Team Manager

John Lewis Partnership; West Byfleet; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 36,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Work-life balance

Job summary

John Lewis Partnership's Waitrose shop is recruiting a Team Manager who will inspire and guide a diverse team to deliver outstanding Partner-led customer service. You’ll balance commercial acumen with people leadership to drive sales, manage busy periods and uphold high standards across operations.

You'll lead by example, develop your team's skills, handle holidays and absences, and maintain a welcoming environment that puts customers at the heart of everything we do.

Qualifications

• Experience leading a team in a fast-paced retail environment.
• Strong customer service orientation and ability to train others.
• Proven ability to manage schedules, holidays, and absences.

Responsibilities

• Maximise sales and profit while minimising wastage.
• Maintain high availability and in-store merchandising, ensuring legal, secure operations.
• Improve and maintain customer satisfaction.
• Lead and develop the team, including holiday planning and absence management.
• Create a culture of care, belonging, pace and productivity.
• Engage and lead Partners in delivering change within the shop.
• Oversee day-to-day operations to drive performance.

Skills

Leadership

People management

Customer service

Team motivation

Job description

About the role

Due to working time regulations, applicants must be 18 years or over to apply.

As a Team Manager in one of our Waitrose shops, you'll influence and motivate your team and be a positive role model for delivering outstanding Partner-led, customer service that is distinctively Waitrose, passionate Partners serving food lovers. Your strong leadership and team working skills will make all the difference to your team and, ultimately, the impression our customers have about the Waitrose brand. Keeping them returning again and again by earning their trust and loyalty for a lifetime, whilst helping to maximise sales and profit.

Key Responsibilities

It's fast paced and at times you'll oversee the entire day-to-day operation of the shop.

• Using your commercial skills to maximise sales and profit while minimising wastage.
• Ensuring consistently high levels of availability and merchandising as well as delivering an efficient, legal, and secure store operation.
• Improving and maintaining customer satisfaction.
• Using your people skills to manage your team, from leading and inspiring to people related tasks like organising holidays and managing absences.
• Create a supportive culture of care, belonging, pace and productivity.
• Engage and lead partners in delivering and embedding change consistently and effectively within your shop.

Experience of leading a team with a proven track record in a fast-paced, customer-focused environment.

Ability to build high-performing teams, recognise talent, and hold regular, honest performance conversations.

A passion for retail, understanding competitors and the economic factors impacting the Partnership.

Ability to assess workload realistically and adapt plans to ensure deadlines are hit and stakeholder relationships are maintained.

Ability to communicate with clarity and influence stakeholders at all levels.

Desirable skills/experience you may have

• Experience with Disciplinary & Grievance processes.
• Hiring Manager/ Recruitment experience.
• Food Hygiene Level 3.
• Personal licence holder.
• Experience in regulatory compliance management.

Varied hours of full time work (37.5 hours a week) across seven days to include early starts, late finishes, evenings and weekends.

The partnership

We're the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We're not just employees, we're Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world. As we look to our future, there's never been a more exciting time to join us.

We're ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose.

As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect.

We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong. Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we're free to be ourselves and can THRIVE. Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective.

As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it., We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.