Clothing Sourcing Optimisation Manager
Salary: Competitive Plus Benefits
Location: Coventry Store Support Centre - Ansty Park and Home, Coventry, CV7 9RD
Contract type: Permanent
Business area: Non Food
Closing date: 19 June 2025
Requisition ID: 400000689
We’d all like amazing work to do, and real work-life balance. That’s waiting for you at Sainsbury’s. From fragrance to car care, clothing and pots and pans, our General Merchandise team delivers all the non-food items for Sainsbury’s, Habitat and Argos customers. This multi-brand environment means you get to work across most areas. You can also be a pioneer, because the team believes in being brave, iterating and learning as they go. They also develop deep connections to other departments, which opens up a lot of different career opportunities for you. What’s certain is that you’ll spend time on the shop floor to get closer to customers, and bring a broad perspective and the full support of your manager with you wherever you decide to develop next.
Why join us
Joining Sainsbury's as the Clothing Sourcing Optimisation Manager means being at the forefront of the clothing division's growth phase, where you will have the opportunity to drive impactful change and innovation in range planning, buying, and sourcing operations. Collaborating closely with global, technical, and commercial teams, you will lead the implementation of a forward-thinking sourcing model, fostering long-term supplier partnerships and enhancing trading agility. This role offers a high level of accountability and the chance to work alongside key stakeholders to shape the future of our clothing division through strategic supplier management and operational excellence.
What you'll do
As the Clothing Sourcing Optimisation Manager at Sainsbury's, you will play a pivotal role in driving the implementation of the ambitious sourcing model to optimise range planning, buying, and sourcing processes within the clothing division. Your responsibilities will include leading the strategic pillar Suppliers as Partners, executing supplier strategies through consolidation programmes to enhance trading agility, and collaborating with technical teams to ensure product quality standards across the supply base. You will establish categorization, framework, and governance principles for supplier empowerment, develop joint business plans with cross-functional teams, and create critical path governance for stakeholder visibility and adherence. Additionally, you will provide training and support for teams to adopt best practises in open costings, negotiation, and supplier relationship management, while influencing senior governance forums with clear articulation of progress and future opportunities.
Essential Criteria
• Proven experience in clothing buying, planning and sourcing
• High level of commercial and financial acumen
Desirable
• Strong skillset in data analysis with the ability to identify risks and opportunities
• Change & programme management experience
What you need to show
• Strong leadership in line with Sainsburys leadership performance expectations
• Ability to drive and adapt to change effectively through strong communication
• Exceptional stakeholder management skills with a strong ability to lead operational change and implement process improvements across a wide network of teams.
• Bring unity and collaboration
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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 20% of salary (which may vary for Nectar360), 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, and we provide private healthcare. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, interest free car loan of up to £10k, 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. 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).
