About the role
Fixed Term Contract - 24 months
From £95,000 + Pension + PMI + ShareSave + 6.6 weeks holiday + Company car allowance + Hybrid Working
Reports to: Director of Retail Operations
Direct Reports: 3 line reports, with a central and field operations team of 50 colleagues
Location: The role is based in our Store Support Office (SSO) in Eastleigh, Southampton, with flexibility to work from home or B&Q locations. However, you must be able to do a minimum of 2-3 days a week in SSO Southampton Office to be face to face with your team and cross functional stakeholders. Occasional nationwide store travel & external meetings as required. Requirement to work occasional weekends on a rotated basis, to support Operational cover.
We believe anyone can improve their home to make life better. From our Southampton Store Support office (SSO) we equip our stores, our people, and our whole business with everything it takes to help our millions of customers create a home they’ll love. Join us as a Head of Retail Deployment Capacity and Implementation and you’ll be a big part of this.
Key responsibilities
Step into a key role at the centre of our Retail Operations at B&Q. You will be the principal lead on planning our store capacity, store deployment and delivering operational excellence across 300+ stores. This role is for an experienced leader who can create a great environment for the subject matter experts in this team to flourish, whilst balancing the business needs to ensure our stores can operate and deliver effectively.
You will spend time across both the planning as well as the execution. You will balance the detail of capacity planning and colleague deployment, whilst leading a field team to deliver effective implementation. You’ll work in close partnership with a large mix of cross functional teams and be influencing up director level. You will be experienced in the art of negotiation with senior stakeholders and making decisions which get the best outcome for the business whilst protecting volume of activity stores can deliver.
Key Accountabilities / Responsibilities:
- Lead end to end store capacity planning and oversee the central planning team to model workload volumes and ensure resources are deployed efficiently in stores.
- Oversee the leadership of deployment modelling and store staff cost budgets to ensure effective resourcing and operational efficiency. Evolve deployment and work force management to be fit for the future.
- Lead the end to end implementation of business as usual operations as well as business change. Execute strategic plans, ensuring operational readiness, and coaching the implementation team (including field managers) to deliver consistent, effective change across the estate.
- Set clear measures of success, use insights to prioritise actions, and link operational improvements to commercial outcomes.
- Reduce colleague time spent on task to increase customer facing time to make every customer count. Drive operational simplicity and reduce unnecessary complexity for stores.
- Benchmark against industry leaders, bring in external expertise, and foster a culture of restless dissatisfaction. Always seeking better ways to serve customers and colleagues.
- You’ll be the bridge between Stores and SSO. Partnering across regional, store and SSO teams to deliver consistent, scalable improvements, champion the store voice, and ensure business and operational changes land right first time while holding store teams to account.
- Support the Director of Retail Operations with key information and decision making to support the restoration of normal business operations when required. Take the lead in communicating effectively with the field teams within Central Retail. Provide feedback on current reality and possible workarounds using intelligence from their field team and key retail contract partners.
Required skills & experience
- Able to navigate complex conversations, negotiate effectively with senior stakeholders, and make balanced decisions that achieve the best business outcomes.
- Experienced in simplifying, embedding, and sustaining change. Capable of managing cross functional stakeholders and telling compelling stories that bring teams with you.
- Highly skilled at collaborating across multiple functions, influencing at all levels, and championing the store voice in key initiatives (including digital and operational change). Experienced in doing this within a matrix office environment.
- Sets clear measures of success, uses insights and analytics to drive prioritisation and decision making, and links operational improvements directly to commercial outcomes.
- Inspirational Motivator: Energises and motivates large, diverse teams. Creates a highperforming environment with a strong culture of accountability, learning, and continuous improvement.
- Brings strong handson understanding of store operations, rhythms, digital fulfilment, and endtoend customer journeys.
- Presents with impact, builds strong rapport quickly, and confidently facilitates sessions with senior stakeholders and crossfunctional teams
Key Business Relationships
- Retail – Stores, Regional Managers, Divisional Managers, Trade Point, Field teams
- Finance, Commercial, Range change, Digital, Marketplace, Marketing, HR teams, Technology (SSO)
- As required – Logistics, Strategy, Kingfisher Group
Budget Responsibilities
- Retail Deployment budget
- Budget to deliver range change in stores, and projects as required
Why This Role Matters
This is your opportunity to shape the future of retail operations at B&Q - building the capacity, deployment, and operational foundations that empower our 300+ stores to deliver exceptional customer experiences every day. By leading the planning and implementation of major store and range change programmes, you’ll directly influence how effectively we serve customers, enable colleagues, and deliver the ambitions of the Retail growth plans.
