Head of Transformation Development

Why join us

Joining Sainsbury's as the Head of Transformation Development in the Argos Strategy & Transformation department offers a unique opportunity to lead and shape major transformation initiatives in a multi-channel, customer-centric environment. As a key driver of change within a complex organisation, you will have the chance to translate strategic ambitions into tangible outcomes, collaborate with diverse stakeholders, and influence senior leaders to drive meaningful impact. With a focus on innovation, collaboration, and continuous growth, this role provides a platform to make a significant difference in delivering customer, colleague, and commercial success while fostering a culture of strategic thinking and operational excellence.

What you'll do

You'll be accountable for shaping and leading transformation programmes that align with the organisation's strategy and deliver meaningful outcomes for customers, colleagues, and commercial success. Your role will involve translating strategic ambitions into clear transformation propositions, setting standards for outcome-centric development, and leading complex problem-solving initiatives at an enterprise level. You will work closely with senior leaders to identify critical business challenges and opportunities, ensuring that initiatives are framed around clear outcomes and success measures, and progressing them through the right decision forums with clarity and pace. Your ability to bring clarity and momentum to ambiguous situations, influence diverse stakeholders, and drive impact, pace, and value creation will be crucial in driving successful transformation initiatives across the organisation.

Who you are

You're an experienced leader with a proven track record in driving major transformation and change initiatives within a complex organisation. With a deep understanding of retail, digital, and customer-facing transformation, you bring strategic thinking, operational discipline, and commercial acumen to shape and deliver high-quality transformation programmes aligned with business strategy. Your ability to navigate ambiguity, influence diverse stakeholders, and drive impactful outcomes underscores your role in setting the standards for outcome-centric transformation development and ensuring initiatives are set up for success from inception to delivery.

Essential Criteria

• Proven experience leading large-scale business transformation programmes in a complex organisation, with responsibility for developing and securing approval for multiple cross-functional initiatives delivering measurable customer, operational and commercial outcomes.
• Strong track record of building robust business cases and investment proposals, including defining benefits, financial outcomes, success measures and securing senior stakeholder or executive approval for significant investment decisions.
• Demonstrable experience leading enterprise-level problem solving and strategic development, using data, insight and evidence to identify opportunities, shape solutions and prioritise transformation portfolios.
• Experience influencing and aligning senior stakeholders at executive level, with the ability to present recommendations, challenge thinking and drive decision-making across multiple functions (e.g. Operations, Technology, Product, Finance and Strategy).
• Proven leadership experience developing high-performing transformation, strategy or change teams, including setting direction, coaching individuals and embedding effective transformation methodologies and governance.
• Demonstrable experience harnessing AI, automation or advanced digital technologies to enable business transformation, delivering measurable improvements in efficiency, customer experience, decision-making or organisational performance.

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