Sainsbury's
Lead General Merchandise Manager

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Lead General Merchandise Manager
What you’ll be doing:
- Direct a small team of managers to showcase all our non – food products from homeware to beauty, including our fantastic TU and Habitat brands
- Planning for upcoming key trading activity by working closely with the rest of the store leadership team
- Regularly taking full accountability for the store in the absence of a store manager, role modelling and coaching for high standards and efficiency across the store.
- Ensuring correct management of stock in our in-store warehouse
- People management is a big part of the role, managing performance and capability, conducting disciplinaries and ensuring scheduling and pay are accurate.
What makes a great Lead General Merchandise manager:
- A passionate leader who is consistently ambitious for their customers and colleagues, every day, growing their team to do the same.
- Experience of managing managers, in a fast-paced, customer-facing environment – doing this in a retail merchandising environment would be advantageous.
- An operator who is comfortable managing alone in the absence of more senior management.
- Driven to deliver high performance with a focus on efficiency and engagement.
- Confident in the use of data, and understanding / interpreting KPI's or other performance indicators, and has experience of improving these.
- Puts inclusivity at the heart of what they do and uses this to build an inclusive team and working environment.
- Can manage disciplinaries, performance issues or other similar employee relations issues (Up to dismissal).
Reasons to use Rodeo
I’m in my final year doing Economics and I don’t know whether to apply for grad schemes now or do a masters first. What do you think?
Honest answer — it depends on where you want to end up. A lot of top grad schemes (Big 4, civil service, banking) don’t need a masters. Let’s look at the ones you’d be competitive for now, and we can decide if a masters actually adds anything.
Also worth knowing: most autumn 2026 applications are open now. Timing matters more than you think.
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Graduate Consultant — 2026 Scheme
Why you're a good match
StrongYour economics background and your summer at a regional bank line up with what PwC looks for on the consulting scheme. Applications close in four weeks.
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Why you're a good match
You’ve got the grades and the economics background, and your bank internship is exactly the experience this scheme looks for. Apply soon — deadlines close within the month.
Experience fit
Your summer at the bank plus your econometrics coursework map directly to the day-one responsibilities on this scheme — client modelling, market briefings, and deal support.
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No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Essential Criteria:


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- Experience leading large teams in a fast-paced, customer-focused environment — you’ve developed leaders, built high-performing teams, and created a culture of ownership and accountability.
- A track record of delivering exceptional customer experiences across complex operations, with evidence of delivering these through your team.
- Proven success in delivering and improving KPIs — from sales and stock availability to customer satisfaction and colleague engagement, you’ve driven results that matter.
- Experience managing sensitive and complex people matters, including performance, absence, and formal employee relations cases, with confidence, fairness, and sound judgement.
- Leadership experience in an operational environment — whether in retail, hospitality, or food service — where you’ve owned departmental performance and confidently led the store in the absence of senior leadership.
- Can evidence leading change — whether rolling out new ways of working, embedding new systems, or shifting team mindsets, you’ve brought people with you and made change stick.
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