Job Description
Our people are at the heart of our business, and we are looking for those that are just as passionate about that as we are. Join our People team, and come with us on a journey as we transform the way we do HR. Our team is made up of business partners working with leaders to get the most out of their teams, specialist knowledge in our centres of expertise, and colleague-centric, efficient people services. Our work ranges from making sure that our 150,000+ colleagues are paid on time to attracting brilliant talent to drive our strategy, to unlocking the skills and capability of our colleagues. This is a fast-moving business, and we make sure our policies and rewards keep up with that too. We know flexibility is important and helps you be more productive so there's more choice than ever about where and when you work. When it comes to your development, we'll support your growth in your own unique way. When you join us, you’ll be joining a team that knows just what it means to be happy and engaged, and who makes a real impact across our business.
This is a regionally based role which is typically around 60% travel & 40% remote. You'll be regularly checking in with your 3 People Partners who are covering the geographies of East Scotland, West Scotland & Northern Ireland and Cumbria & Northumbria.
Why join us
As our Head of People for our Retail Zones, you will partner with Senior Leaders in this part of the business, supporting the execution of our business and workforce strategies through the development and implementation of strategic people plans. You will be a conduit into our centres of excellence, ensuring the correct expertise is engaged to solve business problems. As a conscience of culture and driver of performance, you will coach leaders, and deliver a tangible return on investment by building capability, maximising capacity, and cost efficiency to deliver customer outcomes and shareholder value.
What you'll do
You will play a critical role in partnering with senior leaders, from Operating Board and Divisional Directors to Senior Managers, as a trusted advisor and business partner. Your main responsibility will be to support the execution of our business and workforce strategies by developing and implementing strategic people plans. This involves translating our strategy into meaningful and actionable people plans, ensuring business goals and metrics are met, and driving a high-performance culture through coaching and engagement with business leaders.
You will also be responsible for enabling, embedding, and sustaining business change, promoting deep and meaningful relationships that drive business benefit, identifying and nurturing talent interventions and capabilities, and leading cyclical talent, performance, and reward activities. Your success will be measured by your ability to deliver on these outcomes, contribute to the growth and development of the divisions you partner with, and drive business performance through effective people strategies.
Who you are
You are an experienced HR professional with a proven track record of delivering impactful people plans in fast-paced and complex commercial organisations. You understand the commercial impact of a HR function, with evidence of using people levers to deliver great business outcomes. As an excellent communicator, you possess strong influencing and relationship-building skills, collaborating closely with senior leaders and stakeholders across the organisation. With a commercial mindset and the ability to interpret and utilise data to inform decision-making, you are adept at creating and delivering people plans that support transformational change, talent management, and organisational effectiveness. As a trusted advisor and coach, you demonstrate agility, adaptability, and a commitment to continuous learning, driving positive momentum on key people metrics and delivering sustained outcomes that contribute to business success.
Strengths you need to demonstrate
Leading Change is the element not just around change initiatives like restructures or business change, but cultural or behavioural change amongst leaders. Be curious, adaptable and innovative. Using data and business insight to support your decisions on approach, and measuring the success of changes implemented.
Commercial Acumen is all about knowing the commercial levers of the business and how its people can deliver them. You'll use savvy commercial decision making to have a direct impact on the businesses outcomes, and ensuring decisions you're making add value to the customer. You'll be close to the market and understand how we can stay ahead in an ever-changing market.
Collaboration & Influence is all around your matrix working, where within all large businesses there are lots of teams focusing on different things and how do you stay connected with what's going on and how you can work with them to use their expertise. Have a very agile mindset, comfortable with ambiguity and happy to fail fast. Utilising all the different leadership styles to change your approach depending on your audience, enabling you to effectively influence.
What you need to know and show
Essentials
- Proven track record over several years as an HR Business Partner in fast-paced, complex, commercial organisations
- A commercial contributor, with evidence of using people levers to deliver great business outcomes
- Experience of creating and delivering people plans, leading delivery through cross functional teams
- Experience of significant business and HR organisation change and transformation and delivering sustained outcomes
- Expert in talent management
- Strong influencing, partnering and relationship building skills, working with senior leaders and stakeholders across the business
- Ability to interrogate and interpret data, drawing insights to inform business recommendations and decisions
- Understanding of an agile mindset gained through experience of working in an agile environment - preferable
- CIPD Level 7 or equivalent combination of knowledge skills and experience
- Learning agility – ability to grow
- Organisational effectiveness and design experience in the context of business partnering
Desirable
- Understanding of an agile mindset gained through experience of working in an agile environment
- Formal project or program management qualification e.g. Managing Successful Programs (MSP), Prince2, or Project Management Professional (PMP) or experience gained through managing programs of work including governance
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).