Lead Online Manager

Sainsbury's; Wellingborough; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discount card

Annual bonus

Free food and hot drinks

Generous holiday entitlement

Pension – employer contributions

Share scheme

Wellbeing support

Cycle to Work

Gym discounts

Job summary

Sainsbury's in the United Kingdom seeks a Lead Online Manager to run the online delivery operation, ensuring every delivery goes out on time. You will lead a small team of managers, review performance data, and drive KPI improvements while planning for key trading events.

The role demands a bold, data‑driven leader who can coach staff, own overnight shifts, and manage performance, absence and employee relations, fostering an inclusive, high‑engagement team.

Qualifications

• Experience leading large teams in a fast-paced, customer‑facing environment.
• Proven track record delivering customer experiences and KPI improvements.
• Experience managing performance, absence, and employee relations with fairness.
• Leadership in an operational retail or service setting with accountability.
• Ability to drive change and embed new ways of working.

Responsibilities

• Direct a small team of managers to deliver the online delivery operation with on-time deliveries.
• Review data and ensure compliance to processes and procedures.
• Plan for upcoming trading activities with store leadership.
• Own overnight store responsibilities and coach for high standards and efficiency.
• Manage pay, scheduling, training, communication and employee relations activities.

Skills

Lead teams

Manage managers

Data-minded

KPI improvement

People management

Employee relations

Job description

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.

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.

What you’ll be doing:

• Direct a small team of managers to deliver the online delivery operation of the supermarket taking accountability for every delivery going out on time, every time, so our customers get exactly what they need, when they expect it
• The department is fast paced with lots of KPIs, you’ll spend time reviewing data and ensuring compliance to processes and procedures
• Planning for upcoming key trading activities and events by working closely with the rest of the store leadership team.
• Regularly taking full accountability for the store overnight, role modelling and coaching for high standards and efficiency across the store.
• People management, including pay and scheduling routines, training, communication and employee relation activities such as managing performance, absence, and completing disciplinaries.

Our online teams work early mornings with picking items for deliveries usually taking place from 04:00 – 08:00.

What makes a great Lead Online 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 performance focussed 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 has experience of 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 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.

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.
• 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.

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 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.