ABOUT THE ROLE
The Partnership’s People function remains critical to unlocking the success of our Partnership Plan, powering our collective commercial success, developing our leadership and people manager capability, enhancing Partner (Employee) experience and delivering on the commitments of our Partnership model, today and in the years ahead.
Organisation & People Change are a centre of expertise within the People Operations area of the People function. The team lead the design & delivery of all prioritised organisational change that impacts Partners (Employees) and play a critical role for the Partnership in shaping organisational structures, roles and processes which enhance effectiveness and improve overall business and commercial performance.
The types of work undertaken by the team include redesign & restructuring the organisation, unit/branch openings and closures, leading redundancy process end to end, and leading any transfers in or out of the Partnership (TUPE). This requires the team to be accountable for leading the successful end to end organisation design and delivery, and for assuring all People change is applied within Partnership policies and employment law.
In this role, you will lead the strategy and vision for how the Partnership approaches Organisation Design & People Change. You will develop and maintain the Partnership’s approach, framework, tools and templates in support of Partner (Employee) impacting change, organisational design, TUPE in/out and delivery, using stakeholder feedback and external insight to monitor effectiveness and ensure continuous improvement.
You will support the capability building of the Organisation & People Change team and Business Leads in relation to organisation design approaches, helping ensure the team and Leaders are equipped and confident to deliver organisational change to the Partnership. When required, you will provide subject matter expertise on our TUPE approach, supporting stakeholders in building their knowledge and applying best practices effectively.
You will be accountable for developing and maintaining our knowledge resources, promoting their use and working collaboratively with the People Change Operations Lead and People Change Operations Manager to ensure a joined up approach.
Salary - £55,500 - £86,700.
Contract type - This is a permanent position
Working pattern/flexible working - The Partnership has adopted a hybrid working approach, meaning you'll be able to work between a base location of London or Bracknell and home. The frequency required to work in the office will vary and is based on business requirements. Your base location will be agreed at the interview.
Key Responsibilities
As the role holder you will play a pivotal role in driving the continuous improvement of People change processes. This will be achieved through rigorous and effective evaluation, thereby ensuring the Organisation & People Change team consistently applies a robust and cohesive methodology to organisation design and change implementation.
You’ll be responsible for establishing the service delivery standards for Organisation and People change approaches relating to Partner (Employee) impacting change projects. This includes, but is not limited to, Redundancy and redeployment, and TUPE in and out, with a mandate to ensure all processes adhere to legal and policy stipulations.
A key requirement will be to ensure the robustness of all methodologies and principles, necessitating close collaboration with the Employee Relations team to assure compliance with legal and policy requirements, and providing support to the governance forums and Partnership Democracy.
You will bring in external best practices, while engaging and influencing stakeholders across the Partnership and People team, to promote the team’s professional practice and uphold the expected high standards. You will ensure an up to date understanding of the Partnerships strategy and People Plans, developing organisational change approaches which underpin and support our change ambition.
Essential skills/experience you’ll need
* Comprehensive experience of organisation design, ideally in a complex and matrixed organisation
* Proven experience of designing and delivering organisational change
* Expertise and experience of TUPE in/out, including relevant legislation
* Demonstrable knowledge of organisation design methodology and best practice
* Experience of leading Continuous Improvement initiatives across a large number of processes
* Understanding of HR lifecycle and Employment policy and law
Desirable skills/experience you may have
* CIPD qualification (Level 7 or equivalent) is desirable.
* Evidence of continued professional development in organisational design and development practices.
Closing Date:
December 4, 2025
Pay:
£55,500.00 - £86,700.00 Annual
Contract Type:
Permanent
Hours of Work:
35
Job Level:
Partnership Level 6
Where You'll Be Working:
London Central Office, 1 Drummond Gate, London,, SW1V 2QQ
ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP
We’re the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We’re not just employees, we’re Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world. As we look to our future, there’s never been a more exciting time to join us.
We’re ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose.
As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect.
We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong. Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we’re free to be ourselves and can THRIVE. Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective.
As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it.
Important points to note:
It’s important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you’ll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles.
We also recommend that you apply as soon as possible as vacancies can close early if we see a high number of applicants.
We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.