Groceries Online Delivery Planning Manager – Sainsbury’s Digital

We’d all like amazing work to do, and real work-life balance. That’s waiting for you at Sainsbury’s. As the link between sellers and buyers, retail and head office, our Retail Operations team is the cog that keeps things running.

With teams focused on store-facing activity, labour, transformation, online, delivery and contact centres, we touch almost every part of the business. It’s an incredibly fast-paced environment, where you need to pivot not just daily, but often hourly. So while we plan as much as we can, it’s vital that we all think beyond our job descriptions and look for ways to optimise and improve everything we do.

There’s also a real team ethos here. After all, it’s people like you who will truly transform this part of the business.

This role is for a 9-12 Month Fixed Term Contract At Sainsbury’s, customers are at the heart of everything we do, and our Digital channel plays a critical role in our vision to make good food for all of us.

With significant growth across our grocery Home Delivery and Click & Collect services, the Digital Planning Team plays a vital role as we continue to expand, innovate and respond to the evolving needs of our customers, our business and the wider online delivery market.

As Delivery Planning Manager, you will play an instrumental role in our fast‑paced, expanding operation. You will be responsible for analysing performance data, forecasting labour requirements, collaborating closely with operational teams, and supporting the rollout of new delivery initiatives, while ensuring the right balance between service levels and cost efficiency.

Your contribution will be key to ensuring we have the right people in place to deliver groceries across the UK, directly impacting customer satisfaction and supporting sustainable growth in an evolving online grocery market.

More about the role:

• Responsible for owning the budget and planning of online delivery driver labour across nationwide grocery delivery and Click & Collect operations.
• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Planning Analysts to deliver optimal driver labour schedules within agreed timescales, balancing a significant cost base with customer slot availability.
• Accountable for setting the driver labour budget, tracking performance, reporting variances, and providing updated cost forecasts.
• Work closely with Digital Operations Managers to ensure driver shift structures remain relevant and stores are set up to succeed for customers.
• Monitor key Sainsbury’s Groceries Online KPIs, including Shift Order Fill, Customer Slot Availability, and Van Utilisation, identifying opportunities and working cross‑functionally to deliver improvements.
• Represent Driver Planning in wider business workstreams, including EV rollout, store refits, and structural cost‑saving initiatives, ensuring planning implications are fully considered.
• Prioritise and deliver key analytical work through the team to support both operational performance and strategic decision‑making.
• Collaborate with wider teams to plan for key trading events such as Easter and Christmas, supporting year‑on‑year growth and operational stability.
• Produce requirements for future delivery fleet size to ensure the right number of delivery vans are available to meet customer demand.
• Build and maintain strong cross‑functional relationships across Forecasting, Retail, Finance, Property, and project teams to ensure plans are operationally robust, compliant with labour regulations, and aligned to sales, cost, and customer service targets.
• Identify, source, and develop analytical tools to drive continuous improvement in planning processes and resource optimisation.
• Analyse and interpret complex data from multiple sources to support strategic planning decisions and integrate internal business projects into labour plans.

• Highly numerate with advanced analytical skills including Microsoft Excel plus programming experience in one or more of the following: R, SQL, Python (or similar) and likely to have a background in mathematics, engineering, computer science or data science.
• Self-motivated, flexible with the ability to adapt to the fast-changing pace of an operational environment, using your own judgement to manage your workload and that of your team.
• Strong interpersonal and influencing skills with the ability to work cross-functionally with a variety of stakeholders.
• Ability to translate complex analysis and technical principles for non-technical audiences.
• A proactive approach to continual improvement of planning processes and systems.
• Experience of working in an operational environment or online delivery business is desirable.
• Role model the Sainsbury's