Event Planning Manager

Sainsbury's; Coventry; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discounts on shopping

Pension scheme

Life cover

Bonuses up to 20%

Private healthcare

Cycle to work

Employee Assistance Programme

Paid maternity/adoption leave

Additional holidays

Job summary

Argos is recruiting an Event Planning Manager for a 12-month FTC to own the planning and delivery of major trading events from strategy to execution.

You will align Commercial, Digital, Marketing, Retail, Supply Chain and Finance to land plans across channels, lead performance reviews and drive commercial growth with data-driven insights.

Qualifications

• Strong experience operating at a senior commercial, digital, planning or business level.
• Proven experience leading complex cross-functional programmes, projects or events.
• Strong strategic thinking capability with the ability to translate vision into actionable plans.
• Excellent commercial and financial acumen.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to turn insight into action.
• Ability to work at pace, manage ambiguity and respond quickly to changing priorities.
• Experience influencing and engaging senior stakeholders across large organisations.
• Strong project management and organisational skills.
• Excellent communication, presentation and facilitation skills.
• Ability to identify risks, solve problems and drive action through others.
• A proactive mindset and passion for continuous improvement.
• Experience working across multiple functions, bringing teams together to deliver shared business outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end planning and delivery of Argos' biggest trading events, owning from strategic planning and critical paths through to execution, reviews and lessons learned.
• Shape the events programme to raise the bar, create standout customer moments and drive commercial growth.
• Bring together stakeholders from Commercial, Digital, Marketing, Retail, Supply Chain and Finance to align behind a single event narrative.
• Take ownership of Trade Response and the Business Priority List to focus on priorities and respond to opportunities.
• Lead competitor analysis, translate insights into actions affecting short-term and long-term planning.
• Use performance and market insight to evolve plans so every event delivers strong outcomes.

Skills

Senior leadership

Cross-functional leadership

Budgeting

Stakeholder management

Project management

Data-driven

Strategic thinking

Communication

Job description

At Argos, we’re a digital-led UK retailer that keeps pushing boundaries to meet every generation with what they want, how and when they want it. As a market leader in general merchandise, serving millions of customers through our website, app, same-day delivery and Click & Collect services, we offer real opportunities to learn, grow and shape your career. With roles spanning Commercial, Buying, Merchandising, Design and Supply Chain, through to Digital, Operations, Customer Experience, Marketing, and People and Transformation , you will work with brilliant colleagues and directly shape how we serve our customers every day. From enabling inspiring choice across our owned brands, including Habitat, Chad Valley and Bush, alongside the world’s biggest brands like Apple, Lego, Xbox and Samsung, to making shopping effortlessly convenient, championing trusted value and accelerating our strategy - Argos is an exciting place to build your future.

The biggest moments in the Argos calendar don't just happen, they require strategic thinking, exceptional planning and brilliant cross-functional delivery to bring them to life.

We're looking for an Event Planning Manager to join our Trade Planning team on a 12-month FTC. Sitting at the heart of the Argos business within the Trade Planning Team, you'll take ownership of some of our most important trading events, shaping the strategy behind them and leading their delivery from concept through to execution. From major seasonal campaigns and category events, to Black Friday and our biggest Sale moments, you'll play a critical role in ensuring we show up brilliantly for our customers while delivering commercial results.

This is a high-profile role with exposure across the entire business, working with senior stakeholders from Ops Board level through to operational teams. It's an exciting opportunity for an established leader looking to make a genuine impact on how Argos plans, responds and trades.

What You'll Do

Lead the end-to-end planning and delivery of some of Argos biggest trading events, owning everything from strategic planning and critical paths through to execution, performance reviews and lessons learned.

Shape the future of our events programme, thinking creatively about how we continue to raise the bar, create standout customer moments and drive commercial growth. You'll challenge the status quo, identify new opportunities and help define what next-level eventing looks like for Argos.

Bring together stakeholders from across Commercial, Digital, Marketing, Retail, Supply Chain, and Finance, creating alignment behind a single event narrative and ensuring plans land seamlessly across every channel.

Take ownership of Trade Response and the Business Priority List, ensuring the business remains focused on the right priorities and can respond quickly to opportunities, competitor activity and changing customer behaviours.

Lead our competitor analysis activity, reviewing the market, identifying key themes, risks and opportunities, and translating insight into meaningful actions that influence both short-term trade response and long-term planning.

Use performance, customer, market and competitor insight to continually evolve our plans, ensuring every event delivers strong outcomes for customers and the business.

Who You Are

An experienced commercial leader who thrives in a fast-paced environment and enjoys bringing complex plans together through collaboration, influence and strategic thinking.

You're able to think broadly and strategically about the role events can play in accelerating business performance, while remaining equally comfortable driving operational excellence and managing delivery through to completion.

Highly organised and agile, you're able to manage multiple priorities, make decisions at pace and navigate ambiguity with confidence. You understand how to balance customer outcomes, commercial performance and operational considerations to achieve the best result.

A naturally curious problem-solver, you're comfortable using data, insight and financial performance to identify risks, spot opportunities and influence decision‑making.

Most importantly, you're an exceptional stakeholder manager who can quickly build credibility with a wide range of audiences, bringing people together behind a common goal and driving action across the business.

Essential Criteria

• Strong experience operating at a senior commercial, digital, planning or business level
• Proven experience leading complex cross‑functional programmes, projects or events
• Strong strategic thinking capability with the ability to translate vision into actionable plans
• Excellent commercial and financial acumen
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to turn insight into action
• Ability to work at pace, manage ambiguity and respond quickly to changing priorities
• Experience influencing and engaging senior stakeholders across large organisations
• Strong project management and organisational skills
• Excellent communication, presentation and facilitation skills
• Ability to identify risks, solve problems and drive action through others
• A proactive mindset and passion for continuous improvement
• Experience working across multiple functions, bringing teams together to deliver shared business outcomes

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 save 10% on your shopping online and instore at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat, and we regularly increase the discount to 15% at points during the year. 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 20% of salary, depending on how we perform. Your wellbeing is important to us too. You'll receive an annual holiday allowance, and you can buy up to an additional week's holiday, and we provide private healthcare. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, interest free car loan of up to £10k, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, salary 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. And if you ever need it there is also an Employee Assistance Programme. 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 www.sainsburys.jobs for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).