Customer and Trading Manager - Convenience

Sainsbury's; Ashford; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discount card

Annual bonus

Free food & drinks

Pension matching

Share scheme

Wellbeing support

Cycle to Work

Gym membership offers

Job summary

Sainsbury's in Ashford is seeking a Customer & Trading Manager to lead a busy store, working closely with a small team of managers to keep daily operations running smoothly. You’ll drive exceptional customer service, coaching colleagues, delivering KPIs, and managing performance and absence.

The role offers a comprehensive benefits package and opportunities to progress within our inclusive, value‑driven business. Salary will reflect experience and store size.

Qualifications

• Experience leading a team in a fast-paced, customer-facing environment.
• Proven ability to deliver KPIs across sales, availability, and customer satisfaction.
• Ability to coach colleagues and manage performance and absence.
• Experience in store operations and providing leadership in the absence of senior management.
• Strong focus on delivering excellent customer service and efficient daily operations.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with a small team of managers to ensure the store runs like clockwork daily.
• Take responsibility for the day-to-day running of the store, often as the sole manager on shift.
• Lead a team to serve customers efficiently and safely while meeting standards.
• Manage performance, discipline, scheduling, and payroll where applicable.
• Occasionally support other nearby stores as part of our network.

Skills

Line management

Customer service

KPI delivery

People coaching

Operations leadership

Job description

Leading in our stores:

Our management teams don’t just run stores - they’re the driving force behind our business. With bold leadership, a passion for service and an eye for opportunity, they empower teams to raise the bar every single day for our customers. Whether it's product availability, safety standards, or delivering seamless daily operations, they’re hands‑on, sleeves‑rolled‑up changemakers. And the impact? Work becomes more rewarding for our colleagues, and shopping becomes a next‑level experience for every customer who walks through our doors. This is how we bring our purpose to life, one powerful action at a time.

What you’ll be doing:

• Working closely with a small team of managers to make sure the store runs like clockwork every day.
• Taking responsibility for the day to running of the store, often being the only manager in with accountability for the full shop.
• Work alongside a team to complete all tasks, ensuring our customers are served efficiently and safely.
• People management is also big part of the role, managing performance and capability, conducting disciplinaries and ensuring scheduling and pay are accurate.
• Where we have close knit networks of convenience stores it may mean that you need to help another store now and then.

What makes a great customer & trading manager:

• Previous line management responsibilities in a fast‑paced, operational environment.
• Provides brilliant customer service, and coaches a team to do the same.
• Delivers KPI's or other performance indicators.
• Can manage disciplinaries, performance issues or other similar employee relations issues.
• Leads operations and comfortable doing this alone in the absence of more senior management.

Essential Criteria:

• A track record of delivering brilliant customer service and coaching colleagues to do the same.
• Experience of leading a team in a fast‑paced, customer‑facing environment — you’ve motivated others, driven performance, and kept operations running smoothly.
• Operational leadership skills — you’ve taken responsibility for store operations in the absence of more senior managers.
• Demonstrated success in meeting or exceeding KPIs — whether it’s sales, availability, customer satisfaction or colleague engagement, you’ve made a measurable impact.
• Has managed employee relations issues, including performance and absence management.

Working for us has great rewards

Salary will be dependent upon your experience as well as the store size, complexity and location. Alongside this, we also offer a great range of benefits for our managers, including:

• Discount card – 10% discount off on your shopping at Sainsbury’s, Argos, Tu and Habitat after four weeks. This increases to 15% discount off at Sainsbury’s every Friday and Saturday.
• An annual bonus scheme based on our, and your, performance.
• Free food and hot drinks provided for Colleagues in all our stores.
• Generous holiday entitlement, maternity and paternity leave.
• Pension – we’ll match 4-7.5% of your pension contributions.
• Sainsbury’s share scheme – build up an investment at discounted rates.
• Wellbeing support – access to emotional support, counselling, legal and financial advice.
• Colleague networks – link with like‑minded people to help fulfil your potential.
• Our Cycle to Work scheme gives you the opportunity to hire a new bike and cycling equipment, whilst saving on tax and NI.
• Special offers on gym memberships, restaurants, holidays, retail vouchers and more.

An inclusive place to work and shop

We are dedicated to being a truly inclusive retailer, where every colleague can achieve their full potential and every customer feels welcome when they shop with us. To support this commitment, our colleagues may be entitled to a range of enhanced discretionary leave for families, as well as support for carers. We provide our colleagues resources to help them understand and support their role and their team effectively. Our internal colleague networks seek to ensure true representation for everyone, helping us identify and remove barriers that our colleagues may face. We are proud to offer a range of development opportunities, including mentorship, training, and career progression pathways, to help our colleagues grow and succeed. We also celebrate diversity through various initiatives and events, fostering a culture of inclusion and respect. If you would like to learn more about our commitment to inclusivity, please take a look here.

Should you require any reasonable adjustments during the application or interview stages, please let us know, and we will endeavour to support you.