Colleague Manager - Athlone -

Everyone is welcome at M&S. No exceptions. It’s your background, abilities and differences that make you, uniquely you. And when you’re part of M&S, that individuality has the potential to make waves.

Summary

At M&S, we’re evolving faster than ever before. As part of our transformation journey, we’re reshaping the way we serve our customers, empower our colleagues, and deliver results. We’re moving at pace, driven by innovation, agility, and a steadfast focus on excellence. If you’re ready to lead with purpose, inspire teams, and make a real impact, this new role is your opportunity to be part of something extraordinary.

Lead and Inspire

• Take full accountability for your direct reports, owning their end-to-end experience.
• Mentor and develop your team to be their best, celebrating success and managing performance effectively.
• Collaborate with the store leadership team to deliver shared objectives.
• Role model the M&S behaviours and demonstrate flexibility as business priorities evolve.
• Act on customer feedback with urgency to go above and beyond.
• Empower teams to take ownership of Service, Selling, and Filling.
• Create a great place to work by listening to and acting on colleague feedback.

Deliver with Excellence

• Ensure the store trades safely and legally at all times.
• Support and coach Shift Leads and Sales Advisors to deliver smooth operations—without directly completing operational tasks.
• Implement launches, events, and campaigns flawlessly, right first time.
• Drive accurate execution of all processes and guidelines in collaboration with your team.

Drive High Performance

• Raise the bar through coaching and performance development.
• Lead your team to deliver a consistent and exceptional customer experience.
• Drive sales and contribution through consistent delivery of key inputs.
• Demonstrate digital confidence across all platforms including Time & Attendance (T&A), MyHR, Teams, and PowerBI.

People Accountabilities

• Support your team across the full colleague lifecycle: hiring, duty of care, Return to Work (RTW), scheduling, holiday management, and more.
• Manage new starters through probation effectively.
• Spot and develop talent to meet future succession needs.
• Ensure duty of care calls and Returns to Work are completed promptly.
• Conduct absence review meetings where applicable.
• Complete 100% of check-ins, celebrating success and managing performance.
• Ensure compliance learning is completed by all colleagues.

What’s in it for you

Being a part of M&S is exactly that – playing your part to bring the magic of M&S to our customers every day. We’re an inclusive, dynamic, exciting, and ever-evolving business built on doing the right thing and bringing exceptional quality, value, service to every customer, whenever, wherever and however they want to shop with us.

Here are some of the benefits we offer that make working for M&S just that little bit more special…

• 20% colleague discount across all M&S products and many of our third-party brands for you and a member of your household.
• Competitive holiday entitlement with the potential to buy extra holiday days!
• Discretionary bonus schemes awarded based on how you achieve your personal objectives and our performance as a business.
• A generous Defined Contribution Pension Scheme and Life Assurance.
• Full maternity pay for 26 weeks.
• WorkLife options, including 4-day working week or 9-day fortnight.
• A dedicated welcome to our teams with a tailored induction and a wide range of training programmes to develop your skills.
• Amazing perks and discounts via our M&S Choices portal to maximise your financial and personal wellbeing.
• Industry-leading parental, adoption and neonatal policies, providing support and flexibility for your family.
• Access to a fantastic range of wellbeing support for all colleagues including access to our 24/7 Virtual GP and PAM Assist to support you and your family.
• A charity volunteer day to support a charity or cause you’re passionate about through a dedicated day away from work.