Store Concept Design Senior Manager

We have an opportunity for a Store Concept Design Senior Manager to lead and inspire the development of creative, innovative, and commercially effective in-store environments across Waitrose bringing to life ‘The Home of The Food Lover’.
In this role, you will lead concept designs, from interior layouts and equipment to graphical and signage solutions, across Core, Convenience, Food Service, and Business-to-Business formats. You’ll champion sustainability, operational efficiency, and customer-centric design while guiding both in-house talent and external agencies.
You will be an experienced people manager able to manage, coach and develop a small team of designers and assistant designers.

• Expected salary - Salary up to £75,000 depending on experience.

• Contract type - This position is a Permanent contract.

• Working pattern/flexible working - The Partnership has adopted a hybrid working approach, meaning you'll be able to work a mixture between the office and home based upon your personal needs whilst balancing the needs of the business. Alongside this we have also signalled a clear intent for Central teams to work ‘more in person than not.’ For the Store Concept Design team this means 3 days a week of in-person time with Tuesday and Wednesday being the core days whilst the other day may be at head office, at suppliers, or in-branch. Core days may also need to flex depending on core projects and may occasionally involve a weekend.

• Location - Bracknell

• The application process requires you to upload your recent portfolio/examples of work

Key responsibilities

• Lead Design Direction: Set clear, innovative design direction for interior spaces, equipment, and signage that differentiates Waitrose from competitors 

• People Leadership: Manage, coach, and develop a team of upto 4 Store Concept Designers and Assistant Designers, fostering a culture of creativity and continuous growth. 

• End-to-End Delivery: Guide concepts from ideation to in-store delivery through our Development Track process, managing Stage Gate activity checklists, project timelines, and budgets. 

• Omnichannel Integration: Think holistically across all customer touchpoints, ensuring physical estate designs complement an omnichannel shopping experience. 

• Stakeholder & Agency Management: Direct internal teams, external design agencies, architects, POS, and property teams to deliver cost-effective, scalable solutions. 

• Commercial & Operational Balance: Work collaboratively to balance aesthetic vision with commercial value, operational viability, material efficiency, and safety. 

Essential skills/experience you’ll need

• Design related degree or equivalent

• Design related experience in retail, marketing or brand

• Experience in operating at a senior levels of the business

• A broad range of experience in store design based roles encompassing 3D and 2D design, with an excellent track record for delivery at a senior level.

• Able to demonstrate strong commercial experience, materials, construction and equipment knowledge and an excellent understanding of customer requirements.

• Experience in design redevelopment and implementation and a proven leader of delivering strategic change in the retail environment.

• Experience in managing an in-house design team and 3rd party design agencies

Desirable skills/experience you may have

• Strong creative background

• In-depth knowledge and practical application of interior design

• Strong understanding of the Waitrose brand

• Working experience of AutoCAD, In-design, Sketch Up, Photoshop or similar

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We’re the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We’re not just employees, we’re Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world. As we look to our future, there’s never been a more exciting time to join us.  

We’re ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose.   

As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect. 

We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong. Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we’re free to be ourselves and can THRIVE. Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective. 

As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it.  

Important points to note:  

It’s important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you’ll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles.  

We occasionally close vacancies early in the event we receive a high volume of applications, and therefore, we recommend you apply early. If you require a reasonable adjustment due to a disability which means you may need longer to complete your application please contact us as soon as possible.

We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview. 

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