Head of Recruitment Capabilities in London

Salary: Competitive Plus Benefits

Location: London Store Support Centre and Home, London, EC1M 6HA

Contract type: Permanent

Business area: Group HR

Closing date: 27 March 2026

Requisition ID: 400052720

We’d all like amazing work to do, and real work–life balance. That’s waiting for you at Sainsbury’s. We’re the first to say we do HR differently here. For a start, we work as business partners and specialists — whether that’s making sure nearly 150,000 colleagues are paid on time, or shaping a strategy that helps us attract the right people, put them in the right place, and unlock their potential. This is a fast-moving business, and our policies and rewards evolve with it. That’s why we’re as flexible as we can be about where and when you work. We’re also flexible about your future. There’s always room to move up or across, if that’s what you want. We really value different perspectives, so there’s no one opinion, no single path, and yours matters.

You’ll be part of Sainsbury’s People function, within the Recruitment and Attraction community. This team sits at the heart of how Sainsbury’s attracts, assesses and hires talent across all brands and business areas. Working closely with operational recruitment teams, technology partners and senior stakeholders, the function plays a critical role in shaping fair, inclusive and future‑ready hiring at scale. This is a high‑profile area of the business, with significant opportunity to influence how recruitment evolves in a fast‑changing labour market.

More about the role

As Head of Recruitment Capability, you will set the strategic direction for recruitment and attraction capability across Sainsbury’s. You’ll lead the design and optimisation of end‑to‑end recruitment practices, from employer branding and assessment strategy through to process, systems and governance. A key focus of the role is driving innovation, particularly through AI‑enabled recruitment, skills‑based hiring and data‑led decision making, while ensuring approaches remain ethical, inclusive and compliant. Day to day, you’ll work closely with operational recruitment leaders, People Services, technology and external suppliers to translate strategy into practical, scalable solutions. You’ll oversee major transformation initiatives, uplift hiring manager and recruiter capability, and establish clear standards and measures of success. You’ll also lead and develop a specialist capability team, creating strong operating rhythms that connect strategy with operational delivery.

More about you

You bring a deep understanding of recruitment strategy, assessment and selection, with the ability to balance future‑focused innovation and real‑world implementation. You’re comfortable operating at enterprise scale, influencing senior stakeholders and navigating complex organisational environments. You use data and insight to shape direction, challenge thinking and build compelling narratives that support decision making. You demonstrate inclusive, collaborative leadership and are known for building high‑performing teams and communities of practice. You approach technology and AI with curiosity and sound judgement, ensuring fairness, transparency and positive candidate experience sit at the centre of all recruitment activity.

• Demonstrable experience designing and leading enterprise‑wide recruitment or attraction strategies aligned to organisational priorities.
• Proven expertise in assessment and selection methodologies, including governance of tools, frameworks and external vendors.
• Evidence of leading complex, cross‑functional recruitment or people projects within a large or multi‑brand organisation.
• Demonstratable capability in using recruitment, workforce or labour‑market data to inform strategy and influence senior stakeholders.
• Proven understanding of recruitment technologies, including AI‑enabled solutions, automation and ethical hiring considerations.

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 (which may vary for Nectar360), 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).