Researcher - Executive Recruitment
Salary: Competitive Plus Benefits
Location: London Store Support Centre and Home, London, EC1M 6HA
Contract type: Permanent
Business area: Group HR
Closing date: 29 August 2025
Requisition ID: 400011948
We’d all like amazing work to do, and real work-life balance. That’s waiting for you at Sainsbury’s. We’re the first to say we do HR differently here. For a start, we work as business partners and specialists. That’s whether we’re making sure that nearly 180,000 colleagues are paid on time, or that our strategy is helping us attract the right people, put them in the right place, and unlock their talent. This is a fast-moving business and our policies and rewards keep up too. That’s why we’re as flexible as we can be about where and when you work. We’re also flexible about your future. There’s always room to move up or across, if that’s what you want. We really value different perspectives so there’s no one opinion, no single path, and yours is important. What’s certain is that you’ll be joining one of the happiest, most engaged teams in the business.
Why join us
Joining the Executive Recruitment team at Sainsbury's offers a unique opportunity to play a pivotal role in shaping the future leadership landscape of a leading multi-channel retail business. As a Researcher, you will be at the forefront of identifying and attracting exceptional talent across diverse business units, contributing to strategic hiring decisions and fostering a candidate-led culture. With a supportive and collaborative work environment, you will have the chance to leverage your executive search expertise and passion for service excellence to make a meaningful impact, all while being part of a team that values innovation, diversity, and continuous growth.
What you'll do
You’ll identify and attract exceptional leadership talent across the organisation, contributing to the future success and growth of Sainsbury's. Working closely with the Head of Executive Recruitment, Executive Recruitment Managers, and senior stakeholders, you will be responsible for delivering high-quality talent mapping, market intelligence, and candidate engagement to build robust pipelines of senior-level talent, with a particular focus on diversity and strategic hiring needs. Your research efforts will inform hiring decisions through comprehensive research, real-time market insights, and a deep understanding of the retail landscape, ultimately shaping the leadership teams across all functions and business units.
You’ll be based in our London office 1 day per week, with the rest of your time from home.
Who you are
You have proven experience in executive search or talent research, demonstrating a passion for delivering exceptional service to candidates and hiring managers. Your strong research and analytical skills, coupled with a deep understanding of the UK Retail / FMCG industries, enable you to identify and attract top leadership talent. With excellent communication and relationship management abilities, you work collaboratively to build diverse talent pipelines and provide valuable insights, building credibility.
Essential Criteria
- Proven experience in executive search or talent research, either gained in-house in a similar-sized well-known brand, or within a search firm (e.g. SHREK or boutique advisory).
- Extensive experience delivering high-quality talent mapping & market intelligence, including identifying diverse candidates and tracking competitor movements.
- Experience preparing and presenting research outputs, such as industry insights and progress reports to senior stakeholders, providing credible advice to inform strategic hiring decisions.
- Strong analytical skills to synthesise complex information.
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 10% 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. 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. 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).
