management plan, including impact assessments, training coordination, and stakeholder workshops.
Oversee delivery of complex, cross-functional projects, ensuring alignment with business cases and measurable outcomes.
Foster a culture of continuous improvement and innovation in delivery practices.
Build market-leading logistics technology capabilities and align future requirements with technology capabilities and roadmaps to unlock competitive advantage and efficiencies, with store & customer service at the forefront.
Accountable for assigned project budget(s), ensuring recording of spend/hours use is accurately recorded and within financial rules (capex, opex, change opex etc.)
Identify critical dependencies and risks, ensuring early visibility and mitigation planning.
- Essential
Deep understanding of logistics systems and operations in a manual and automated enviorment, ideally within UK retail.
Strong strategic thinking and ability to simplify complex problems.
Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
Proven experience in project and change management.
Ability to thing end to end and develop cases for business change to unlock value.
Desirable
- Experience in shaping and delivering change programmes.
- Ability to connect the dots across multiple projects and functions.
- Innovative mindset with a pragmatic approach to implementation.
- Knowledge of interconnecting systems with WMS, e.g. TMS, Yard Management, Supply Chain.
What you need to show
Strong organisational skills and attention to detail
Ability to lead numerous concurrent projects and lead a large cross functional team
Confidence in communicating with stakeholders across different levels and functions.
Ability to prioritise tasks and manage time effectively in a fast-paced environment.
A proactive mindset with a willingness to take ownership and follow through on actions.
Familiarity with project management tools and reporting formats.
Commitment to continuous improvement and supporting team collaboration.
Support we will provide
Access to personal development tools e.g., Bitesize talks, online self-development tools, internal mentoring
- Access to the wider Logistics Systems delivery team, including OSSG, Project Managers, Change Managers and the wider Tech PMO team
- Collaboration with internal and external stakeholders.
Please note: This role profile is aimed at describing the core output that should be achieved in this role. It is not intended to include specific tasks, temporary activities or projects to recognise flexibility in a changing context.
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 65% of salary, depending on how we perform (in cash and shares). 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, 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. You'll also receive a company car cash allowance unless you are going to travel 10,000 business miles in your role, then you'll be able to choose a car. 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).
