Head of Technical - Clothing
Salary: Competitive Plus Benefits
Location: Coventry Store Support Centre - Ansty Park, Coventry, CV7 9RD
Contract type: Permanent
Business area: Non Food
Closing date: 28 July 2025
Requisition ID: 400006854
Why join us
Joining Sainsbury's as the Head of Technical means being at the forefront of driving technical excellence and innovation in the Clothing division. As a key leader in ensuring the safety, integrity, and quality of our products, you will have the opportunity to shape the technical strategy, build strong supplier relationships, and lead a team of dedicated professionals. With a focus on sustainability and corporate responsibility, you will play a pivotal role in delivering high-quality products that exceed customer expectations. At Sainsbury's, you will be part of a dynamic team that values collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement, making a tangible impact on the business and the lives of our customers.
What you'll do
As the Head of Technical, you will be in charge of managing a substantial technical team to support the delivery of the technical vision, safeguarding the value of the business, and adding value to the Tu Clothing products. Your responsibilities will include leading and motivating your team to ensure technical excellence, driving safety, integrity, governance, and quality management, as well as championing innovation in product development and manufacturing to meet the Plan for Better targets. Additionally, you will be accountable for developing and implementing technical strategies, managing technical KPIs, ensuring compliance with safety and ethical standards, leading the product development plan, driving technical innovation, and managing supplier relationships to ensure product quality and social compliance across all sites. Your role will also involve fostering a high-performing technical team, building strong relationships with stakeholders, and providing inspiring leadership to achieve business objectives.
Who you are
You are a seasoned professional with a technical background and extensive experience in technical management within the retail or supply base industry. Your leadership capabilities shine as you drive technical excellence, innovation, and compliance within the category, ensuring the safety, integrity, and quality of products while championing sustainability initiatives. With a keen eye for detail, strategic acumen, and a passion for product excellence, you build strong relationships with stakeholders, lead teams effectively, and inspire a culture of continuous improvement and high performance, ultimately making a meaningful impact on the business and its customers.
- Essential criteria:
Technical Background: Proven experience in a technical environment, ideally within factories or retail, with a strong preference for clothing or textiles sectors. - People Leadership: Demonstrated ability to lead and manage teams effectively, with a track record of developing talent and fostering collaboration.
- Stakeholder Management: Skilled in managing upwards within a corporate setting, including regular reporting, presenting to senior leadership, and influencing at higher levels.
- Willingness to Travel: Comfortable with regular travel to supplier bases as part of the role’s responsibilities.
- Strategic Thinking: Capable of contributing to and shaping long-term strategies, with a focus on continuous improvement and innovation.
- Change Management Expertise: Experience driving change initiatives, particularly those involving shifts in working practices and elevating capability within operational teams
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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 get 10% off at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat after 4 weeks. This increases to 15% off at Sainsbury’s every Friday and Saturday and 15% off at Argos every pay day. 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 additional holiday. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, pay 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, you will also be eligible for private healthcare too.
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).
