Cluster Lead (Essex & Suffolk)

Vacancy Introduction

Come and join our team!

We’re looking for a Cluster Lead to join our Food team, covering our stores across Essex and Suffolk. You’ll be responsible for leading a group of stores and coaching Store Managers to deliver strong commercial performance, exceptional customer experiences and consistently high operational standards.

This is a field-based leadership role where you’ll be visible in our stores, working alongside our Store Managers and teams to turn our Retail Plan into action. You’ll identify opportunities, solve challenges, develop talent and help create high-performing teams across your cluster.

You’ll also play an important role in connecting our stores with senior retail leadership, making sure our colleagues’ voices, customer insight and local opportunities help shape how we move forward.

With a salary of £50,000–£60,000, a company car provided and responsibility across Essex and Suffolk, this is a great opportunity for an experienced retail leader looking to make a real impact across multiple stores.

Want to know more? Take a look at our job description attached to the bottom of this webpage.

What you’ll be doing

• Lead, coach and develop Store Managers to deliver strong commercial and operational performance. 
• Take ownership of performance across your cluster, using KPIs and business insight to identify opportunities and drive improvement. 
• Deliver our Retail Plan at cluster level, turning strategic priorities into clear and achievable action. 
• Spend time in stores, coaching at the shelf edge and supporting teams to deliver great customer service and operational standards. 
• Identify opportunities to grow sales, improve availability, manage costs and reduce shrink. 
• Build strong talent pipelines through recruitment, succession planning and colleague development. 
• Champion a customer-first culture and use feedback and insight to improve the customer experience. 
• Ensure stores operate safely, legally and in line with our policies, standards and regulatory requirements. 
• Support change and continuous improvement, working closely with People, Compliance, Safety, Audit and Project teams. 
• Act as a two-way link between our stores and senior retail leadership, sharing insight, celebrating success and ensuring our frontline voice is heard.

The person we are looking for 

We’re looking for an experienced and commercially focused retail leader who can inspire Store Managers and deliver results through others.

You’ll have:

• Proven experience leading multiple retail stores or sites, ideally within a high-volume or fast-paced environment. 
• Strong experience coaching and developing Store Managers or other senior operational leaders. 
• A track record of improving commercial performance through effective use of KPIs, data and business insight. 
• Strong understanding of retail operations, customer experience, cost control and people leadership. 
• Experience leading change and delivering continuous improvement. 
• Excellent communication, influencing and stakeholder management skills. 
• A proactive, resilient and solutions-focused approach. 
• Strong understanding of retail compliance, health & safety and risk management. 
• A collaborative, inclusive and values-led leadership style. 
• A full, clean UK driving licence and the ability to travel regularly between stores across Essex and Suffolk. 

A retail management qualification or business-related degree, and experience within a community-based or cooperative business, would be desirable but aren't essential.

Perks of the job

At the East of England Co-op, we strive to be the best place to work. We invest in our colleagues to help them to progress in their careers and achieve their full potential. How do we do this?  

• Competitive rates of pay
• 20% discount in our food stores, along with other discounts across our family of businesses
• 25 days holiday (plus bank holiday entitlement) which increases with service
• 5% employer pension contribution
• Death in service benefit
• Enhanced family leave and pay arrangements*
• Opportunities to grow, with award-winning training and apprenticeship programmes
• Great discounts, deals, and cashback across over 900 high street and online retailers
• Financial wellbeing support, including Stream®
• Access to Cycle To Work, Rental Deposit Scheme, and SmartTech (after a qualifying period)
• Employee Recognition Scheme
• Long Service Awards
• Free remote GP service, available 24/7, including prescription, fitness, nutrition, and counselling services
• Employee Assistance Programme

We recognise the challenges people face trying to balance commitments both in and out of the workplace - perhaps studying, caring commitments, or other employment. We therefore aim to be as flexible as possible, to create shift patterns that work for both our co-op and our colleagues.

* Enhanced on statutory terms, subject to service criteria.