Lead Customer Experience Manager

Sainsbury's; London; On-site; GBP 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading retail company in London is seeking a passionate Lead Customer Experience Manager to drive exceptional in-store experiences. This role involves leading teams, ensuring operational excellence, and fostering a culture of accountability and customer focus. The ideal candidate will have substantial experience in managing teams in a retail or customer-facing environment. The position offers various benefits, including discounts and a bonus scheme.

Benefits

10% discount on shopping after four weeks

Annual bonus scheme

Free food and drinks for colleagues

Generous holiday entitlement

Pension matching contributions

Cycle to Work scheme

Qualifications

• Experience leading large teams in a fast-paced, customer-focused environment.
• A track record of delivering exceptional customer experiences.
• Experience managing sensitive people matters with confidence.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of managers to ensure great customer experiences.
• Manage operations and ensure high standards across the store.
• Work closely with store leadership for strategic planning.

Skills

Leadership

Customer focus

Performance management

Data interpretation

Inclusive team building

Job description

Overview

What you’ll be doing:

• Lead a team of managers to ensure every customer has a great experience in-store, from checkouts to the petrol station.
• Plan for upcoming key trading activity and events by working closely with the store leadership team.
• Regularly taking full accountability for the store in the absence of a store manager, role modelling and coaching for high standards and efficiency across the store.
• Run operations at our checkout areas (manned and self-scan), petrol stations (if applicable) and back-of-house services.
• People management is a big part of the role, managing performance and capability, conducting disciplinaries and ensuring scheduling and pay are accurate.

What makes a great Lead Customer Experience manager:

• A passionate leader who is consistently ambitious for their customers and colleagues, every day, growing their team to do the same.
• Experience of managing managers, in a fast-paced, customer-facing environment.
• An operator who is comfortable managing alone in the absence of more senior management.
• Driven to deliver high performance with a focus on efficiency and engagement.
• Confident in the use of data, understanding and interpreting KPI s or other performance indicators, and experience in improving these.
• Puts inclusivity at the heart of what they do and uses this to build an inclusive team and working environment.
• Can manage disciplinaries, performance issues or other similar employee relations issues (up to dismissal).

Essential Criteria:

• Experience leading large teams in a fast-paced, customer-focused environment — you’ve developed leaders, built high-performing teams, and created a culture of ownership and accountability.
• A track record of delivering exceptional customer experiences across complex operations, with evidence of delivering these through your team.
• Proven success in delivering and improving KPIs — from sales and stock availability to customer satisfaction and colleague engagement, you’ve driven results that matter.
• Experience managing sensitive and complex people matters, including performance, absence, and formal employee relations cases, with confidence, fairness, and sound judgment.
• Leadership experience in an operational environment — whether in retail, hospitality, or food service — where you’ve owned departmental performance and confidently led the store in the absence of senior leadership.
• Can evidence leading change — rolling out new ways of working, embedding new systems, or shifting team mindsets, and bringing people with you to make change stick.

Qualifications

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 and 15% off at Argos every payday.
• 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.

Inclusion and equal opportunity

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.

Responsibilities

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.