Sainsbury's
Head of Returns & Stock Exit
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At Argos, we’re a digital-led UK retailer that keeps pushing boundaries to meet every generation with what they want, how and when they want it. As a market leader in general merchandise, serving millions of customers through our website, app, same-day delivery and Click & Collect services, we offer real opportunities to learn, grow and shape your career. With roles spanning Commercial, Buying, Merchandising, Design and Supply Chain, through to Digital, Operations, Customer Experience, Marketing, and People and Transformation, you will work with brilliant colleagues and directly shape how we serve our customers every day. From enabling inspiring choice across our owned brands, including Habitat, Chad Valley and Bush, alongside the world’s biggest brands like Apple, Lego, Xbox and Samsung, to making shopping effortlessly convenient, championing trusted value and accelerating our strategy - Argos is an exciting place to build your future.
At Argos, returns don't mark the end of a product's journey. They create opportunities to recover value, improve the customer experience and support a more sustainable future.
Role Overview
As Head of Returns & Stock Exit, you'll lead the strategy for how we manage returns, aftersales, refurbishment, recycling and stock liquidation across the business. This is a high-profile leadership role with the opportunity to shape a significant profit centre while delivering meaningful improvements for customers and supporting our environmental commitments.
Working across Commercial, Operations, Supply Chain, Digital, Tech, Finance, Ethical and Technical teams, you'll bring together customer, commercial and operational thinking to create and deliver an end-to-end strategy. You'll have full ownership of the returns and stock exit P&L, leading a diverse team and influencing stakeholders across the business to unlock value and drive change.
Few roles offer the opportunity to influence customer experience, profitability and sustainability in equal measure. As Head of Returns & Stock Exit, you'll lead an area with huge potential, bringing together teams from across the business to unlock value, shape future operating models and drive long-term change.
What You'll Do
- Define and deliver the long-term strategy for Returns & Stock Exit, creating a clear roadmap that improves customer outcomes, unlocks value and supports our sustainability ambitions.
- Own the Returns & Stock Exit P&L, identifying opportunities to improve profitability, reduce cost and maximise value recovery across the product lifecycle.
- Lead the evolution of our returns, refurbishment, recycling and stock liquidation capabilities, ensuring we have the right operating model, partnerships and processes in place for the future.
- Bring together teams from across Commercial, Operations, Supply Chain, Digital, Finance and Tech to deliver complex initiatives that drive meaningful business change.
- Build strong relationships with senior stakeholders and external partners, influencing decisions and creating alignment around a shared strategic vision.
- Use customer, market and performance insight to identify opportunities, challenge thinking and shape future investment priorities.
- Ensure Argos remains well positioned to respond to changing legislation, regulation and industry trends across returns, refurbishment and recycling.
- Lead and develop a high-performing team, creating an environment where people can grow, succeed and deliver their best work.
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Who You Are
- You're a strategic and commercially minded leader who enjoys solving complex problems and delivering change at scale.
- You're naturally curious, customer focused and able to balance multiple priorities while maintaining a clear view of the bigger picture.
- You build strong relationships across a matrix organisation and are confident influencing senior stakeholders to gain alignment and drive action.
- You've got the credibility to operate at leadership level while bringing teams with you through change.
- You'll be comfortable working with large and complex data sets, translating insight into clear commercial recommendations and strategic decisions.
- Just as importantly, you'll have a track record of building and leading high-performing teams in fast-moving environments.
- Passionate about retail and the evolving customer landscape, you'll combine strategic thinking with a practical approach to delivery, helping shape the future of a critical area of the Argos business.
Essential Criteria
- Significant experience in commercial including (but not limited to) returns, reverse logistics, re-commerce, aftersales, refurbishment, recycling or stock liquidation environments.
- Proven experience developing and delivering commercial or operational strategies within a complex retail or multi-channel business.
- Strong commercial leadership experience with ownership of budgets and P&L performance.
- Strong understanding of retail operations, customer journeys and opportunities to drive value through returns, refurbishment and stock exit activity.
- Demonstrated ability to influence and engage senior stakeholders, including executive-level audiences.
- Experience leading large-scale change and transformation programmes.
- Strong analytical capability with the ability to translate complex data into clear strategic actions.
- Proven track record of leading and developing high-performing teams.
- Excellent stakeholder management, negotiation and communication skills.
- Ability to work cross-functionally to deliver end-to-end business outcomes.
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Benefits
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, 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).
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