Graduate - Logistics & Fulfilment in Basildon

Sainsbury’s Graduate Programme 2026 - Logistics

Salary - £32,000

What the programme offers

From day one, you’ll be immersed in the heart of our business. You’ll take on meaningful work, collaborate with experienced teams, and gain exposure to the tools, systems, and processes that drive our success. Whether you’re analysing performance, supporting transformation, or enhancing customer experiences, you’ll be challenged to think differently and grow your capability.

Where You’ll Work

You’ll apply to one of three logistics opportunities that best suits your preferred location. Each opportunity consists of three rotations across key sites, allowing you to gain hands‑on experience in different environments:

• The first option involves rotations between our Basingstoke Distribution Centre and Reading Local Fulfilment Centre.
• The second offers rotations between the Haydock Distribution Centre and Trafford Local Fulfilment Centre.
• The third includes rotations between the Waltham Point Distribution Centre and Rochester Local Fulfilment Centre.

Each rotation offers a tailored experience designed to give you broad exposure and deep insight into how we operate. You’ll build core skills, develop your leadership mindset, and gain the confidence to take on real responsibility, all while contributing to projects that make a genuine impact.

Essential criteria

• You are a current final year student at university or have graduated since 2024.
• Minimum 2:2 degree obtained or predicted (any discipline).
• You are proficient in Microsoft Office.
• You think critically, logically and analytically to solve problems, and you’re comfortable using all available information to draw out reliable and practical insights.
• You work brilliantly with others, sharing ideas and using everyone’s strengths to get the best results.
• You are eager to learn – whether that’s about our organisation, our customers, or how things work behind the scenes.
• You are proactive and confidently make decisions. You step in to keep things moving, even when things feel uncertain.

Application process

If your application is shortlisted, you’ll begin with an online assessment that will help us to understand you, including how you approach challenges, adapt to evolving situations and process information. If successful, you’ll move on to a digital job simulation, where you’ll respond to realistic work scenarios through a range of response options, including rank order, video and multiple choice. Following this, shortlisted candidates will be invited to an assessment centre where you’ll take part in a series of group and individual exercises, including a final interview with our team.

Assessment centres will be held at our Ansty Store Support Centre, travel expenses not covered. The programme kicks off in September 2026.

If you're ready to make a real impact and grow your career with one of the UK’s most trusted brands, we’d love to hear from you.

Please note that by proceeding with this application, you are consenting for your application to be reviewed and scored by a third party provider to the extent that it is necessary and relevant to the assessment process. Our application window is scheduled to close on 23rd January 2026; however this could close sooner depending on volumes of applications.

Benefits

Starting off with colleague discount, you'll be able to save 10% on your shopping online and in‑store 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 up to 5% 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 payday) as well as 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).

Our graduate programme is open to all final year university students, those who have graduated since 2024, or are due to graduate by summer 2026.

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.