Job Description
The Internal Communications team is the engine room for communications across Sainsbury’s business, brands and channels, owning the communication of our strategy, priorities and progress and telling everyone across the business what they need to know. We celebrate our colleagues doing the right thing for our customers and help our leaders to unite their teams behind our strategy – so colleagues love to work at Sainsbury’s and are inspired to go the extra mile.
As the Senior Operational Communications Manager, you will be responsible for leading and developing a team of communicators and a framework of operational / instructional communications that ensures all our colleagues have the information they need to do their jobs and can deliver a busy programme of activity in store. You will work closely with our central Channel Operations team and other stakeholders across the business to make sure that our communications are simple, effective and support managers to plan and deliver operational priorities.
You’ll thrive on managing multiple projects and stakeholders, often with short deadlines and always be ready to suggest solutions or try something new. You’ll have the ability to keep focus under pressure, provide expert advice on our channels, create clear action plans and feel confident to challenge and suggest new ideas.
More about the role
- Responsible for leading and developing a team of eight colleagues, who are responsible for advising on, planning and co-ordinating all operational / instructional comms across all areas of the business, including stores and store support centres.
- Lead the ongoing work to simplify and improve our operational communications, with the aim of enabling our store leaders to land operational changes brilliantly and to spend more time on the shop floor with their colleagues and customers.
- Ensure that all our operational communications have a clear strategic narrative that helps colleagues understand the role they – and a particular activity – play in delivering our strategic objectives. Identify opportunities to use operational messaging as proof points for wider colleague engagement and work with the wider Internal Communications team to support building that into campaigns and leadership messaging.
- Work closely with the Channel Operations Activity Planning and Retail Governance teams to coordinate operational communications, ensuring store colleagues have the right information when they need it. Act as the gatekeeper to manage volumes and flow of communication and ensure it’s as targeted and relevant as possible.
- Be responsible for our Operational Resilience Processes, making sure our tools are fit for purpose in a crisis and the wider team are trained. Support / deputise for the Head of Internal Communications: Business during Operational Resilience situations and create effective communication plans that provide clarity and support great leadership
More about you
- Strong background in internal communications; experience working on operational communications is desirable
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Experience of leading and developing high performing teams
- Highly organised and proactive – able to juggle and prioritise a busy agenda and respond calmly and quickly to changing situations and a level of ambiguity
- Experience of large, complex and multi-location organisations, operating in rapidly changing markets
- Experience and knowledge of the retail industry
- Ability to build strong relationships within a broad range of stakeholders – including to ensure individual projects sit within a broader narrative and plan
- Excellent judgement and strong attention to detail
In return you'll get
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).
#LI-CE1