Head of Strategy

Location – Hybrid (approx. 2 days per week in our London office)

Why join us

Joining the strategy team at Sainsbury's presents a unique opportunity to directly shape the future direction of a leading retail organisation, with exposure across the Sainsbury's, Argos and Nectar brands. You will be at the forefront of driving impactful change, collaborating closely with senior leaders to lead high-profile strategic projects. Our team values diversity of thought, intellectual curiosity and ambition.

What you'll do

As the Head of Strategy at Sainsbury's, you will be at the forefront of shaping the company's future direction, collaborating closely with the board and divisional directors to create Sainsbury’s strategy to 2030 and beyond.

Your role will involve leading 1-2 strategy projects at a time – managing small internal teams and external consultancies to answer our most challenging questions across our brands - structuring complex problems, developing hypotheses, and distilling key insights from data to inform recommendations for senior leaders. By building strong relationships with stakeholders, you also ensure the successful delivery of strategic initiatives.

Who you are

A strategic thinker with a proven track record of leading teams and delivering high-impact corporate strategy projects within the retail industry. Your analytical mindset and structured, hypothesis-led approach allow you to break down complex problems and generate actionable recommendations.

Your exceptional project management skills, stakeholder engagement and communication abilities enable you to collaborate effectively with senior leaders and drive strategy projects forward. You embody the company's core values of customer-centricity, accountability, and fostering a culture of continuous learning and development.

Essential criteria

• Minimum of 5 years of experience either working in a top strategy consultancy (McKinsey, Bain, BCG, LEK, Oliver Wyman, OC&C), or with a mix of top-tier strategy consulting and industry/freelance/contracting experience
• Evidence of applying structured, hypothesis-led approaches to solve corporate strategy problems and deliver actionable recommendations
• Ability to analyse and interpret complex data sets to generate impactful insights for senior stakeholders – with excellent PowerPoint and Excel skills
• Proven ability to lead and inspire teams to successfully deliver project objectives
• Passion for retail markets, with practical understanding of customers, market, competition, and financial insights

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