Programme Manager – Transformation Delivery

At Argos, we’re a digital-led UK retailer that keeps pushing boundaries to meet every generation with what they want, how and when they want it. As a market leader in general merchandise, serving millions of customers through our website, app, same-day delivery and Click & Collect services, we offer real opportunities to learn, grow and shape your career. With roles spanning Commercial, Buying, Merchandising, Design and Supply Chain, through to Digital, Operations, Customer Experience, Marketing, and People and Transformation , you will work with brilliant colleagues and directly shape how we serve our customers every day. From enabling inspiring choice across our owned brands, including Habitat, Chad Valley and Bush, alongside the world’s biggest brands like Apple, Lego, Xbox and Samsung, to making shopping effortlessly convenient, championing trusted value and accelerating our strategy - Argos is an exciting place to build your future.

About the team

Within Argos Operations, the Change & Transformation team turn strategic priorities into well-governed, measurable change programmes. The team works across Property, Procurement, Technology, Digital, Finance and Facilities Management – partnering with the Transformation Portfolio Office and other programme teams to improve consistency, strengthen delivery and create better outcomes for customers, colleagues and the business.

More about the role

As Programme Manager, you will lead the programme management lifecycle and continuous improvement framework across transformation activity. You’ll be the gatekeeper for change, ensuring initiatives are assessed, prioritised, approved and sequenced through a unified master programme plan. You’ll design and run change forums, create clear escalation routes, resolve conflicts and blockers, and provide decision-ready reporting for audiences from working groups through to the Argos Board.

You will take ownership of programme-level controls covering planning, dependencies, risks / issues, change impacts, resourcing, benefits and delivery outcomes. This includes maintaining a change heatmap, ensuring consistent data and documentation in Planview, partnering with Finance on financial and non-financial benefits – and ultimately ensuring that proposals from wider functions are fit for purpose for Argos Operations.

You’ll lead two direct reports, coach programme colleagues, own communication channels and build programme maturity through practical standards, training and continuous improvement.

More about you

You bring strong knowledge of project management methodologies (including Waterfall and Agile), and understand how to manage an end-to-end project lifecycle. You can design and embed programme controls in transformation and operational environments – and you use management information, dashboards and concise storytelling to support decisions at Board level. You are analytically and commercially minded, linking programme outcomes to customer, performance, cost and benefit measures.

You lead with ownership, clarity and respect. You can influence cross-business teams, challenge constructively, adapt your approach as circumstances change and keep people focused on agreed outcomes. You build credible relationships, listen to challenge, solve problems independently and maintain a strong customer perspective while improving how the wider programme operates.

Essential criteria

• Experience designing and embedding project or programme controls covering governance, reporting, planning, dependencies, resourcing, scope, risks and issues.
• Experience producing management information, dashboards and written updates that have supported decisions by Board-level or equivalent senior stakeholders.
• Applied knowledge of end-to-end project lifecycles and project management methodologies, including Waterfall and Agile.
• Experience leading major cross-functional transformation activity and influencing teams across functions such as Property, Procurement, Technology, Digital, Finance or capability.
• Ability to define and track financial and non-financial benefits, linking programme outcomes to agreed customer, cost and performance measures.

Ready to create clarity and momentum across complex change? Apply Now!

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: Starting off with colleague discount, you'll be able to save 10% on your shopping online and instore at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat, and we regularly increase the discount to 15% at points during the year. We've also got you covered for your future with our pensions scheme and life cover. You'll also be able to share in our success as you may be eligible for a performance-related bonus of up to 65% of salary, depending on how we perform (in cash and shares). Your wellbeing is important to us too. You'll receive an annual holiday allowance, and you can buy up to an additional week's holiday, and we provide private healthcare. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, salary advance (where you can access some of your pay before pay day) as well access to a great range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers. You'll also 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. And if you ever need it there is also an employee assistance programme. Moments that matter are as important to us as they are to you which is why we give up to 26 weeks’ pay for maternity or adoption leave and up to 4 weeks’ pay for paternity leave. Please see www.sainsburys.jobs for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).