Department Overview
Central Operations is the link between the business and its store estate, making sure activity is planned, resourced, communicated, and deliverable in stores.
The department builds the store labour budget, translating the sales plan into the hours each store needs, and owns the workload plan that sets what stores do and when, smoothed across the year and balanced against the labour available.
It also owns store communications, the Store Operations Hub that handles and resolves store queries, and the supplier contracts and budgets that support day-to-day store operations.
Working closely with Finance, People, Commercial, and field teams, the department challenges demand so that everything landing in stores is realistic, well-timed, and clearly communicated, giving store teams a single, trusted point of contact and the support they need to deliver for customers.
Role Summary
The role supports the department in the day-to-day delivery of workload planning, Rotageek administration, and reporting. Working alongside the Senior Manager of Workload and Capacity Planning and the Labour Planning and Capacity Coordinator, the role plays a key part in keeping the operation running smoothly and giving the wider team the data, coordination, and administrative support needed to plan and control store labour effectively.
The role supports the day-to-day management of the Workload Planner, keeping data accurate, trackers up to date, and activity clearly recorded. It supports the administration of Rotageek, including platform housekeeping, data checks, and supporting the resolution of store queries. Alongside this, the role supports the production of the department's reporting suite, pulling data, building reports, and preparing insight for the Senior Manager, Coordinator, and wider stakeholders.
The role also supports the day-to-day coordination of the department, including tracking actions, following up on outstanding items, and supporting meetings and workstreams as required.
- Support the day-to-day management of the Workload Planner, keeping data accurate and reflective of the latest business activity and store position.
- Log new activity, updates, and changes into the Workload Planner, checking accuracy before publishing.
- Maintain the trackers and shared documentation that sit alongside the Workload Planner.
- Support the smoothing of workload across the year, pulling data to help the Lead identify peaks and troughs and track how they are resolved.
- Support the planning of store space and the workload it generates, helping check that space changes are deliverable within the labour available.
- Prepare workload data, methodology, and store insight to support the Lead's day-to-day conversations with Commercial.
- Flag capacity risks and data issues to the Labour Planning and Capacity Lead, with the detail needed to act on them.
- Maintain the methodology and data that underpin workload and labour planning, working with Insight & Analytics on inputs and integrity.
- Support the production of the department's reporting suite, pulling data, building reports, and preparing insight for the Lead, the Senior Manager, and wider stakeholders.
- Support the adoption of scheduling tools in stores, including platform housekeeping, data checks, and routine maintenance, and help resolve store queries relating to scheduling and workload.
- Track activity that impacts workload, supporting the cost mitigation and claim-back processes where appropriate.
- Support the handover of confirmed workload activity to the Senior Operations and Communications Manager in enough time for stores to plan, prepare, and implement.
- Work in close partnership with the Labour Planning and Capacity Lead, providing the day-to-day delivery, data, and coordination that supports the wider department agenda.
Essential Skills
- Organisation & Time Management: Able to manage multiple tasks and timelines efficiently, keeping track of actions, queries, and follow-ups without losing detail.
- Communication Skills: Clear written and verbal communication, with the ability to produce concise, accurate content and reports.
- Attention to Detail: Consistent accuracy in data, documentation, reporting, and tracking tasks.
- Analytical Mindset: Comfortable working with data, spotting patterns, and producing simple reports and insight to support decision-making.
- Team Collaboration: Works well across teams and supports smooth coordination between the department, other SSC functions, and stores.
- Initiative & Proactivity: Takes ownership of tasks, flags risks or delays early, and follows through to completion.
- Problem Solving: Able to work through queries logically, understand the issue, and route it to the right team for resolution.
- Knowledge of Basic Tools: Confident using tools such as Excel,
- PowerPoint, and Outlook, and comfortable learning new platforms such as Rotageek and Power BI.
- Flexibility & Adaptability: Able to shift focus quickly and help the team respond to changing priorities.
- Store-First Mindset: Approaches every task with stores in mind, treating them as the customer of the department.
Desirable Skills
- Retail Awareness: Some understanding of how retail stores operate dayto-day, or previous experience working in a store environment.
- Data & Reporting Experience: Exposure to building reports, trackers, or dashboards in Excel, Power BI, or equivalent.
- Workforce Management Exposure: Familiarity with workforce management, scheduling, or labour deployment platforms.
- Coordination Experience: Previous experience supporting meetings, projects, or workstreams in a coordination or administrative capacity.
- Continuous Improvement Mindset: Interest in spotting ways to simplify tasks, reduce repeat issues, or improve how the team operates.
- Curiosity & Willingness to Learn: Keen to build knowledge of how the wider business works and how the department supports stores.
Behaviors:
Taking Responsibility (Act Like Owners / Empowered Leadership): Enjoys the opportunity to take ownership and do the right thing, seeing tasks through to completion and delivering on promises. In role: Takes ownership of Workload Planner updates, Rotageek admin tasks, and reporting deliverables, seeing them through to completion accurately and on time.
Making It Happen (Act Like Owners / Empowered Leadership): Gains clarity early on what needs doing, takes timely action, and has regular conversations to agree priorities. In role: Clarifies priorities with the Coordinator and Senior Manager, plans the week around deadlines, and flags risks or delays early to keep the team on track.
Being Curious (Keep Listening & Learning / Adaptable Leadership): Always seeking to discover something new, asking why, and seeking to understand to improve knowledge. In role: Builds knowledge of Rotageek, the Workload Planner, and the wider labour and workload agenda, asking questions to develop confidence and capability over time.
Communicating (Stronger Together / Networked Leadership): Communicates in engaging ways, keeps others updated, and shares information and insight that helps others do their jobs. In role: Keeps the Coordinator and Senior Manager updated on progress, produces clear reports and updates, and shares insight that supports better decisions across the team.
Being Resourceful (Act Like Owners / Empowered Leadership): Pulls together who or what is needed to get things done, being inventive and using own initiative. In role: Uses existing tools and templates to build reports and trackers efficiently, and looks for ways to simplify recurring tasks over time
