Head of Technical Programme Management - Instore and Retail

In a nutshell

In Sainsbury’s Tech, we power the UK’s number 1 multi-channel, multi-brand retailer. Through this scale comes great opportunity to make a large impact for customers in their daily lives, however scale of business requires scale of technology and supporting multiple empowered teams to work together is a complex job.

The Head of Technical Programme Management (HoTPM) is a role of fundamental importance to delivering our technology strategy. Reporting to the Director of Product and XD, the HoTPM plays a leading role in delivering our most complex, multi-team enabled outcomes by combining deep technical understanding with excellent communication and planning skills.

You will be working to deliver programmes that span the breadth of our business across all of our brands; Sainsbury’s, Argos, Nectar, Bank and Habitat. The role combines a strategic focus alongside programme delivery and will typically involve sequencing and carefully managing different elements and dependencies.

Insightful, trusted and tenacious, the HoTPM navigates the complexity and uncertainty which comes from a broad agenda; builds strong relationships across the division and the wider business. The HoTPM inspires and engages engineering teams to prioritise and support delivery of our most complex and important work.

Our product development teams are made up of inspiring and multidisciplinary individuals who are empowered to solve hard problems in ways our customers love and serve the needs of our business.

Apply now to help us lead the future of retail in the UK!

What I need to do:

• Play a leading role on your programme(s), co-ordinating delivery across a number of engineering teams in order to realise an important business outcome
• Ensure outcomes are clearly defined and delivered in accordance with the Sainsbury’s Tech Operating Framework and technology principles
• Conduct post implementation reviews to drive a culture of continuous improvement, ensuring the learning is fed through the wider Tech approach to delivery
• Support professionalisation of the wider Tech delivery practice by actively using and contributing to the improvement of the Technical Programme Management tools and practices, driving consistency across all programmes.
• Coach others to help them understand the rationale for the technical approach, surfacing and dealing with ambiguity and conflicting demands.
• Spot and surface key risks and issues early, building a sensible and proportionate approach to mitigation and management, securing support of senior stakeholders as and where necessary.

How I will succeed:

• Comfortable working with technical detail, knows the technical landscape and able to understand and describe technical choices and trade-offs to different stakeholders in and outside of Technology
• Work closely with colleagues across the business and Tech including Product Managers, Engineers and senior stakeholders to earn their trust, securing their support for your agenda
• Adept at breaking down the big picture into manageable chunks to enable delivery by being able to create clarity from ambiguity
• Work at a conceptual level whilst also, prepared to get into the technical specifics
• Eye for detail, disciplined to ensure the structure and governance underpinning delivery of your programme is fit for purpose
• Great judgement by structuring and sequencing delivery to maximise value, open minded to pivot the approach based on learnings and other changes

What I need to know:

Essential

• In depth understanding of agile values and software engineering approaches; with proven track record and experience of delivering technical programmes at scale in an agile and product context
• Experienced in a number of techniques and frameworks for structuring programmes including but not limited to effective planning, dependency identification and management; risk and issue management; decision making and effective communication
• Excellent influencing skills up to board level
• Good grounding in technology and software delivery, this could include, for example, system design, software development or infrastructure management
• Experience of leading teams in a delivery and technology context

Desirable

• Experience working in a retail environment

What I need to show:

• Clear and regular communication, someone who is the expert on schedules of delivery and customer impact dates, critical KPIs, technical deliverables, dependencies and opportunities, managing conflicting priorities and robustly challenging at all stages of the programme
• Good understanding of agile software development and how to build software in a way that creates value for customers quickly and effectively. The HoTPM helps to reinforce and evolve such practices and other methodologies, driving a constant focus on delivery of value early and often
• Participation in technical detail showing you understand the technical landscape and can describe technical choices and trade-offs to different stakeholders within and outside of Tech
• Ability to work with stakeholders to understand the rationale/why and to surface and manage of ambiguity and conflicting demands.
• Demonstrate strong influencing skills and a strategic focus on the corporate level outcomes enabled by programme delivery
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to apply these at scale to colleagues supporting your programme in a matrix structure

Resources available to me:

• Support of Technical Programme Managers and Delivery Managers as and where your programmes necessitate their support
• Technical subject matter experts from across the Tech Domains
• Procurement and Supplier Management (where there are significant third party dependencies)
• Support of the Tech Senior Leadership Team as and when strategic decisions are required (specifically re: trade-offs)

What decisions I can make:

• Determine the optimal delivery methodology for the programme/outcomes you lead
• Define the support you will require across Domains to enable effective delivery
• Recruitment decisions for Technical Programme Manager roles reporting to you
• As a member of the TPM leadership team, define, apply and evolve the technical programme management tools and practices for the Tech Division

We are committed to making Tech a place where people love to work where diverse and engaged team make a purposeful contribution. Sainsbury’s is committed to being the most inclusive retailer, and flexible working including job sharing is welcomed wherever possible. In Tech we welcome such conversations and are proud to champion a diverse and inclusive culture.

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