Operations Support Lead - Standards & Ways of Working

Co-op; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus

28 days holiday + bank holidays

Pension with employer contributions

Subsidised onsite gym (Manchester HQ)

Discounts on Co-op products

Job summary

Co-op is reshaping its Digital Technology & Data (DT&D) function and seeks an Operations Support Lead to drive standards and ways of working. You will coordinate improvement initiatives, run workshops, and translate insights into practical actions that help teams collaborate more effectively.

You’ll work with leaders and delivery teams to shape scalable, repeatable approaches, deliver value, and enable a culture of continuous improvement across DT&D in Manchester.

Qualifications

• Experience in an operational, delivery, improvement or enablement role within a technology, project or product delivery environment.
• Strong organisational and coordination skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Experience working with data, reporting or dashboards to generate insights and support decision-making.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills with the confidence to work with colleagues at all levels.
• A passion for continuous improvement and translating ideas into practical actions.
• Experience supporting workshops, learning activities or collaborative sessions.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate and support ways of working, standards and continuous improvement initiatives across DT&D.
• Organise workshops, reviews, learning sessions and community events, ensuring activities run smoothly and deliver value.
• Support the facilitation of sessions, capturing outcomes and translating them into clear actions.
• Use delivery health data, dashboards and other insights to identify trends and opportunities for improvement.
• Create and maintain guidance, tools, templates and assets that help teams adopt consistent ways of working.
• Communicate key outcomes, improvements and learning to leaders and teams across the function.
• Support the development of repeatable approaches that can be scaled across multiple teams and value streams.
• Contribute to ongoing improvement of standards, practices and enablement activities across DT&D.

Skills

Operational delivery

Stakeholder management

Data and dashboards

Project coordination

Continuous improvement

Workshop facilitation

Job description

Operations Support Lead - Standards & Ways of Working
£40,000 to £50,000 plus great benefits (Work Level 6A)
Manchester city centre - in this role you'll work in a hybrid way splitting your time between home and the office as required for team days, meetings, and events (find out more about our hybrid working policy at https://jobs.coop.co.uk/hybrid-working-policy) .

We're open to applications from people who may require flexible working arrangements. There'll be an opportunity to discuss your flexible working requirements during the interview process, and at offer stage.

We're reshaping our Digital, Technology and Data function for the future, creating new opportunities, strengthening our capability, and building clearer, more resilient ways of working so we can deliver even better services for our Co-op, our colleagues, members and customers.

We're looking for an Operations Support Lead - Standards & Ways of Working to join our Digital Technology & Data (DT&D) team and help teams work better together. Working closely with leaders, delivery teams and colleagues, you'll support improvement initiatives across DT&D, turning feedback, insight and learning into practical actions that improve ways of working and create lasting change across the organisation.

Why this role matters

This role gives you the opportunity to help shape the way DT&D collaborates, learns and continuously improves. You'll work across a wide range of teams and stakeholders, helping turn good intentions into meaningful outcomes and creating practical approaches that make a lasting difference. If you're passionate about improvement, enjoy working with people and can turn insight into action, you'll have the chance to influence positive change across a large and complex technology function.

What you'll do

• Coordinate and support ways of working, standards and continuous improvement initiatives across DT&D
• Organise workshops, reviews, learning sessions and community events, ensuring activities run smoothly and deliver value
• Support the facilitation of sessions, capturing outcomes and helping translate them into clear actions
• Use delivery health data, dashboards and other insights to identify trends, opportunities and areas for improvement
• Create and maintain guidance, tools, templates and assets that help teams adopt consistent ways of working
• Help communicate key outcomes, improvements and learning to leaders and teams across the function
• Support the development of repeatable approaches that can be scaled across multiple teams and value streams
• Contribute to the ongoing improvement of standards, practices and enablement activities across DT&D

What you'll bring

We're committed to making our roles as accessible as possible, so we only ask for the minimum criteria. To thrive here, you'll need to bring:

• Experience in an operational, delivery, improvement or enablement role within a technology, project or product delivery environment
• Strong organisational and coordination skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and activities simultaneously
• Experience working with data, reporting or dashboards to generate insights and support decision-making
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to work with colleagues at all levels
• A passion for continuous improvement and an ability to translate ideas into practical, sustainable actions
• Experience supporting workshops, learning activities or collaborative sessions

Why Co-op?

At Co-op, we're owned by our members. And because we're owned by you, we can do right by you. So when you join us, you're not just taking a job, you're joining a movement. We're an organisation that puts people and communities first, and we're powered by purpose. We want this to be a place where you can thrive, so you'll also receive:

• An annual bonus (based on personal and business performance)
• 28 days holiday (rising to 32 with service) plus bank holidays
• A pension with up to 10% employer contributions
• Access to a subsidised onsite gym (at our Manchester HQ)
• 30% discount on Co-op products and 10% off other brands
• Stream - early access to a percentage of your pay as you earn it
• Virtual healthcare including GP appointments, mental health support, nutrition and fitness advice
• 24/7 colleague support service
• Training and support for your development and career progression
• Cycle-to-work scheme

A place you'll belong

We're building diverse and inclusive teams that reflect the communities we serve. We welcome applications from everyone and are committed to creating a workplace where colleagues can feel like they belong, supported by our inclusive policies and the ways we work.

We're proud to be part of the Disability Confident scheme and offer interviews to disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria for a job. If you need any adjustments during the recruitment process, we'll support you.

Learn more about our recruitment process at jobs.coop.co.uk/apply-process and our inclusion commitments at jobs.coop.co.uk/diversity-inclusion.