What's in it for me?
As part of a great team, you’ll be valued for who you are. We’re committed to making B&Q more diverse and representative of the communities we serve, where everyone can feel they belong and have equal opportunities. You will have access to a range of networks that represent our colleagues and allies and help us to continue to put diversity and inclusion at the heart of our business.
As a WL3 position, this role comes with a Company Car Allowance
We also recognise that wellness means different things to different people, and we want to help colleagues be at their best and feel well by offering a range of benefits to help you. As well as a competitive salary, our benefits package includes an award-winning pension scheme, bonus, ShareSave options, 6.6 weeks holiday, payroll giving, an Employee Assistance Programme, shopping discounts, colleague wellbeing benefits and lots more!
So we can support you during the application or interview process, please contact recruitment@b-and-q.co.uk for any recruitment adjustments.
We want to ensure that all employees, future employees and applicants to all Kingfisher companies are treated equally regardless of age, gender, marital or civil partnership status, colour, ethnic or national origin, culture, religious belief, philosophical belief, political opinion, disability, gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation.
If you require any additional support or adjustments to help you make an application, please contact us at recruitment@b-and-q.co.uk.
Training &
development
Learn & Develop at B&Q
When you join B&Q, we want you to be all you can be. From the minute you walk through our doors to the exciting moment you make that next career move, we're here to help you make the most of every opportunity. Thanks to our friendly learning system, LEO, we make sure you always have the support you need to take on every challenge and fit your learning around your life. Here, we know that the best way to grow is together.
Flexible learning with LEO
LEO is your every day, on the go learning and development partner. Helping you build the knowledge you need now and in the future. With LEO, you can access training and content, anywhere, anytime and on any device. You can even influence the type of training on offer by rating and recommending content, and letting us know what we can do to improve. Award-winning and featuring over 500 different learning activities - like short videos, articles, workshops and webinars - think of LEO as your 24/7 training pal, designed to help you make the most of your B&Q career journey.
Developing in role
Learning never stops at B&Q. Whether you've been in your role for one day or five years, there's always something to be curious about. It's why we're always creating learning opportunities and experiences that'll give you the chance to develop your skills. Like our First Line Manager programme: a course that helps our newest line managers build their confidence and management skills. Or our Leadership Development programme that challenges our more experienced leaders to reflect on and adapt their approach for our ever-evolving ways of working.
Building expertise and know-how
We believe anyone can learn the technical skills to do their job with excellence. It's all about attitude and behaviour here. So, if you're passionate about customer service and design, we'll teach you how to create beautiful kitchens. If you're someone who loves being outdoors, we'll help you learn about our garden ranges. And, if you're someone who just loves what we do but doesn't know where to start, we'll help you find the perfect role for you to grow into.
Accelerated Development Talent Programmes
Whatever goal you're working to at B&Q, we want to help you get there. We do this by designing a number of programmes which help you to practice your skills and learn new ones, gain valuable experiences, learn from others and jump on opportunities that are right for you. From leaders taking their first steps into management to those simply looking for a new challenge, we're there to make sure you achieve your ambitions.
Induction
At B&Q, we want every new colleague to understand our values, our customers, and how we work together to achieve our purpose. That’s why we’ve designed an induction programme that’ll give you real insight into our business, our culture and help you feel included from day one. For your first few weeks on the job you’ll work with your team and line manager, mixing online learning with practical tasks, to grow your knowledge a little every day.
Explore our
store support office
Facilities
In B&Q house, you’ll enjoy an onsite gym, a subsidised Costa, a canteen and restaurant, prayer room, plus open plan and cosy work spaces, an outdoor picnic area, and bike sheds for those who cycle in.
Sustainability
B&Q House has a biomass boiler, solar panels and a rainwater harvesting system. Our building also makes use of upcycled and recycled furniture and fittings, and features natural ventilation, heat retention and CO2 management, all via our very own weather station on the roof.
Ready to apply?
Step 1:
Apply via bandqcareers.com
Step 2:
We'll contact you for a phone interview
Step 3:
We’ll carry out a face to face or online interview (and we may request a 2nd interview if the role you're applying for is more complex).
Step 4:
We’ll contact you with feedback, and maybe even a job offer.
Check out our FAQs for more information about interviewing at B&Q.