Process, Loss & Change Activation Manager

Salary: Competitive Plus Benefits

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

Contract type: Permanent

Business area: Retail

Closing date: 20 May 2026

Requisition ID: 400059355

We’d all like amazing work to do, and real work-life balance. That’s waiting for you at Sainsbury’s. As the link between sellers and buyers, retail and head office, our Retail Operations team is the cog that keeps things running. With teams focused on store-facing activity, labour, transformation, online, delivery and contact centres we touch almost every part of the business. It’s an incredibly fast-paced environment, where you need to pivot not just daily, but often hourly. So while we plan as much as we can, it’s vital that we all think beyond our job descriptions and look for ways to optimise and improve everything we do. There’s also a real team ethos here. After all, it’s people like you who will truly transform this part of the business.

In a nutshell, this role involves direct accountability for up to 2 regions and requires being geographically based around those locations. However, it is a national role that necessitates travel and work across different business zones and regions as needed. In this role you will be supporting and influencing Regional Stores Directors, Store Managers, Retail Food Leads and retail colleagues to drive performance of store process to optimise inventory performance and availability, and embed change to support the needs of the business through both tech enhancements and process optimisation that deliver value by supporting and embedding Supply Chain owned processes around inventory management routines to deliver better outcomes for customers, colleagues, and the P&L.

You will work in a matrix environment reporting to the Head of Process, Loss & Change Activation and alongside a multi-disciplinary team including Directors of Stores, Store Managers, Retail Food Leads and Retail Colleagues, Transformation as well as various other functions such as Sainsbury’s Logistics Depot Managers/Shift Leaders and the Central Commercial teams. It provides key audiences with an independent view of the current operational compliance landscape, emerging risks, and future risk potential to ensure effective controls and processes that optimize availability, shrink, and waste. The ability to work autonomously in the short to medium term and provide insights into longer-term strategies is essential. Effective communication skills with a variety of stakeholders at all levels are necessary. With a strong background in Supply Chain and Retail processes, building relationships and using leadership and influence to drive business performance is required.

What you are accountable for:

• Provide expert knowledge and guidance on all aspects of retail process & change, including space, inventory management, code control and stock management to support the prevention of loss (shrink) and waste by leading, challenging, supporting, and coaching Retail stakeholders and teams, to deliver the desired inputs to support our goal and objectives.
• Support the delivery of retail process change and enhancements from trial to rollout to ensure the business outcomes are identified and realised across all channels.
• Drive accountability for landing plans ‘right first time’ within relevant teams, ensuring that accountabilities are clear.
• Lead and gather the review process for your respective change project to drive a culture of continuous improvement.
• Be an advocate for change & agility growing & enabling the capability of others within this space.
• Draw on your business acumen, interrogate data to surface insight which enables you to influence and where required, challenge varied stakeholders.
• Position yourself as a ‘subject matter expert’, providing advice, guidance, and recommendations on improving availability and loss through process compliance, and to improve all core inventory and space metrics.
• The role is the clear owner of retail operational compliance, reporting to key management audiences across Retail (Regional Stores Directors and Store Managers), (Heads of) Retail Finance and (Heads of) Supply Chain Business Units to drive action.
• Support the delivery of collaborative working practices to ensure that process gaps and/or opportunities are identified, reviewed and solutions delivered that reduce or mitigate against these.
• Deputise for the Head of Process and Change as required.

Working days are 5 out of 7 with occasional weekend working.

What you need to know (essential):

• 3 years of experience in Supply Chain or Retail management roles, ideally experience of both is preferable.
• Strong knowledge of Retail and Supply Chain processes (e.g. space, inventory, code control) including Convenience, Hot Food Counters and Bakery.
• An ability to identify opportunities relating to the end-to-end process flows.
• Through interpreting central data and focusing on the inputs, you will influence operational teams - Directors of Stores, Store Managers, Retail Food Leads and Retail Colleagues.
• A proven track record of successfully leading cultural & change initiatives with multiple stakeholders and a broad impact across a multi-store programme.
• This is a national field-based role, you will be a visible presence in stores and across the business to impact Process and compliance which are impacting profitability.
• Business owner for all Store Inventory access controls for all central and field team colleagues.
• Able to understand and influence business functions to drive efficiency through collaborative ‘end to end’ working.
• Ability to efficiently use limited resources and dynamically prioritise to deliver greatest business benefit.
• Strong inter-personal and influencing skills, communicating with colleagues at all levels in an engaging and inspiring way.
• Ability to lead & inspire others, particularly through ambiguity, change and periods of challenging performance and when working at distance or with infrequent contact.
• Strong attention to detail is critical with proven prioritisation, organisational and problem-solving skills.

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 20% 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, and we provide private healthcare. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, interest free car loan of up to £10k, 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 www.sainsburys.jobs for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).