Applications Lead

itsu is the healthy eating, Asian-inspired quick service retail & grocery brand with over 80 stores in the UK and a leading grocery business across Europe and beyond. Renowned for its best-in-class food made fresh in every shop every day, itsu has huge global ambitions with a commitment to open many more stores and grow its thriving grocery arm. With its healthy food, latest technology, innovation, and talented workforce, itsu is the future of fast food.

itsu (grocery), which this role falls under, extends the itsu brand into supermarkets, health food stores, online, wholesale, and internationally with products such as crispy seaweed thins, frozen gyoza & bao, brilliant’broth, rice’noodles & miso’easy, among others.

D&I Statement

itsu (grocery) is committed to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization. We encourage applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply for all opportunities.

When applying, please remove your full name, university/school name, address, email, and any photos from your CV and cover letter. Non-anonymized CVs may not be reviewed.

Role Responsibilities

1. Manage the daily operation and ongoing improvement of ERP, Anaplan, and other core business systems from an IT perspective.
2. Maintain application integrity by ensuring consistent and accurate master data across platforms.
3. Serve as the IT expert for (grocery) business systems, ensuring enterprise application decisions consider user needs and implications.
4. Own system configuration and integration touchpoints (EDI, FTP, APIs) and troubleshoot as needed.
5. Coordinate and define user access rights and security roles across Grocery systems per IT policy.
6. Act as Anaplan system administrator, managing user provisioning, data loads, and minor UX updates.
7. Liaise with software vendors and integration partners for issue resolution and system changes.
8. Provide internal support and guidance to (grocery) users on business applications.
9. Produce and maintain technical documentation and configuration records following DevOps standards.
10. Support testing and change control processes for system upgrades or new features.
11. Participate in and influence future platform decisions, ensuring alignment with group standards.
12. Ensure compliance with IT policies regarding access, data security, and software lifecycle.
13. Align changes, enhancements, or new implementations with the application lifecycle and roadmap.
14. Collaborate within the Enterprise Applications Team to share knowledge and promote consistency.
15. Contribute to system planning and decision-making, balancing grocery-specific needs with group governance.
16. Focus on data quality, system readiness, and robust application integration to enable self-service reporting and analytics.

Scope of the Role

The Applications Lead owns and manages core business applications within itsu (grocery), focusing on stability, integration, governance, and scalability. The role reports to the Enterprise Applications Manager in Group IT and works closely with the Grocery Financial Director. The candidate ensures ERP, Anaplan, and related systems align with itsu’s cloud-first, security-led, and data-driven approach.

1. Ownership of business applications, ensuring stability, integration, and upkeep of platforms like ERP and Anaplan.
2. Maintain application governance, including master data, configuration, and usage standards.
3. Manage application integrations, user access controls, and coordinate enhancements with vendors.
4. Align new systems or updates with the Group’s technology roadmap.
5. Support users, manage documentation, and lead onboarding and guidance efforts.

The Ideal Candidate

• Hands-on experience or strong interest in Microsoft Azure, Office 365, and admin tools.
• Knowledge of access management, device management (e.g., Intune), and cloud governance.
• Interest or exposure to cloud collaboration tools like SharePoint and Azure Blob Storage.
• Logical thinker with attention to detail and eagerness to learn.
• Basic knowledge of cloud-hosted business systems or databases is a plus.
• Strong communicator and team player, capable of working with stakeholders.
• Experience or interest in retail or FMCG industries is beneficial.
• Proactive, self-motivated, with a passion for technology and customer service.
• Motivated to grow a career in cloud infrastructure and IT operations.
• Customer-focused mindset.

Perks and Benefits

• Competitive salary and bonus scheme.
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays (with options for religious holidays).
• Hybrid working (2 days WFH).
• Health insurance, pension, and other benefits.
• Opportunity to work directly with the co-founder of itsu & Pret.
• 50% employee discount, free lunch, and retail discounts.
• Training budget for ongoing development.

#J-18808-Ljbffr