Food Manager

Sainsbury's; Livingston; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading UK retail company is seeking a Food Manager in Livingston, Scotland. The role involves managing the food hall, ensuring exceptional customer service, and coaching team members. Ideal candidates should have prior leadership experience in fast-paced environments and a proven track record of meeting performance targets. Responsibilities include overseeing daily operations and managing team performance. This position offers an opportunity to lead in a dynamic retail setting.

Qualifications

• Proven track record of exceptional customer experiences and team coaching.
• Leadership experience in a fast-paced operational environment.
• Experience managing people matters professionally and fairly.

Responsibilities

• Manage food hall operations while ensuring high customer standards.
• Coach team members to enhance service quality.
• Lead in the absence of senior management, ensuring store success.

Skills

Customer Service Excellence

Team Leadership

Performance Management

Job description

What you’ll be doing:

• 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.

Essential Criteria:

• 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.