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 store communications, store query triage, and the operational activity that underpins how the business works with its store estate.
Working alongside the Senior Operations and Communications Manager and the wider Central Op’s Team, the role plays a key part in keeping the operation running smoothly and providing stores with a responsive, joined-up experience from the centre.
The role supports the Store Operations Hub by handling incoming store queries, triaging them to the right team, and tracking them through to resolution.
It supports the build and publishing of store communications through Zipline, helping to keep messaging consistent, accurate, and delivered on time.
Alongside this, the role supports the management of contracts, budgets, and operational tasks across the team, providing coordination and administrative support that keeps the wider function on track.
- Triage incoming queries and direct them to the right team for resolution.
- Track queries through to resolution, chasing updates and closing the loop with stores.
- Support the identification of repeat issues and themes to help improve how the Hub operates.
- Support the build and publishing of store communications through comms platford, including The Store Trading Bulletin, campaign documents, and other content.
- Follow the agreed patterns for tone, design, and structure so communications land consistently in stores.
- Support the day-to-day management of our comms platform, including uploading content, scheduling, and basic platform housekeeping.
- Check communications for accuracy and consistency before they are published.
- Support the day-to-day management of the cleaning contract with OCS and the stationery contract with Lyreco.
- Support the tracking and administration of the store incentives, store technology, and stationery budgets.
- Support the day-to-day management of store technology, including tracking replacements, damages, and lost equipment.
- Support the operational rollout of technology change into stores, including administrative and coordination tasks.
- Support the coordination of the monthly Voice Meetings and bi-annual Roadshows, including logistics, content collation, and follow-up actions.
- Support the wider team with day-to-day tasks, projects, and workstreams as required.
Essential
- 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 for a store audience.
- Attention to Detail: Consistent accuracy in documentation, communications, tracking, and reporting tasks.
- 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 store 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 Zipline and ServiceNow.
- Flexibility & Adaptability: Able to shift focus quickly and help the team respond to changing priorities and store demands.
- Customer-Focused Mindset: Approaches every task with stores in mind, treating them as the customer of the department.
Desirable:
- Retail Awareness: Some understanding of how our stores operate day-to-day, or previous experience working in a retail environment.
- Communications Experience: Exposure to writing, editing, or publishing content for an internal audience.
- Platform Familiarity: Experience using internal communications, task management, or service management platforms such as ServiceNow or equivalent.
- Data & Reporting: Confidence pulling together basic reports, trackers, or dashboards to support decision-making.
- Coordination Experience: Previous experience supporting events, meetings, or projects in a coordination or administrative capacity.
Behaviours we look for:
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 store queries logged into the Store Operations Hub, seeing them through to resolution and closing the loop with stores 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 Senior Manager, plans the week around comms deadlines and Hub activity, 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 Zipline, the Store Operations Hub, and the wider business, 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: Produces clear, accurate, and consistent content for the Bulletin, campaign documents, and other store communications, and keeps the Senior Manager and wider team updated on progress and issues.
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 templates, patterns, and tools to build communications and coordinate activity efficiently, and looks for ways to simplify recurring tasks over time.
