Strategic Capability and Performance Manager at Hilton Foods (FTSE 250 Manufacturing) (2026-01 – Present)
Fixed Term Contract. Global role covering 7000 colleagues across 9 regions, member of the core business transformation work stream to drive capability, learning and talent programmes, translating strategy into meaningful capability planning.
- Project managed and launched 3 elements of a new Performance cycle which introduced an aligned global approach to the business for objective setting, mid-year review and personal development plans, this involved working with the HRIS team to design, test and build solutions in the Cornerstone HRIS. The new cycle has led to all 1200 online colleagues setting SMART objectives to drive business performance.
- Created a Capability Academy framework to launch in the business to drive skills growth in core strategic areas. The framework comprised of collating internal and external insights, building communities of practice to encourage peer to peer learning and launch bespoke learning activities for high performing colleagues.
- Launched RFI for leadership development programme aimed at driving cultural and behavioural change across the management population in preparation to launch a performance rating scale, focusing on driving positive performance management enforcement.
- Strategic planning for Manufacturing Excellence Academy to launch in 2027 which will align global practices and launch 12 core tools into the business to drive a continuous improvement mindset.
People Capability Partner at Sainsbury's (2024-06 – 2025-10)
Aligned with the Retail and Logistics Teams for all brands covering c.130k colleagues to provide expert consultation to People Partners, Subject Matter Expert's and Senior Leadership in order to define performance needs and capability gaps and simplify processes, contributing to organisational effectiveness and performance improvement.
- Trusted source of learning consultation, attending Retail Governance forums to make key decisions on initiatives impacting store operations and a key partner for transformation projects.
- Initiated a logistics induction review for internal and 3rd party agency colleagues, analysing data from multiple sources to build a business case for improving both induction and mandatory training. Recommendations were grounded with colleague perspectives and analysis, ensuring training will align to business strategy, operational needs and regulatory requirements.
- Identified requirement to create BAU training after launch of new labour management software used by 30k managers across the business. Project managed SMEs and collaborated with content designers to deliver a new solution which significantly reduces learning time and promotes self-learning, driving productivity of new starters and delivering cost efficiencies.
- Led on procurement of a third party to partner on Inclusive Leadership campaign, briefing to the potential candidates, aligning the correct tender process and communicating feedback to the senior leadership team to influence next steps.
- Consultant on Petrol Forecourt learning which simplified the offer saving colleague time, driving service expectations and ensuring legal compliance across the petrol community. Ensured the training went live to coordinate on a wider business multi-skilling programme and enhanced the evaluation feedback loop to allow meaningful analysis post launch.
Learning Business Partner at Sainsbury's (2019-11 – 2024-06)
Working across all commercial and store support centre teams covering c.15k learners my role focused on consultation of key learning initiatives which aligned to the business and workforce strategy, also ensuring the business was compliant against regulatory requirements.
- Managed a budget of £150k for essential product technical training maintaining due diligence and audit requirements, covering teams in 5 global locations.
- Implemented content changes to key trading related courses including Managing Cost of Goods, resulting in a significant business uplift of at least £3m within a year of updates taking place.
- Owned and facilitated periodic new starter induction sessions to 600 colleagues per year, communicating key strategy, departmental ways of working and learning support to colleagues, receiving positive feedback on both my delivery and the depth of information included.
- Account Manager for key 3rd Party partner of the Commercial Academy which focused on bringing a consistent approach across the Sainsbury's and Argos commercial teams, providing content support, scheduling and evaluation.
- Improved team processes and reporting, including creating a learning review document to prioritise workload in the team, driving consistent ways of working and the ability to forward plan workload.
- Project Managed third party provider and internal SMEs to create a learning solution for high performing global teams, embedding improved ways of working within the team and seeing an uplift in team culture.
- Implemented a new elearn for Incident Management in the business to reduce risk to customers, working alongside the design project team and delivering a communication plan which drove the 'recall and refer' method of learning.
Assistant Strategy Manager, Commercial Strategy & Operations at Sainsbury's (2017-10 – 2019-11)
Working with senior leaders, responsible for the development and delivery of key retail improvement projects to optimise business functions and provide insights/analysis to support commercial priorities.
- Identified key strategies to drive profitable decision-making and cost savings in a Cost to Serve project which included detailed category deep-dives on Furniture, Consumer Electronics and Licensed Toys categories. This project delivered £1.5m savings to the business.
- Developed a 3-year strategy for the Gaming category to improve cost efficiencies/increased revenue, sourcing and analysing a range of data sources to produce insight to support decision-making. This project included facilitating workshops with the team, and providing full updates as required to the Trading Director and senior management.
Group Strategy Executive at Penguin Random House (2015-03 – 2017-10)
Reporting to the Head of Strategy, my role analysed strategic insights, delivering recommendations to ensure the company delivered on key strategic initiatives. Key projects included the merger of Penguin and Random House, global digital rights alignment and international sales strategies.
Group Strategy Assistant at Penguin Random House (2011-02 – 2015-03)
Reporting to the Head of Strategy, my role analysed strategic insights, delivering recommendations to ensure the company delivered on key strategic initiatives. Key projects included the merger of Penguin and Random House, global digital rights alignment and international sales strategies.
