Retail Optimisation & Change Manager

Home Limited; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Pets is seeking a Retail Optimisation & Change Manager to lead Operational Excellence, Digital Operations and Workforce Management across our retail estate. You will drive productivity improvements, simplify processes and embed change across stores, reporting to the Head of Central Operations.

You will pair with Retail, Commercial, Supply Chain, Finance, People, Digital and IT to identify opportunities and deliver practical, data-driven solutions that improve customer and colleague experiences.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in Operational Excellence and Continuous Improvement.
• Proven track record delivering productivity and efficiency improvements.
• Strong Lean methodologies knowledge and change management experience.
• Experience leading teams and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Commercial acumen with data-driven decision making.

Responsibilities

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

Skills

Operational Excellence

Continuous Improvement

Retail Operations

Workforce Management

Change Management

Digital Operations

Lean methodologies

Data-driven decision making

Stakeholder engagement

Strategic thinking

Education

Lean Six Sigma Green Belt

Lean Six Sigma Black Belt

Prosci

ADKAR

Tools

Workforce management software

Operational dashboards

Automation tools

Job description

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!