Retail Store Planner

Retail Store Planner
£25,000 to £27,000 plus great benefits (Work Level 6B)
Manchester city centre, hybrid working, coming into the office around once a month and the rest from home.

We’re looking for a motivated Retail Store Planner to join us and help bring our stores to life across our Food and Wholesale business.

Why this job matters

At Co op, we’re owned by our members and guided by our values. We’re committed to creating spaces that are welcoming, inclusive and practical for the communities that we serve. The layouts that you design will directly shape how customers shop and how colleagues work every day in our stores, from accessibility and safety, to flow and sustainability. By getting the details right, you’ll help create stores that are easier to use, better to work in, and that are aligned to Co op’s commitment to doing the right thing.

If you enjoy problem solving, collaborating with others and turning your plans into real world spaces, this could be a great role for you.

What you’ll do

• Produce accurate store layout designs using CAD to support our Capital Investment Programmes, including new stores, refits and special projects
• Design layouts for new stores and refits, applying Co op Blueprint Principles to deliver the best possible in store experience for customers and colleagues
• Work closely with surveyors, contractors and architects to make sure designs meet high standards and are practical to deliver
• Support sign off meetings across Group businesses, making sure that projects are drawn accurately and delivered on time
• Provide specialist layout design expertise for special projects, delivering schemes in line with agreed timelines
• Make sure designs comply with all relevant standards, policies and regulations, including Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), Construction Design Management (CDM), Health & Safety and Environmental policies
• Help to identify and manage risks, escalating issues when needed
• Contribute to a strong team culture, supporting compliance and best practice across the design team.

This role would suit someone who

• Has a technical or vocational qualification relevant to design, or equivalent work experience
• Can analyse information and data to make informed design decisions
• Communicates clearly and confidently with colleagues and partners
• Is organised and able to manage their own workload, with a high level of attention to detail
• Enjoys working as part of a team and supporting others
• Has strong IT skills, with some knowledge of AutoCAD (this isn’t essential – we can teach you on the job)
• Has an understanding of retail environments and a passion for creative, customer focused design.

Why Co-op?

At Co-op, we’re owned by our members. And because we’re owned by you, we can do right by you. So when you join us, you’re not just taking a job, you’re joining a movement. We’re an organisation that puts people and communities first, and we’re powered by purpose. We want this to be a place where you can thrive, so you’ll also receive:

• An annual bonus (based on personal and business performance)
• 28 days holiday (rising to 32 with service) plus bank holidays
• A pension with up to 10% employer contributions
• Access to a subsidised onsite gym (at our Manchester HQ)
• Coaching and training to support your career development
• Wagestream app – giving you access to a percentage of your pay as you earn

Building a diverse environment

We’re actively building diverse teams and we welcome applications from everyone. If you have a disability, we can make reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process according to your needs. We’re also part of the Disability Confident scheme, meaning we’ll always offer an interview to disabled candidates who apply through the scheme if they meet the minimum criteria for a job.

We’ll ask whether you’d like to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme when you apply.

If we invite you to take part in the recruitment process for any of our jobs, we’ll ask you if you need any reasonable adjustments to enable you to participate.

You can find out more about our recruitment process at jobs.coop.co.uk/apply-process

You can find out more about the Disability Confident scheme at Disability Confident Scheme – Co-op Colleagues and more about our commitments to diversity and inclusion at Diversity and Inclusion

Please note that we may close applications for this role early.

As part of your application, you’ll need to complete an online assessment. This assessment typically takes up to 50 minutes. If you’re a current Co-op colleague, this does not need to be completed.