Food Manager

Sainsbury’s Group; Botany Bay; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 56,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discount card

Annual bonus

Free food and hot drinks

Pension

Share scheme

Cycle to Work

Special offers on gym memberships

Job summary

Sainsbury's Group is seeking an experienced food store manager to lead a busy food hall. You will coach teams, model high standards, and ensure smooth operations while maintaining safety, stock availability, and customer service.

You will drive KPI performance, manage disciplinaries when needed, and take on overall store leadership in the absence of senior management. The role rewards hands-on leadership and a passion for great shopping experiences.

Qualifications

• Previous line management in a fast-paced retail environment.
• Brilliant customer service and coaching skills.
• Delivers KPIs and performance indicators.
• Experience managing disciplinaries and employee relations issues.
• Leads operations and can run the store in the absence of senior management.

Responsibilities

• Role modelling and coaching for high standards and efficiency across the whole food hall.
• Managing compliance to processes while bringing passion for great shop keeping and customer service.
• Ensure every customer gets the food they want when they shop with us to help ensure we are the first choice for food.
• People management including performance, attendance, and payroll.
• Occasionally take overall responsibility for running the store and directing colleagues to deliver for the customer.

Skills

People management

Customer service

KPI delivery

Coaching

Disciplinaries

Job description

• Role modelling and coaching for high standards and efficiency across the whole food hall.
• Managing compliance to processes whilst bringing the passion and flare for great shop keeping and customer service.
• Ensure every single one of our customers gets the food they want when they shop with us to help ensure we are the first choice for food.
• People management is a big part of the role, managing performance and capability, conducting disciplinaries and ensuring scheduling and pay are accurate.
• At times you will assume overall responsibility for running the store, making sure that all colleagues are given direction and support to deliver for the customer.

What makes a great food 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.

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.

• A track record of delivering exceptional customer experiences, with evidence of coaching others to consistently raise the bar.
• Experience leading teams in a dynamic, customer-facing environment - you've inspired others, driven high performance, and created a culture where colleagues thrive.
• Leadership experience in a high-volume, fast-paced operational setting - whether in retail, food service, or hospitality - where you've overseen daily operations, solved business problems, and kept teams focused on what matters most: delivering for customers.
• Proven success in delivering against a wide range of KPIs - from sales and stock availability to customer satisfaction and colleague engagement, you've made a measurable difference.
• Experience managing complex people matters, including performance, absence, and formal employee relations cases, with confidence and fairness.

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

About Us:

Sainsbury's company vision Our vision is to be the most trusted retailer, where people love to work and shop. That means harnessing the talent, creativity and diversity of our colleagues to ensure that customers receive great service every time they shop with us. If you would like to hear more about our vision and values, be sure to visit our corporate page. We invest in training, development and multiple initiatives to ensure our teams feel enabled to offer the best shopping experience to our customers and that Sainsbury's is truly a 'Great Place to Work'.

About the Team:

We're in the business of looking after our biggest asset. Our people. That means making it our business to properly take care of the potential and wellbeing of our truly outstanding teams. Join us in HR, and we'll make it yours too. They bring the spark, the funny, the graft, the grit. And they're literally the most important asset we have. So it's in our interests to give the people at Sainsbury's everything they need to feel valued, engaged and motivated, and truly able to shine. That's where our HR colleagues have a pivotal role to play. From our 'centre of excellence' teams in Reward and Recruitment, through to our core teams in Change and Talent, they're creating environments that allow our colleagues to thrive and we're proud of their incredible ability to understand Sainsbury's inside out.

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.