Head of People - Finance

Why join us

Joining Sainsbury's as the Head of People Partnering - Finance means being at the forefront of strategic people partnership, shaping high-impact people strategies that drive sustainable business performance and support the Finance Leadership Team in achieving their priorities. This role offers the opportunity to collaborate closely with senior leaders, translate business strategies into actionable people plans, and lead initiatives that strengthen leadership effectiveness, talent development, and organisational effectiveness. By joining our team, you will play a pivotal role in driving positive change, fostering inclusive cultures, and delivering impactful results that contribute to the overall success of Sainsbury's.

What you'll do

As the Head of People Partnering - Finance at Sainsbury's, you will serve as the strategic people partner to the CFO and Finance Leadership Team, driving high-impact people strategies to support the delivery of Finance's priorities. Your role will involve translating the Finance divisional goals and priorities into a divisional people plan aligned with the wider People strategy, utilising people and business data to identify opportunities for improving performance and organisational effectiveness. You will coach and support senior leaders to build high-performing, inclusive teams, strengthen leadership capability, and guide leaders through complex people matters and organisational changes. Additionally, you will be responsible for talent identification, development, and retention, ensuring robust succession plans, and leading the people aspects of organisational transformation and change to maintain engagement and performance. Your success will be measured by the strength of your partnership with the CFO, the alignment between Finance priorities and people plans, leadership capability enhancement, talent pipelines, and successful delivery of organisational change initiatives.

Who you are

As the Head of People Partnering - Finance at Sainsbury's, you are an experienced HR professional with a proven track record of operating as a senior HR Business Partner in complex commercial organisations. You excel in strategically partnering with executive stakeholders and senior leaders to drive business outcomes through high-impact people strategies, leadership development, talent management, and organisational effectiveness initiatives. Your strong coaching, relationship building, and stakeholder influencing skills, combined with your ability to interpret data and insights, enable you to shape and deliver people plans that align with business priorities and foster a culture of inclusivity, performance, and continuous improvement.

Essential Criteria

• Demonstrable experience operating as a senior HR Business Partner within a complex, multi functional commercial environment, delivering people strategies aligned to business priorities.
• Proven ability to influence and partner with executive level stakeholders, providing evidence based insight and guidance on organisational, leadership and cultural matters.
• Demonstrated track record of leading organisational change and transformation, including designing and implementing people related interventions that improve effectiveness and performance.
• Ability to interpret and apply people and business data to diagnose issues, shape decisions and inform targeted people plans.
• Comprehensive knowledge across talent management, leadership development, organisational design and employee relations, supported by relevant professional expertise (e.g., CIPD Level 7 or equivalent experience).