Portfolio Manager
Salary: Competitive Plus Benefits
Location: London Store Support Centre and Home, London, EC1M 6HA
Contract type: Permanent
Business area: Retail
Closing date: 22 August 2025
Requisition ID: 400010572
We’d all like amazing work to do, and real work-life balance. That’s waiting for you at Sainsbury’s. As the link between sellers and buyers, retail and head office, our retail operations team is the cog that keeps things running. With teams focused on store facing, labour, transformation, online, delivery and contact centre work, we touch almost every part of the business. It’s an incredibly fast-paced environment where you need to pivot not just daily, but often hourly. So while we plan all we can, it’s vital that we all think outside our job descriptions and look to optimise and improve how we do everything. There’s also a real team ethos. After all, it’s people like you who are going to truly transform this part of the business.
About the team
Join our dynamic Transformation & Operational Development team, where innovation meets impact in shaping the future of Sainsbury’s Retail and Digital Operating Models. We play a central role in translating the Next Level Sainsbury’s strategy into actionable programmes, connecting teams and driving transformation across our business. As part of this collaborative division, you’ll be at the heart of change, partnering with colleagues across the organisation to deliver sustainable improvements and business outcomes.
More about the role
As Portfolio Manager, you will support the Director of Transformation & Operational Development, providing strategic oversight and value-added reporting across our transformation programmes. Your day-to-day will involve managing a clear ‘single version of the truth’ for all change activity, mapping dependencies, and ensuring project milestones are met. You’ll connect individual workstreams, facilitate knowledge sharing, and help drive engagement with key leaders.
Expect to lead the coordination of cross-functional initiatives, track delivery against strategic goals, and support quarterly planning cycles. You’ll be involved in shaping reporting, mapping resource requirements, and creating connectivity to align outcomes across programmes. This is an opportunity to influence the direction of high-profile projects and build relationships at every level of the business.
More about you
You thrive in complex environments and are adept at solving problems with a structured, strategic approach. Your ability to synthesise information and present recommendations demonstrates your clear and persuasive communication skills. You build strong networks, influence stakeholders, and foster collaboration across teams. With keen attention to detail, you produce accurate and timely programme information and continuously seek ways to make improvements.
You are curious, open to change, and regularly seek feedback to support your development. You role-model positive, agile ways of working—building trust and delivering solutions that make a real difference to the customer experience.
Essential criteria
- Demonstratable experience in programme or project management methodology within a large organisation.
- Proven ability to coordinate, develop, and report management information (MI) and dashboards for decision making.
- Capability to document and manage interdependencies, milestones, and key decisions across multiple workstreams.
- Evidence of successful stakeholder management and engagement at a senior level.
- Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, pulling together information from multiple sources.
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, 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).
