Optimisation Workstream Lead

Optimisation Workstream Lead
£55,000 - £65,000 plus great benefits (Work level 5)
Manchester city centre, hybrid working, splitting your time between working at home and in the office, with occasional travel to Co-op stores across the UK when required.

We’re on a mission to grow our Convenience market share from 20% to 40% by 2030—and we need brilliant people to help us get there.

As an Optimisation Workstream Lead, you’ll play a pivotal role in delivering our ambitious transformation strategy. You’ll lead a team of Delivery Managers to bring strategic workstreams to life—enhancing customer experience, improving operational performance, and unlocking commercial value across our store estate.

Why this role matters

This role is central to delivering our optimisation strategy and driving meaningful change across Co-op. You’ll be accountable for the day-to-day management of a growing portfolio of projects. 
With responsibility for supporting the management of up to £85 million in budgeted costs and helping to deliver £50 million in annual business benefits, your impact will be both strategic and financial.

You’ll shape and evolve your workstream from concept to delivery, playing a key role in our 4-year strategic planning cycle. By leading, coaching and developing a high-performing team, you’ll foster a collaborative and inclusive culture that enables individuals to thrive and succeed together.

What you’ll do

• Develop and lead the strategic plan for your workstream, ensuring alignment with wider business goals.
• Own your workstream end-to-end, from planning through to delivery and benefit realisation.
• Manage budgets, track financial performance, and ensure projects land on time and within scope.
• Collaborate with other workstream leads to deliver cohesive, low-disruption change into stores.
• Coach and support Delivery Managers, building capability and driving continuous improvement.
• Influence stakeholders across the business to align priorities and accelerate outcomes.

What you’ll bring

We’re looking for someone who can lead with purpose, think strategically, and deliver at pace.

You’ll need:

• Strong leadership skills with a track record of developing high-performing teams.
• Programme and change management experience in complex, cross-functional environments.
• Commercial and financial acumen, with the ability to build robust business cases and manage risk.
• Data-driven decision-making skills to identify opportunities and solve problems.
• Excellent stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration abilities.
• A good understanding of the food retail sector and emerging market trends.

Why Co-op?

If you have the skills that we need, we can offer you a competitive salary and great benefits package which includes 30% off Co-op branded products in our food stores (as well as other discounts on Co-op products and services).

• An annual bonus (based on personal and business performance)
• 28 days holiday (rising to 32 with service) plus bank holidays 
• A pension with up to 10% employer contributions
• Private healthcare 
• Access to a subsidised onsite gym (at our Manchester HQ)
• Coaching and training to support your career development
• Wagestream app – giving you access to a percentage of your pay as you earn

Building a diverse environment

We’re actively building diverse teams and we welcome applications from everyone. If you have a disability, we can make reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process according to your needs. We're also part of the Disability Confident scheme, meaning we'll always offer an interview to disabled candidates who apply through the scheme if they meet the minimum criteria for a job.

We'll ask whether you’d like to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme when you apply.

If we invite you to take part in the recruitment process for any of our jobs, we’ll ask you if you need any reasonable adjustments to enable you to participate.

You can find out more about our recruitment process at jobs.coop.co.uk/apply-process
You can find out more about the Disability Confident scheme at Disability Confident Scheme - Co-op Colleagues and more about our commitments to diversity and inclusion at Diversity and Inclusion

Please note that we may close applications for this role early.

As part of your application, you'll need to complete an online assessment. This assessment typically takes up to 50 minutes. If you're a current Co-op colleague, this does not need to be completed.