Head of People - Finance
Salary: Competitive Plus Benefits
Location: London Store Support Centre and Home, London, EC1M 6HA
Contract type: Permanent
Business area: Group HR
Closing date: 02 April 2026
Requisition ID: 400054173
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 Sainsbury's as the Head of People Partnering - Finance means being at the forefront of strategic people partnership, shaping high-impact people strategies that drive sustainable business performance and support the Finance Leadership Team in achieving their priorities. This role offers the opportunity to collaborate closely with senior leaders, translate business strategies into actionable people plans, and lead initiatives that strengthen leadership effectiveness, talent development, and organisational effectiveness. By joining our team, you will play a pivotal role in driving positive change, fostering inclusive cultures, and delivering impactful results that contribute to the overall success of Sainsbury's.
What you'll do
As the Head of People Partnering - Finance at Sainsbury's, you will serve as the strategic people partner to the CFO and Finance Leadership Team, driving high-impact people strategies to support the delivery of Finance's priorities. Your role will involve translating the Finance divisional goals and priorities into a divisional people plan aligned with the wider People strategy, utilising people and business data to identify opportunities for improving performance and organisational effectiveness. You will coach and support senior leaders to build high-performing, inclusive teams, strengthen leadership capability, and guide leaders through complex people matters and organisational changes. Additionally, you will be responsible for talent identification, development, and retention, ensuring robust succession plans, and leading the people aspects of organisational transformation and change to maintain engagement and performance. Your success will be measured by the strength of your partnership with the CFO, the alignment between Finance priorities and people plans, leadership capability enhancement, talent pipelines, and successful delivery of organisational change initiatives.
Who you are
As the Head of People Partnering - Finance at Sainsbury's, you are an experienced HR professional with a proven track record of operating as a senior HR Business Partner in complex commercial organisations. You excel in strategically partnering with executive stakeholders and senior leaders to drive business outcomes through high-impact people strategies, leadership development, talent management, and organisational effectiveness initiatives. Your strong coaching, relationship-building, and stakeholder influencing skills, combined with your ability to interpret data and insights, enable you to shape and deliver people plans that align with business priorities and foster a culture of inclusivity, performance, and continuous improvement.
Essential Criteria
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Demonstrable experience operating as a senior HR Business Partner within a complex, multi‑functional commercial environment, delivering people strategies aligned to business priorities.
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Proven ability to influence and partner with executive‑level stakeholders, providing evidence‑based insight and guidance on organisational, leadership and cultural matters.
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Demonstrated track record of leading organisational change and transformation, including designing and implementing people‑related interventions that improve effectiveness and performance.
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Ability to interpret and apply people and business data to diagnose issues, shape decisions and inform targeted people plans.
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Comprehensive knowledge across talent management, leadership development, organisational design and employee relations, supported by relevant professional expertise (e.g., CIPD Level 7 or equivalent experience).
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 65% of salary (which may vary for Nectar360), 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 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, 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. 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. 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).
