Team Manager - Food - Leeds Area

Marks and Spencer plc (UK); Leeds; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading food retail company is looking for a Team Manager in Foods in Leeds. The successful candidate will lead a team dedicated to delivering exceptional customer service and ensuring high standards in product offerings. This role involves coaching the team, overseeing store operations, and using data to enhance the customer experience. Ideal for individuals with retail management experience and strong leadership skills, this position offers the opportunity to significantly impact customer satisfaction and store performance.

Qualifications

• Experience in retail management and leading a team.
• Good understanding of commercial and operational processes.
• Ability to analyze data for performance improvements.

Responsibilities

• Lead and motivate the customer assistant team.
• Ensure high standards in customer service delivery.
• Oversee visual merchandising and stock management.

Skills

Customer service expertise

Team leadership

Communication skills

Digital proficiency

Flexibility and adaptability

Job description

Join our team at M&S as a Team Manager in Foods, where you'll lead by example as a champion of our high‑quality products, offers, and services. We're seeking passionate leaders who take pride in their food knowledge and are eager to share it with both colleagues and customers. Your primary focus will be on providing remarkable service and enabling your team to deliver to the highest standards, ensuring that our customers feel valued every day. You'll actively engage with customers to understand their preferences and create opportunities to continuously improve their shopping experience.

Responsibilities

• Support the growth and profitability of the store through the implementation of the retail plan and delivery of the KPI measures for their area of accountability.
• Role model great customer service and ensure the delivery of a customer‑focused service proposition through the team that delights our customers.
• Recruit, develop and coach great talent within the customer assistant team supporting succession requirements.
• Ensure colleagues understand and are motivated to deliver their part.
• Support the store to trade safely and legally, protecting customers, colleagues and the M&S brand.
• Support the delivery of an inspirational, improved and consistent visual customer journey that inspires our customers to shop and buy more often.
• Support the delivery and embedding of the business transformation plan and change initiatives for their area.
• Deliver great standards and service by setting clear expectations with store colleagues.
• Create the right culture, role‑model new digital ways of working and leadership behaviours.
• Create a multiskilled team, coaching and training the team to fully utilise all the tools available to serve and sell well.
• Deliver brilliant basics through the team.
• Seek customer feedback and take action to deliver improvement.
• Use data and insight to improve the in‑store customer experience, operations and drive performance.
• Support the delivery of Plan A.
• Regularly review individual performance through quality conversations, managing underperformance where required and celebrating success.
• Recruit for the team, ensuring new starters have a brilliant onboarding experience.
• Deliver all line‑management activities in line with company process and policy.
• Build an active working partnership with BIG and provide feedback and support the development of BIG representatives.
• Deliver operational excellence to maximise product availability, minimise stock and cash loss.
• Ensure processes and tasks are delivered in line with business expectations and operating standards, allocating resources accordingly.
• Maintain a safe and legal store environment.
• Support visual merchandising updates across all launches, events and campaigns.
• Seek the best solution for M&S by proactively collaborating with colleagues across the business.
• Being digitally confident is essential — utilise our digital tools, such as the Sparks App, to enhance the customer experience and ensure they get the products they want when they need them.

Key Relationships and Stakeholders

• Customers
• Colleagues
• Store Leadership
• Regional Leadership

BIG

Efficiency and effectiveness are key aspects of your role. You'll be a skilled retail professional putting customers at the heart of all decision making, while leading your team to achieve the same.

Qualifications

• Ability to lead a team to deliver excellent customer service and KPIs across the store.
• Create the right culture, role‑model new digital ways of working and leadership behaviours.
• Has a good understanding and up‑to‑date knowledge of commercial, visual, operational and people processes and systems.
• Uses all available data and MI to identify commercial, visual, cost‑saving and customer opportunities to increase profit.
• Good working knowledge of visual merchandising principles.
• Good level of digital capability and an understanding and use of all systems.
• Good knowledge of the legal requirements across the store.
• Knowledge of people policies and managing performance within a team.
• The ability to have difficult conversations with effective resolutions with colleagues.
• Good communicator and listener who will inspire, share knowledge and best practices with others.
• Ability to plan and review across the week and the month.
• Ability to deliver under pressure, demonstrating resilience.
• Ability to build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders across the store and region.
• Demonstrates flexibility and adaptability to change, and the ability to lead teams through change with a growth mindset.

Key Leadership Capabilities

• Successfully embeds change for lasting commercial impact and results.
• Addresses beliefs and mindsets around resistance to change and supports colleagues in adapting.
• Takes ownership and accountability for the success of the team.
• Spends time coaching colleagues to accelerate performance and personal growth.
• Recognises high performance and supports poor performers to improve.
• Shows colleagues why they matter to M&S, their part to play in delivering the plan and what the results of their work are.
• Uses customer feedback and market trends to guide teams’ work.