Head of Engineering - Digital Instore

Holborn Store Support Centre and Home, Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd 33 Holborn, London Greater London, EC1N 2HT

We'd all like amazing work to do, and real work-life balance. That's waiting for you at Sainsbury's. Think about the scale it takes for us to feed the nation. The level of data, transactions and variety it involves. Then you'll realise that ours is a modern software engineering environment because it has to be. We've made serious investment into a Tech Academy and into setting standards and principles. We iterate, learn, experiment and push ways of working such as Agile, Scrum and XP. So you can look forward to awesome opportunities in everything from AI to reusable tech.

Head of Engineering - Digital InStore

Are you passionate about new and innovative technology? Do you want to be at the forefront of innovation and transformation of how Sainsbury's supports their customers with any issues they might be facing? If so, you might be the perfect candidate for the Head of Engineering role in the Digital InStore space.

About the team

As the Head of Engineering, you will lead teams of engineers who are responsible for developing and delivering cutting-edge solutions that enhance the customer experience, scale to the volumes of sales, focus on the simplicity of our customer journeys, and constantly evolve against the needs of the business and demands of our customers. Being at the heart of our obsession with the customer and an integral part of the end-to-end strategy to grow the business is key, collaborating with teams across Sainsbury's Tech, as well as our 3rd parties to ensure alignment and integration of the Digital InStore vision. This is an exciting opportunity to join a dynamic and fast-paced environment where you can make a real impact and shape the future of Sainsbury's Tech and Retail.

Why join us

You'll be a trusted voice for technology and innovation within our business community. With over 2000 locations, and 100,000 + colleagues, you will engage and manage stakeholders, teams, and suppliers to deliver exceptional experiences for our customers and colleagues. As a trusted leader of leaders, you will foster a high-performance, inclusive culture, ensuring your teams operate in an empowered and professional environment. You will have a focus on people leadership, engagement, and communication, driving delivery excellence, and championing technical excellence.

What you'll do

Building strong relationships with business and tech leaders, you will be the trusted voice for technology and innovation within your respective business community. You'll lead and mentor teams of engineers to deliver unique and differentiating products, fostering a culture of innovation and high technical standards. You will be accountable for the processes and path to production and deployment of change, ensuring that all new and enhanced products and services are released seamlessly and in line with business change plans. As a leader, you will build strong relationships, drive continuous improvement, and champion the concept of expert, stable, and integrated teams. Your success will be measured by the quality of relationships established, successful alignment of product priorities and outcomes, technical excellence demonstrated, and the delivery of customer value and business outcomes at pace.

Who you are

You're a strategic leader who knows how to build great relationships across a business. With your deep understanding of both the technology landscape and retail operations, you play a pivotal role in ensuring the delivery of unique and differentiating products to millions of customers. Leading and mentoring teams of engineers, you champion excellent engineering practices, foster a culture of innovation, and continuously strive for improved outcomes and value. Your ability to make sound judgments, manage budgets, and make data-driven decisions allows you to drive maximum efficiency and effectiveness within your teams and deliver customer value at pace. With your passion for technology and results-oriented mindset, you empower your teams to perform at their best and deliver high-quality solutions that align with the overall business strategy. You are a visionary leader who continuously stays relevant in the ever-changing technology landscape, and you make decisive decisions to drive success.

We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer, so you'll be welcomed whoever you are and wherever you work. Around here, there's always the chance to try something new - whether that's as part of an evolving team or somewhere else across the business - and we take development seriously and promise to support you. We also recognise and celebrate colleagues when they go the extra mile and, where possible, offer flexible working. When you join our team, we'll also offer you an amazing range of benefits. Here are some of them:

1. Starting off with colleague discount, you'll be able to get 10% off at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat after 4 weeks. This increases to 15% off at Sainsbury's every Friday and Saturday and 15% off at Argos every pay day.
2. We've got you covered for your future with our pensions scheme and life cover.
3. You may be eligible for a performance-related bonus of up to 65% of salary, depending on how we perform (in cash and shares).
4. You'll receive an annual holiday allowance, and you can buy additional holiday.
5. We also offer other benefits such as season ticket loans, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, pay advance, and access to discounts from hundreds of other retailers.
6. You will receive a company car cash allowance unless you are going to travel 10,000 business miles in your role, then you'll be able to choose a car.
7. There is also an employee assistance programme, and you will be eligible for private healthcare.
8. We give up to 26 weeks' pay for maternity or adoption leave and up to 4 weeks' pay for paternity leave.

Please see for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).

Salary: Competitive Plus Benefits
Location: Holborn Store Support Centre and Home, London, EC1N 2HT
Contract type: Fixed-Term Assignment
Business area: Sainsbury's Tech
Closing date: 03 April 2025
Requisition ID: 297790