Retail Optimisation & Change Manager

Pets at Home; Cheadle; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Pets at Home is seeking a Retail Optimisation & Change Manager to lead operational excellence, drive productivity, and embed change across our retail estate. You will oversee teams spanning Operational Excellence, Digital Operations and Workforce Management, partnering with Retail, Commercial, Supply Chain, Finance, People, Digital and IT to identify opportunities and deliver impactful improvements.

The role combines strategic planning with hands-on delivery, focusing on simplifying processes

Qualifications

• Significant experience in Operational Excellence, Continuous Improvement, Retail Operations, Workforce Management, Change or Digital Operations.
• Proven track record delivering productivity and efficiency improvements.
• Strong working knowledge of Lean, process improvement and change management.
• Experience leading teams and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Commercial awareness and data-driven decision making.
• Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on delivery.

Responsibilities

• Leading and developing a team of Operational Excellence, Digital Operations and Workforce Management specialists.
• Driving continuous improvement initiatives that deliver measurable productivity and efficiency benefits.
• Simplifying colleague and customer processes to remove complexity and improve execution.
• Leading workforce planning strategies that align labour investment with customer demand and operational priorities.
• Working closely with cross-functional teams to deliver and embed operational change.
• Using data, insight and frontline feedback to prioritise opportunities and guide decision-making.
• Providing governance, reporting and stakeholder leadership to ensure successful delivery of key initiatives.

Skills

Leadership

Change management

Lean methodologies

Data-driven decision making

Stakeholder management

Strategic thinking

Education

Lean Six Sigma Green Belt / Black Belt

Prosci or ADKAR certification

Tools

Workforce management software

Job description

Full-time

Ref: 41419

Hours: Full-time

Contracted Hours: 39

Contract Type: Permanent

Location: Chester House, Epsom Ave, Handforth, Cheadle, Greater Manchester, SK9 3RN

Retail Optimisation & Change Manager

Support Office / Hybrid

At Pets, we're on a journey to make life easier for our colleagues so they can focus on what matters most: delivering brilliant care for pets and exceptional experiences for pet parents. We're looking for a Retail Optimisation & Change Manager to lead the way in driving operational excellence, simplifying processes, improving productivity, and embedding meaningful change across our retail estate. This role will lead operational excellence, workforce productivity, digital operations and continuous improvement initiatives across Retail.

About The Role

This is a highly influential leadership role within Retail Operations, reporting to the Head of Central Operations. You'll lead a talented team spanning Operational Excellence, Digital Operations and Workforce Management, helping shape how our stores operate today and in the future.

You'll partner with stakeholders across Retail, Commercial, Supply Chain, Finance, People, Digital and IT functions to identify opportunities, solve complex operational challenges and ensure change lands successfully in our Pet Care Centres.

What You'll Be Doing

• Leading and developing a team of Operational Excellence, Digital Operations and Workforce Management specialists.
• Driving continuous improvement initiatives that deliver measurable productivity and efficiency benefits.
• Simplifying colleague and customer processes to remove complexity and improve execution.
• Leading workforce planning strategies that align labour investment with customer demand and operational priorities.
• Working closely with cross-functional teams to deliver and embed operational change.
• Using data, insight and frontline feedback to prioritise opportunities and guide decision-making.
• Providing governance, reporting and stakeholder leadership to ensure successful delivery of key initiatives.

About You

We're looking for a strategic thinker and inspirational leader who can turn complexity into simple, practical solutions.

You'll Bring

• Significant experience in Operational Excellence, Continuous Improvement, Retail Operations, Workforce Management, Change or Digital Operations.
• A proven track record of delivering productivity, efficiency and business improvement initiatives.
• Strong working knowledge of Lean methodologies, process improvement and change management.
• Experience leading teams and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Commercial awareness and confidence using data to support decision-making.
• The ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on delivery.

It would be great if you also have

• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Black Belt or equivalent experience.
• Change management qualifications such as Prosci or ADKAR.
• Experience in a multi-site retail environment.
• Experience with workforce management technology, automation or operational dashboards.

Why Pets?

At Pets, we're creating a workplace where everyone can be themselves, grow their careers and make a genuine difference. You'll have the opportunity to influence how thousands of colleagues work, helping us continually improve the experience for our customers, pets and teams.

Pets just see people. They aren't biased and they don't discriminate. We take our inspiration from pets, and we value and respect difference in all its forms. Our aim is to reflect the diversity of the communities we operate in, and every colleague can help us achieve this. We encourage our people to be themselves so even if your skills and experience don't perfectly align, if you think you can make a unique contribution through your values and behaviours, we want to hear from you!

Organisation: Pets at Home

Date Posted: 09-10-2026

Expiry Date: 23-10-2026