Sainsbury’s is one of the most familiar names in British retail, with a presence of almost 1407 stores in towns and cities across the UK. The supermarket giant currently employs around 175,000 people, with this number leaping by over 30,000 new employees at periods of peak trading such as Christmas and New Year.
Sainsbury’s has ambitious growth plans and aims to challenge the dominance of its largest rival Tesco through a programme of rapid expansion. With expansion into new towns come jobs, making Sainsburys an attractive prospect for many job hunters.
Sainsburys jobs can be split into the varying business functions, including:
- Store Level
- Store Management
- Store Support Centre
- Logistics and Supply Chain Management
- Pharmacy
- Convenience
If you’re looking for work and are interested in the roles described in this article, why not visit the Total-Jobs website where you can browse through a variety of available Sainsburys Jobs?
In-store roles
To run successfully each Sainsbury’s store needs an army of staff covering a variety of duties at a variety of levels. This means that regardless of your academic qualifications or previous work experience if you are a polite, articulate and well-mannered candidate there may be a suitable job available for you. Sainsbury’s prides itself on high levels of customer service, and all shop floor staff are classed as “customer-facing”. You must therefore present yourself extremely well, particularly if you are in store to collect an application form or attend an interview.
Career development is widely available at Sainsbury’s and you will be offered on the job training, regardless of your position. You will also find that many of the in-store managers started their careers with the retailer at a much more junior level before working their way up through the ranks. Managers are also offered regular training schemes on a variety of matters from finance to HR and more.
The rewards for staff working on the shop floor include competitive pay and a “Colleague Discount Card” which qualifies you for cheaper shopping plus a yearly bonus scheme, career breaks and a generous share purchase plan.
Manager Roles
To ensure each store runs effectively and profitably Sainsbury’s needs a team of competent, dedicated managers and assistant managers. If you have gained managerial experience elsewhere in the retail sector then you may be considered for a managerial position at Sainsbury’s. In addition to previous experience, you may need to provide evidence of your academic qualifications and for a number of roles, a university degree is necessary.
Typically, candidates applying for a Sainsburys Store Management vacancy should have previous managerial experience, preferably in the retail sector. What is also important though is a nice personality and strong commercial awareness.
In order to function correctly, Sainsbury’s needs to ensure that stock, vehicles and store equipment are in the right place at the right time. That’s why the logistics function is such a crucial part of the whole organisation and without it, the company would fail. To apply for a logistics job with Sainsbury’s you should apply to your local depot directly. There are six Sainsburys logistics depots across the UK, based in:
- Elstree (Hertfordshire)
- Basingstoke (Hampshire)
- Rye Park (Hertfordshire)
- Hams Hall (Birmingham)
- Haydock (Merseyside)
- Waltham Point (Hertfordshire)
Head Office Roles
Sainsburys is the second largest supermarket retailer in the UK, with a network of around 1407 stores and 175,000 permanent employees. At the heart of the Sainsburys, operation is the head office, based in central London. This head office is crucial if the retailer is to succeed and a wide variety of roles are in operation at this head office base including Finance and Accounting, Human Resources and Logistics, Buying and Merchandising and Marketing and IT.
As with any organisation, there are a number of positions open for application in each sector, so if you are at the start of your career, or have proven years of experience there may be a suitable vacancy for you. As you might expect, Sainsbury’s seeks to employ only the highest calibre of staff for any of its head office vacancies and competition for every advertised position is likely to be tough. If you are lucky enough to secure an interview it is worth noting that it is also highly likely that you will also be asked to attend an assessment centre or undergo some form of testing before you are offered a position.
Sainsburys also has a growing market presence in non-food retailing. This part of the business is controlled by a head office based in Coventry.
Roles based in both London and Coventry offer fantastic career opportunities, great levels of pay, a wide range of benefits and a continuous training and development programme.
Pharmacy Roles
Sainsburys boasts over 200 in-store pharmacies and aims to expand this even further. It is therefore recruiting qualified staff who can manage and work in an in store pharmacy. To apply for a Pharmacy Manager or Pharmacist role you must be a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
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