Lead Technologist - DIY & Garden

Wed all like amazing work to do, and real work-life balance. Thats waiting for you at Sainsburys. From fragrance to car care, clothing and pots and pans, our General Merchandise team delivers all the non-food items for Sainsburys, Habitat and Argos customers. This multi-brand environment means you get to work across most areas. You can also be a pioneer, because the team believes in being brave, iterating and learning as they go. They also develop deep connections to other departments, which opens up a lot of different career opportunities for you. Whats certain is that youll spend time on the shop floor to get closer to customers, and bring a broad perspective and the full support of your manager with you wherever you decide to develop next.
Division/Department
Technical & Ethical
Location
Ansty Park – Coventry with occasional travel to Holborn Store Support Centre & Home (Hybrid)
Reporting to
Technical manager
In a nutshell
UK Technologists manage the product development and delivery of Sainsburys Argos General Merchandise & Clothing product plans, ensuring quality, safety, and legality. They collaborate with their Asia Technical peers & Sourcing teams, Suppliers, Designers, Buyers, Merchandisers, supply chain/DC, and retail teams to consistently produce high-quality products that meet standards and policies in line with our customers expectations, ensuring they meet our cost of goods challenge. We are responsible for regularly reviewing customer returns, star rating performance and responding to customer complaints, ensuring all learnings are built into future product specifications to reduce returns and improve customer experience.
Lead Technologists take on additional responsibilities by leading a small team of Technologists and / or Assistant Technologists, handling line management responsibilities. Both roles emphasize maintaining customer focus and meeting internal KPIs, the Leadership fundamentals and company values.
What I am accountable for
Responsible for delivering innovative product and new product development, through product evaluation, competitor benchmarking, customer/store feedback management, range reviews, and post-sales customer feedback.
Manages the risk assessment for safety, legality, and quality of Sainsburys Argos Clothing J&W products, ensuring brand reputation and due diligence is upheld while guiding their teams to achieve these standards.
Ensures technical approvals and timelines adhere to the critical path, coordinating with suppliers and global stakeholders, including product specifications and artwork approvals.
Supports the execution of their category technical & sourcing strategy by collaborating with key stakeholders across the business such as Buying, Sourcing, Sustainability and Design.
Takes responsibility for promptly resolving issues and managing held stock in the UK, maintaining relevant trackers and incident report forms.
Delivery of department KPIs and goals.
Creates and provides technical training to ensure all product specifications and standards are clearly communicated and adhered to.
Manages the creation, maintenance and updates of technical records (e.g., appraisal documents, workbooks, policies, product standards, testing reports, performance trackers) following company procedures and legal guidelines.
Supports implementation of corporate sustainability plans.
Investigates and resolves issues promptly, seeks opportunities to reduce returns by analysing customer feedback, returns data. Aims for continuous improvement of product quality and supply base technical capability.
Embraces change and proactively supports new working methods in GM, exemplifying Sainsburys values.
Additionally, for Lead Technologists:
Provides leadership, direction, management, and development to the team.
Mentors and motivates the team with on-job training, coaching, and monitoring progress.
Evaluates and reviews team performance, including regular 1-1s, WIN feedback, Link conversations, and PPM rating reviews with peers.
What I need to know
Essential
Manufacturing or retailer experience in a technical environment.
Proven experience with Garden / DIY or Electrical category or similar.
Commercial awareness.
Experience in a technical role either in the supply base or at a retailer.
The role may require travel within the UK and overseas.
Able to deliver results under pressure in a fast-paced retail environment, both individually and as part of a team.
Excellent self-awareness and communication.
Deliver technical excellence and attention to detail in all tasks.
Effective due diligence management.
Effective planning and prioritisation.
Computer literate
Desirable
Ideally a degree or equivalent in relevant subject.
What I need to show
Own it
Deliver a wide range of tasks, and take ownership for solving problems that you identify.
Actively share your thoughts and are prepared to challenge others in a positive way.
Use business context and other information sources to make decisions.
Regularly review your goals with your line manager
Make it better
Open minded and try new ways of doing things, making things simpler where possible.
Adaptable and respond positively when circumstances change.
Show curiosity about the business beyond your immediate role.
Seek feedback from those you work with and understand your strengths and development areas.
Provide regular fair and accurate feedback to others.
Be human
Ask questions to understand where others are coming from. Show care and respect for how others are feeling and provide support to those around you.
Listen and ask questions about the needs and motivations of others to build effective relationships.
Regularly gather customer feedback and use this insight to continuously improve the customer experience.
Directly or indirectly manages
Leads manage Assistant technologists and/or Technologists directly.
Indirectly -Manages relationships with supplier\’s, 3rd party NGOs and Licensees. (where applicable)
Support we will provide
Sainsburys, Argos General department support functions.
Sainsburys, Argos training courses detailed on each individual training plan on the training matrix.
Link discussions, objectives and personal development plan.
My Sainsburys Learning- Sainsburys Non-Food Technical Training Courses and Store Support Centre behavioural personal development courses.
Corporate policies, technical documents.
Supplier or service provider support.
#LI-SA1
We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer so youll be welcomed whoever you are and wherever you work. Around here, theres always the chance to try something new whether thats 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, well 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 10% 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. 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. 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 for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).