Delivery & Operations Lead

John Lewis Partnership; London; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company is seeking a Delivery and Operations Lead to enhance customer value through effective management of technical services and stakeholder relationships. This permanent role offers hybrid working and significant opportunities for personal and professional development.

Qualifications

• Proven track record in Agile Portfolio Delivery and continuous improvement.
• Ability to thrive in a challenging, dynamic environment.

Responsibilities

• Set clear intent and direction to achieve outcomes aligned with business strategy.
• Optimize delivery costs by effectively utilizing Partners and third parties.
• Inspire and motivate teams focused on creating value for the Partnership.

Skills

Agile Portfolio Delivery

Stakeholder management

Financial management

Communication

People management

Job description

Apply on JLP Jobs - the official careers website for John Lewis Partnership, John Lewis & Partners, and Waitrose & Partners.

About the role

As a Delivery and Operations Lead in our business, your primary focus is to work collaboratively to create more value for our customers through an unrelenting drive to deliver value in support of our Business objectives. You will act as an immediate escalation point to unblock issues and impediments. This role will assure, execute, and maintain technical services within a specific functional domain (e.g., Supply Chain). Managing significant budgets, you will maintain a strategic view of technical services, projects, and outcomes, while working and managing dependencies within and across domains. You will also focus on developing and maintaining stakeholder relationships, demonstrating effective influencing skills. This role offers opportunities for personal and professional development to help you achieve your potential.

Contract type: This role is a permanent contract.

Working pattern/flexible working: The Partnership has adopted a hybrid working approach, allowing a mixture of office and home-based work based on personal needs and business requirements.

Location: The home location will be London or Bracknell, to be agreed with the line manager. The role requires working in London, Bracknell, and other locations as needed.

Salary: The expected salary for this role is up to £75,000.

Key responsibilities

• Set clear intent, direction, and guardrails to achieve outcomes aligned with the Partnership and business area strategy.
• Embrace Agile working principles by demonstrating a flexible approach, joining missions as needed, and supporting colleagues to ensure success.
• Own ways of working in capabilities and encourage safe experimentation in build and run.
• Mitigate business risk while protecting throughput and value.
• Optimize delivery costs by effectively utilizing Partners and third parties, removing waste in processes.
• Ensure operability delivery within your area.
• Ensure all teams/services have clear OKRs.
• Inspire and motivate teams focused on creating value for the Partnership, working closely with other Delivery & Operations Leads.
• Empower and support teams to make decisions and resolve challenges in line with strategy.
• Invest in personal and team development.
• Manage Partners in line with JL&P principles with clear OKRs and performance management.
• Share ownership responsibilities actively and support Partners and colleagues to voice their opinions.

Essential skills/experience

• Proven track record in Agile Portfolio Delivery, Operational support, and continuous improvement.
• Ability to thrive in a challenging, dynamic environment and manage ambiguity.
• Ability to build strong delivery teams.
• Stakeholder management skills.
• Financial management experience, including budgeting and cost control.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, both written and verbal.
• People and task management skills.
• Familiarity with agile ways of working and DevOps culture.
• Experience managing budgets and delivering complex projects.
• Strong coaching skills and understanding of Lean principles.
• Effective planning and outcome-focused approach.
• People management experience, including in a matrix environment.
• Understanding of Product Management processes and principles.
• Strong stakeholder and third-party management skills.
• Ability to cope with ambiguity and meet delivery timelines.
• High level of personal accountability.

Desirable skills/experience

• Experience in Supply Chain or Retail sectors.
• Knowledge of Warehousing or Ordering solutions.

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The partnership

We’re the UK's largest employee-owned business, home to John Lewis and Waitrose. We’re driven by our purpose to build a happier world, continuously innovating, diversifying, and serving our customers with excellence. As Partners, we share ownership and responsibility, contributing to our collective success while embracing our differences and fostering an environment where everyone can thrive. We all make a difference and own it.

Important points to note:

Some roles may require pre-employment vetting, including DBS checks and financial probity assessments. Applicants are encouraged to complete these promptly to avoid delays. We support flexible working arrangements, which can include flexible hours, job sharing, or shorter contracts; discuss options with the hiring manager during your interview.