Workforce Planning Lead - Customer Contact Centres

Marks and Spencer; Salford; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Colleague discount

Bonus schemes

Pension scheme

Wellbeing support

Training programs

Volunteer day

Induction program

Job summary

Marks & Spencer is seeking a Workforce Planning Lead to drive forecasting, scheduling and real-time resource management across our Customer Services operations. You will partner with stakeholders and third-party partners to ensure accurate forecasts and service levels, while balancing in-house and outsourced teams.

Based at Manchester, Chester or London, the role requires analytical leadership, proactive planning and strong communication to optimise performance and customer outcomes.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading workforce planning, forecasting, scheduling or workforce management in a contact centre.
• Ability to produce and validate forecasts and capacity models and identify improvements.
• Strong analytical, organisational and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead demand forecasting, capacity planning and resource management for in-house and outsourced contact centres.
• Develop, maintain and optimise workforce plans including recruitment, training and long-term capacity.
• Oversee real-time service delivery, monitor intra-day performance and adjust resources as needed.
• Communicate insights and recommendations to drive performance and customer outcomes.

Skills

Forecasting

Scheduling

Workforce management

Data analysis

Stakeholder management

Job description

Summary

At M&S, exceptional customer service starts with having the right people in the right place at the right time. As Workforce Planning Lead, you will lead our Forecasting, Scheduling and Real Time teams to deliver effective workforce planning across our in-house and outsourced Customer Services operations. Working closely with key stakeholders and third‑party partners, you will ensure accurate forecasting, resource optimisation and service delivery performance, whilst maintaining robust operational plans that support both customer experience and business objectives. To stay close to our customers and colleagues, our support teams are in the office for at least three days a week as we believe that skills are developed through collaboration, and that spending time together makes us more creative and connected. This role can be based from our Manchester, Chester or London support centres.

All the details

What You Will Do

• Lead demand forecasting, capacity planning and resource management across in-house and outsourced contact centre operations, producing accurate forecasts aligned to agreed service levels and commercial arrangements.
• Create, maintain and continuously improve workforce plans, including recruitment, training and long-term capacity plans, whilst analysing forecast performance and leading in‑year reforecasting activity where required.
• Oversee workforce management and scheduling processes, ensuring resources are planned effectively, schedules are optimised and adherence, shrinkage and operational performance are continuously monitored.
• Lead real-time service delivery, monitoring intra‑day performance, making resource adjustments as required, measuring productivity and service levels, and providing data‑driven insight to support performance management.
• Manage operational activity planning and business continuity, ensuring all activity impacting Customer Services is effectively sequenced, communicated and executed whilst maintaining excellent service delivery for customers.

Who You Will Be

• A highly analytical leader who can challenge data, assumptions and calculations to drive accurate forecasting and effective decision making.
• A proactive and organised planner who can balance short‑term operational demands with long‑term workforce and capacity strategies.
• An influential stakeholder manager, capable of working collaboratively across Customer Services, wider business functions and third‑party partners.
• A confident communicator who can translate complex operational data into clear insight, recommendations and service delivery communications.
• A continuous improvement champion who is passionate about enhancing workforce planning processes, operational efficiency and customer outcomes.

What You Will Bring

• Proven experience leading workforce planning, forecasting, scheduling or workforce management functions within a customer service or contact centre environment.
• Strong experience producing and validating forecasts, capacity plans and resource models, with the ability to analyse forecast versus actual performance and identify improvement opportunities.
• Expertise in workforce management principles, including forecasting, scheduling, resource planning, shrinkage management and service level performance.
• Experience managing real‑time operational performance, analysing productivity metrics such as AHT and contacts per hour, and making informed adjustments to optimise service delivery.
• Excellent analytical, organisational and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to govern planning processes, manage operational activity plans and maintain robust business continuity arrangements.

What's in it for you:

Being a part of M&S is exactly that - playing your part to bring the magic of M&S to our customers every day. We're an inclusive, dynamic, exciting, and ever evolving business built on doing the right thing and bringing exceptional quality, value, service to every customer, whenever, wherever and however they want to shop with us.

Here are some of the benefits we offer that make working for M&S just that little bit more special

20% colleague discount across all M&S products and many of our third-party brands for you and a member of your household.

Competitive holiday entitlement with the potential to buy extra holiday days!

Discretionary bonus schemes awarded based on how you achieve your personal objectives and our performance as a business.

A generous Defined Contribution Pension Scheme and Life Assurance.

A dedicated welcome to our teams with a tailored induction and a wide range of training programmes to develop your skills.

Amazing perks and discounts via our M&S Choices portal to maximise your financial and personal wellbeing.

Industry-leading parental, adoption and neonatal policies, providing support and flexibility for your family.

Access to a fantastic range of wellbeing support for all colleagues including access to our 24/7 Virtual GP and PAM Assist to support you and your family.

A charity volunteer day to support a charity or cause you're passionate about through a dedicated day away from work.

Everyone's welcome

We are ambitious about the future of retail. We're disrupting, innovating and leading the industry into a more conscientious, inspiring digital era. We're transforming how we work together and offering our most exciting opportunities yet. Marks & Spencer strives to be an inclusive organisation, trusted and admired by our colleagues, customers and suppliers. Join us and make change happen.

We are committed to building diverse and representative teams, where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and be at their best. We support each other and work together to win together.

If you feel you'd benefit from any support or reasonable adjustments during any stage of the recruitment process, please don't hesitate to let us know when completing your application. This information will be picked up by our team, so we can try and put steps in place to help you be at your best through this process.