Lead Food Manager

Sainsbury's; Liverpool; On-site; GBP 36,000 - 48,000; Full time

Job summary

Sainsbury's is seeking a Lead Food Manager to steer a grocery shop floor within a Liverpool-area supermarket. You will lead a team of food managers, drive trading events, and maintain high standards in safety and customer service.

Your role includes stepping in for the store manager when needed and coaching colleagues to excel. You'll be responsible for ensuring efficient operations, strong team engagement, and a culture of ownership.

Qualifications

• Experience leading large teams in a fast-paced, customer-focused environment—developed leaders and built high-performing teams.
• Proven track record of delivering exceptional customer experiences across complex operations.
• Experience managing sensitive and complex people matters with fairness and sound judgement.
• Led change initiatives and embedded new ways of working and systems within teams.
• Operational leadership experience in retail, hospitality, or food service with ownership of store performance.
• Able to evidence driving KPI improvements across sales, stock, and engagement.

Responsibilities

• Lead a small team of food managers to manage the grocery shop floor in one of our supermarkets.
• Execute exciting trading events by working closely with the rest of the store leadership team.
• Take accountability for the store in the absence of a store manager and coach for high standards and efficiency.
• Manage compliance to processes and safety while delivering great shopping experiences.
• Oversee a large team ensuring presence on the shop floor and proper handling of people matters.

Skills

Team leadership

Customer focus

KPI interpretation

Change management

People management

Data-driven decisions

Job description

What you’ll be doing:

• Lead a small team of food managers to manage the grocery shop floor in one of our supermarkets
• Execute exciting trading events by working closely with the rest of the store leadership team whether it’s Christmas or Easter you’ll help ensure we win.
• 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 food hall.
• Manage compliance to processes and safety whilst bringing the passion and flare for great shop keeping and creating fantastic shopping experiences.
• You’ll be responsible for a large team of colleagues, making sure they’re performing at their best, they’re there on the shop floor when we need them and that all people matters are conducted properly whether it’s celebrating someone’s success or managing difficult situations.

What makes a great Lead Food 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 and understanding / interpreting KPI's or other performance indicators and transforming these into meaningful actions.
• Is a champion of inclusivity putting it at the heart of what they do, uses this passion to build an inclusive team and working environment.
• Comfortable in managing complex people matters such as: managing disciplinaries, performance issues or other similar employee relations issues.

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 judgement.
• 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 — whether rolling out new ways of working, embedding new systems, or shifting team mindsets, you’ve brought people with you and made change stick.