Overview
The Refrigeration Manager is responsible for shaping and delivering Asda's refrigeration strategy, ensuring all new sites, upgrades and models support long-term efficiency, sustainability, and operational excellence. The role provides input into site selection and store design, leads system specification and oversees project implementation. They will also oversee the performance, compliance, and lifecycle management of the refrigeration estate, working closely with property, construction, operations, sustainability, and external partners to ensure that all refrigeration solutions are safe, cost-effective, energy-efficient, and aligned with the business's strategic growth plans.
Key Responsibilities
* Refrigeration Strategy Development: Lead the creation and continuous refinement of the long‑term refrigeration strategy, ensuring alignment with future f‑gas regulations, cost‑efficiency targets, operational performance, and energy‑reduction initiatives.
* Estate Planning & Site Selection: Provide specialist expertise during site selection, acquisitions, refits, and new store planning to ensure refrigeration feasibility, optimal layouts, and long‑term operational cost benefits.
* Refrigeration System Design Leadership: Work closely with external consultants to define standards for system architecture (e.g., CO₂ systems, natural refrigerants, heat recovery) and ensure designs meet efficiency, compliance, and business requirements.
* Capital Investment Planning: Develop robust business cases for refrigeration investments, support annual budgeting and long‑range financial planning, and assist in securing funding through executive approval.
* Project Delivery & Implementation Oversight: Oversee end‑to‑end delivery of refrigeration projects—from scoping and tendering to installation and commissioning—ensuring they meet technical specifications, quality standards, timelines, and budgets.
* Compliance & Regulatory Assurance: Ensure all refrigeration assets, installations, and operations adhere to F‑gas regulations, environmental standards, safety legislation, and industry best practice.
* Contractor & Supplier Management & Procurement: Work with Asda procurement team to select, evaluate, and govern refrigeration contractors/consultants, managing day‑to‑day relationships, driving performance, negotiating strategic agreements, and fostering continuous improvement across the supply chain.
* Asset Performance & Optimisation: Monitor estate‑wide refrigeration performance data, identify efficiency improvements, reliability risks, and proactive upgrade opportunities, and lead optimisation initiatives to reduce downtime, energy consumption, and maintenance costs.
* Cross‑Functional Collaboration: Act as the refrigeration subject‑matter expert across property, store operations, maintenance, energy, and sustainability teams, influencing decision‑making and embedding refrigeration considerations throughout key business processes.
* Innovation & Future‑proofing: Drive the evaluation and adoption of emerging refrigeration technologies, digital monitoring solutions, and sustainability innovations (e.g., natural refrigerants, energy recovery, predictive maintenance) to maintain competitive advantage.
Qualifications
* UK recognised qualifications in Refrigeration & Air Condition systems.
* Experience of planning refrigeration system projects in a retail environment.
* Project Management.
* Cost & Budget Management.
* Compliance & Legislation.
* Forecasting.
* Managing Contractor, Consultants & Suppliers.
* Stakeholder Engagement across all teams including internal and external stakeholders.
* Strategic Thinking and Planning.
* MCIOB – Member of the chartered institute of building (Desirable).
* Prince 2 or equivalent Project Management certificate (Desirable).
Working Conditions
To ensure we balance moments where we need to collaborate together and the need for flexibility, Asda has a hybrid way of working with a minimum 3 days a week in one of our Home Offices. Over and above this, each area of Asda may have additional requirements which may require spending more days in the office, visiting suppliers, stores or depots.
Benefits
* Discretionary company bonus.
* Company pension up to 7% matched.
* Company Car allowance of £5,700.
* 15% colleague discount in store and online.
* Free access to wellbeing services such as Stream, 24/7 virtual GP, counselling, health and dental cash plans and a 24/7 employee assistance helpline, alongside discounts across a range of services and activities, from airport parking, enhanced to theme parks and cinemas.
* Asda Allies Inclusion Networks – helping colleagues to make sure everybody is included and that our differences are recognised and celebrated.
* Excellent parental leave policies, including maternity & adoption leave, paternity leave, shared parental leave, neonatal care leave, and support for those doing fertility treatments.
Inclusion Statement
We want all colleagues to be able to bring their best and true selves to work, every day. Simply put, we want our colleagues to be proud to be Asda and proud to be themselves.
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