This is a 12 month FTC
Why join us
Joining our team at Sainsbury's as the Head of Leadership Development gives you the opportunity to make a significant impact on the capability and future success of our leaders across our Store Support Centre (SSC) operations, which covers corporate, commercial and tech. Accountable for building the capability of leaders across our SSC operations, you will ensure we have the right capabilities to deliver our strategy now and in the future. In this role, you will have the autonomy to redefine our leadership development offerings, collaborate with diverse teams, and shape the learning solutions that bring our valued behaviours to life.
What you'll do
You will have the important responsibility of building the capability of leaders across the organisation, ensuring they have the necessary skills to deliver our strategy both now and in the future. This entails developing a deep understanding of the current and future capability requirements, collaborating closely with the Director of People and their team to design and deliver appropriate leadership development solutions. You will review and refine our leadership development offerings, ensuring they align with the business strategy and deliver a return on investment.
Additionally, you will oversee the delivery of various leadership development programmes, such as Leading @ Sainsbury's and the Leadership Acceleration Programme, ensuring they contribute to the progression of underrepresented groups and critical capability areas within the business. You will also actively manage external providers, benchmark industry practices, and explore innovative learning approaches to continuously improve our leadership development initiatives. Overall, your role will be instrumental in shaping the leadership capabilities of leaders in our SSC and driving positive organisational outcomes. With a focus on continuous improvement and innovation, you will work alongside experienced professionals, leverage your specialist expertise, and contribute to our mission of delivering sustainable and impactful learning outcomes.
Who you are
You will bring with you deep expertise in leadership development. With a hands-on approach to designing, implementing, and evaluating learning strategies, you know how to successfully build the capability of leaders and support the organisation's strategic objectives. Strong project management skills and practical experience in delivering capability development interventions, means you are able to ensure that our leadership development offerings are effective, aligned with business priorities, and you can deliver a return on investment. Your strategic mindset, coupled with your ability to navigate ambiguity and rapid change, allows you to think long-term, identify opportunities for improvement, and drive continuous learning outcomes. With excellent relationship management and influencing skills, you effectively collaborate with stakeholders at all levels to champion strategic change and enhance leadership development initiatives. Your passion for innovation, curiosity, and commitment to personal development make you a valuable asset as you shape the future of leadership at Sainsbury's.
What you need to know and show
Essential
1. Deep specialist expertise in leadership development.
2. Experience of, and desire to be hands-on in designing, implementing and evaluating learning strategies in leadership development.
3. Ability to work at a strategic level is key, combined with a pragmatic approach based in your own personal experience of management.
4. A high level of knowledge of leadership and management principles, both current and future.
5. Comfortable working in an environment of rapid change and ambiguity; an advocate for change.
6. Excellent relationship and stakeholder management skills at all levels, with ability to influence senior stakeholders and gain commitment to strategic change/ new ways of working.
Desirable
7. As well as own direct contribution, be adept at leading others’ contribution and managing third party support as necessary
8. Practical experience of designing, delivering and evaluating a skills development framework
9. Strong understanding of theoretical knowledge around learning principles such as 70:20:10 and inter-personal skills such as EI & coaching
10. Ability to think long-term and act proactively to deliver long-term, sustainable learning outcomes and identify opportunities for continuous improvement
11. Strong understanding of the macro environment that defines our decisions – this includes the HR/L&D landscape, the retail environment and the macro economic climate
12. Commercially astute
13. Being proactive and curious, always challenging to make improvements.
14. Considered, balanced decision-making
15. Demonstrates accountability for their own development
16. Excellent verbal, presentation and written communication skills
#PeopleTeamHiring
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.
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 for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).