Level

Sainsbury's

Customer and Trading Manager - Small Supermarket

AI in this role

Lead daily supermarket operations, team management, and customer service delivery as a Customer and Trading Manager.

people-managementstore-operationskpi-deliveryemployee-relationscoaching

What you’ll be doing:

  • Working closely with a small team of managers to make sure the store runs like clockwork every day. 
  • Taking responsibility for the day to running of the store, often being the only manager in with accountability for the full shop. 
  • Work alongside a team to complete all tasks, ensuring our customers are served efficiently and safely. 
  • People management is also big part of the role, managing performance and capability, conducting disciplinaries and ensuring scheduling and pay are accurate. 
  • Where we have close knit networks of stores and it may mean that you need to help another store now and then.

What makes a great customer & trading manager:

  • Previous line management responsibilities in a fast-paced, operational environment.
  • Provides brilliant customer service, and coaches a team to do the same.
  • Delivers KPI's or other performance indicators.
  • Can manage disciplinaries, performance issues or other similar employee relations issues.
  • Leads operations and comfortable doing this alone in the absence of more senior management.

Essential Criteria:

  • A track record of delivering brilliant customer service and coaching colleagues to do the same.
  • Experience of leading a team in a fast-paced, customer-facing environment — you’ve motivated others, driven performance, and kept operations running smoothly.
  • Operational leadership skills  — you’ve taken responsibility for store operations in the absence of more senior managers.
  • Demonstrated success in meeting or exceeding KPIs — whether it’s sales, availability, customer satisfaction or colleague engagement, you’ve made a measurable impact.
  • Has managed employee relations issues, including performance and absence management. 

Leading in our stores:

Our management teams don’t just run stores - they’re the driving force behind our business. With bold leadership, a passion for service and an eye for opportunity, they empower teams to raise the bar every single day for our customers. Whether it's product availability, safety standards, or delivering seamless daily operations, they’re hands-on, sleeves-rolled-up changemakers. And the impact? Work becomes more rewarding for our colleagues, and shopping becomes a next-level experience for every customer who walks through our doors. This is how we bring our purpose to life, one powerful action at a time.

Working for us has great rewards

Salary will be dependent upon your experience as well as the store size, complexity and location. Alongside this, we also offer a great range of benefits for our managers, including:

  • Discount card – 10% discount off on your shopping at Sainsbury’s, Argos, Tu and Habitat after four weeks.  This increases to 15% discount off at Sainsbury’s every Friday and Saturday.
  • An annual bonus scheme based on our, and your, performance. 
  • Free food and hot drinks provided for Colleagues in all our stores.  
  • Generous holiday entitlement, maternity and paternity leave.
  • Pension – we’ll match 4-7.5% of your pension contributions.
  • Sainsbury’s share scheme – build up an investment at discounted rates.
  • Wellbeing support – access to emotional support, counselling, legal and financial advice.
  • Colleague networks – link with like-minded people to help fulfil your potential.
  • Our Cycle to Work scheme gives you the opportunity to hire a new bike and cycling equipment, whilst saving on tax and NI.
  • Special offers on gym memberships, restaurants, holidays, retail vouchers and more.

An inclusive place to work and shop:

We are dedicated to being a truly inclusive retailer, where every colleague can achieve their full potential and every customer feels welcome when they shop with us.

To support this commitment, our colleagues may be entitled to a range of enhanced discretionary leave for families, as well as support for carers. We provide our colleagues resources to help them understand and support their role and their team effectively. Our internal colleague networks seek to ensure true representation for everyone, helping us identify and remove barriers that our colleagues may face. We are proud to offer a range of development opportunities, including mentorship, training, and career progression pathways, to help our colleagues grow and succeed. We also celebrate diversity through various initiatives and events, fostering a culture of inclusion and respect. If you would like to learn more about our commitment to inclusivity, please take a look here. 

Should you require any reasonable adjustments during the application or interview stages, please let us know, and we will endeavour to support you.

How we rate this

Customer and Trading Manager - Small Supermarket at Sainsbury's rates 0 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Little AI (AI Level 1 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Little AI. AI is not part of the work.

  1. ●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
  2. ●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
  3. ●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
  4. ●○○○ Little AI0 to 39

Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Open the description and count.

Prepare for this job

A free preview built only from this posting: what it asks for, what you could be asked in an interview, and how to adjust your resume.

Skills and AI tools this role asks for

People ManagementStore OperationsKpi DeliveryEmployee RelationsCoaching

Questions you could be asked

  1. Tell me about a project where people management was part of your work. What did you do?
  2. Tell me about a project where store operations was part of your work. What did you do?
  3. Tell me about a project where kpi delivery was part of your work. What did you do?
  4. Tell me about a project where employee relations was part of your work. What did you do?
  5. Tell me about a project where coaching was part of your work. What did you do?

Adapt your resume

  • List these exact terms on your resume: People Management, Store Operations, Kpi Delivery, Employee Relations, and Coaching. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
  • Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them — a tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.

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