Retail Operations Excellence Lead
£70,000 to £80,000 plus great benefits (Work Level 4)
Manchester city centre (hybrid working)

We’re looking for a Retail Operations Excellence Lead to join us in Manchester and be responsible for the creation, management, and improvement of the practical side of our store operating model. It’s really important that our Co-op customers and colleagues have a great in-store experience, and it’ll be up to you to make sure our food strategy is implemented successfully within our stores. In this role you’ll work in a hybrid way – splitting your time between home, the office, and travelling to our stores across the UK (find out more about our hybrid working policy at colleagues.coop.co.uk/hybrid-working-policy)

What you’ll do

• Be accountable for the operational processes and policies that are applied in our stores daily
• Work alongside our Operations Director, Head of Operations, and our field teams to drive improvements to our retail operations; putting our customers’ and colleagues’ needs at the heart of everything we do
• Collaborate with teams across the wider Co-op on things that are likely to impact our store operations
• Contribute to the shaping and carrying out of operational trade and customer plans
• Manage all key operational contracts as well as any future strategic tender processes
• Lead our weekly store feedback call; making sure our store colleagues’ voices are heard and their feedback is appropriately acted on

This role would suit people who have

• Experience delivering operating model and store improvements across multiple teams and locations
• A solid understanding of operational processes, procedures, and principles, as well as other teams who are key to store operations (e.g. Estates, Format, Commercial)
• Knowledge of retail industry trends, market conditions, and competitor activity
• Good communication and relationship-building skills, with the ability to influence and challenge people inclusively
• Good leadership and coaching skills, with experience managing and developing a team

Why Co-op?

If you’ve got the skills and experience we’re looking for, we can offer you a competitive salary and great benefits package which includes 30% off Co-op branded products in our food stores (as well as other discounts on Co-op products and services). You’ll also get:

• Private healthcare
• A company car or car allowance
• An annual bonus (based on personal and business performance)
• 28 days holiday (rising to 32 with service) plus bank holidays
• A pension with up to 10% employer contributions
• Access to a subsidised onsite gym (at our Manchester HQ)
• Coaching and training to support your career development
• Wagestream – a money management app that gives you access to a percentage of your pay as you earn it
• YuLife – an app that rewards you for exercising with discounts and vouchers for your favourite brands

Building an inclusive work environment

At Co-op, we’re proud to do things a different way. As one of the world’s largest co-operatives, owned by millions of members, community is at the heart of what we do. Since our Co-op was founded in 1844, we’ve had a clear social purpose, and everything we do as a business helps to build a fairer world for our members, customers, colleagues, and communities.

We’re actively building diverse teams and we welcome applications from everyone. If you have a disability, we can make reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process according to your needs. We're also part of the Disability Confident scheme, meaning we'll always offer an interview to disabled candidates who apply through the scheme if they meet the minimum criteria for a job.

We'll ask whether you’d like to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme when you apply.

If we invite you to take part in the recruitment process for any of our jobs, we’ll ask you if you need any reasonable adjustments to enable you to participate.

You can find out more about our recruitment process at jobs.coop.co.uk/apply-process.

You can find out more about the Disability Confident scheme and all our commitments to diversity and inclusion at colleagues.coop.co.uk/diversity-inclusion-and-wellbeing.