Sainsbury's
Programme Manager - Operations
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About the Role
You’ll play a key role in leading the Argos Operational Change Programme, making a tangible impact by providing oversight and delivery leadership for all change large and small that touches Argos Operations — from stores through the logistics network and across our planning teams. Reporting into our Head of Operational Change Programmes, the role works closely with the Argos Portfolio and Strategy team to ensure operational change is clearly understood, prioritised, governed and translated into practical delivery across the operation.
You will lead the periodic governance cycle, creating clarity on progress against operational objectives and key results (OKRS) including Cost Saving Targets. The role connects operational teams with Strategy, Finance, Commercial, Marketing, Procurement, Tech and People Change colleagues to surface trade-offs, manage risks, drive decisions and ensure pipeline opportunities flow through into credible plans. As a visible champion of operational change, the role will build advocacy, strengthen leadership accountability and mature the way Argos plans, tracks and embeds change.
This opportunity is for a fixed term contract (12 months).
What I am accountable for
- Lead the Operational Change Programme, providing oversight and delivery leadership for change across Retail, Logistics (local fulfilment, distribution operations, Large Item), planning and central operations.
- Design and run the Operations change governance cycle, including programme forums, working groups and escalation routes that enable decisions, manage risks and maintain momentum.
- Track, monitor and report progress against Operations cost-saving targets, objectives and key results, ensuring the latest position is clear for the Operational Leadership Team and Argos Board as required.
- Work closely with Finance colleagues to maintain a clear latest view of the financial position, understand movements in the plan and translate insight into clear leadership messaging.
- Ensure high-quality status reporting across all Operations change initiatives, from small continuous improvement activity through to larger strategic programmes handed over for operational execution.
- Build strong relationships across operational teams and wider business functions, including Strategy, Procurement, Commercial, Marketing, Tech and People Change, to align priorities and surface trade-offs.
- Review pipeline opportunities, ensure they are assessed, prioritised and ratified through the right forums, and support their flow into future financial and operational plans.
- Develop and mature the Operations project management lifecycle, introducing lightweight documentation, change impact assessment and governance standards that support period on period progress in maturity.
- Design fit-for-purpose project templates, reporting structures and training to build confidence, consistency and adoption across change leads and project teams.
- Own the approach to project management tooling, including options assessment, selection, requirements definition, development and embedding of the chosen solution.
- Build the FY28 roadmap and plan, ensuring pipeline activity, resourcing needs, dependencies and technology requirements are clear early enough to support delivery.
- Develop the Strategy-to-Operations handover process so strategic programmes entering Operations have clear ownership, requirements, delivery plans and success measures.
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What I need to know
- Strong understanding of operational change across retail, logistics, fulfilment, distribution and planning environments.
- Knowledge of project, programme and portfolio management principles, with the judgement to apply governance proportionately in a low-maturity environment.
- Skilled in programme governance, risk, dependency, issue and change impact management.
- Commercially and financially aware, with the ability to link programme movement to cost-saving targets, operational performance and leadership decision-making.
- Ability to distil complex operational, financial and delivery information into clear messages for senior leaders and board-level updates.
What I need to show
- Experience leading change governance, working groups and senior forums that drive decisions, accountability and risk mitigation.
- Confidence engaging and influencing senior operational leaders and cross-functional teams across Retail, Logistics, Planning, Strategy, Finance, Commercial, Marketing, Procurement, Tech and People Change.
- Strong reporting and storytelling capability, with experience turning performance, financial and delivery movements into concise leadership messages.
- Ability to build structure where maturity is low, introducing practical ways of working that are easy to adopt and improve over time.
- Experience developing project documentation, reporting templates, change impact assessments and lifecycle guidance that support project teams.
- Ability to manage multiple initiatives concurrently, from continuous improvement activity through to strategic programmes handed over for operational delivery.
- Strong organisation, prioritisation and attention to detail in a fast-paced change environment.
- A proactive mindset with the confidence to take ownership, follow through on actions and hold others to account constructively.
- Commitment to continuous improvement, adoption and embedding change in a way that works for operational teams.
- Customer and colleague curiosity, with a drive to improve operational outcomes and the experience of those impacted by change.
Essential Criteria
- Experience leading complex change programmes, with oversight of multiple initiatives and responsibility for driving progress, decision-making and delivery outcomes.
- Strong governance design and programme management capability, including the ability to establish forums, reporting cycles, RAID management, dependency tracking and escalation routes that support delivery at pace.
- Proven ability to influence and engage senior stakeholders, building strong relationships across Operations and wider business functions while driving accountability for actions and commitments.
- Experience managing financial and performance reporting, working with Finance and operational teams to understand movements in the plan, track cost-saving targets and produce clear leadership updates.
- Ability to mature project management ways of working, introducing lightweight templates, lifecycle guidance, change impact assessment and adoption plans that improve consistency without over-engineering process.
- Strong planning and prioritisation skills, with experience shaping future roadmaps, pipeline opportunities, resourcing needs and cross-functional dependencies across a broad change portfolio.
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RESPONSIBILITIES
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.
QUALIFICATIONS
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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