Imports Operator
Salary: Competitive Plus Benefits
Location: Coventry Store Support Centre - Ansty Park and Home, Coventry, CV7 9RD
Contract type: Permanent
Business area: Logistics
Closing date: 19 September 2025
Requisition ID: 400018228
Logistics - Imports Operator
Why join us
By joining Sainsbury's Imports International Operations Team, you will become part of a fast-paced and dynamic environment where you'll play a crucial role in delivering our imports strategy. You'll have the opportunity to work collaboratively with a diverse range of stakeholders, including freight providers, merchandising teams, and customs teams, to ensure the smooth and timely delivery of our products from our global supply base. We value accuracy, attention to detail, and problem-solving skills, and offer a supportive and flexible work-life balance. By joining us, you'll have the chance to contribute to continuous improvement efforts, develop your skills, and be part of a team that drives efficiency and customer satisfaction.
What you'll do
As a member of the Imports International Operations Team, your role will involve providing day-to-day business analysis and problem resolution to support the delivery of the imports strategy. Working closely with imports controllers and other operators, you will manage workload and a joint inbox to serve internal and external stakeholders. This fast-paced and dynamic role requires you to liaise with freight forwarders, freight providers, and colleagues worldwide to ensure timely shipment of products from our global supply base. Building strong relationships with various internal stakeholders, including merchandising teams, customs & excise team, and Sainsbury’s Asia teams, is crucial. You will be responsible for managing the smooth transition of Purchase Orders from shipment booking to arrival in the UK, providing accurate data, reports, and insights for ever-changing circumstances. Additionally, you will support efforts to drive improved freight manager and carrier performance, drive continuous process improvement, assist with event planning and reporting, and contribute to colleague training and coaching. Accuracy, attention to detail, excellent communication skills, proficiency in MS Office especially Excel, organisational skills, and the drive for personal development and continuous improvement are essential in this role.
Who you are
As an Imports Operator within our vibrant Imports International Operations Team, you are a detail-oriented professional with experience in supply chain, logistics, and freight management. Your strong analytical skills enable you to provide accurate data, insights, and reports on purchase orders across various channels and modes of freight. With excellent communication skills and the ability to build effective relationships, you collaborate closely with internal stakeholders, freight forwarders, and international colleagues to ensure timely shipment of products from our global supply base. Your organised and proactive approach allows you to manage multiple data sources and support a busy workload, while your ambition for personal development drives you to continuously improve processes and contribute to the success of our imports strategy.
We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer so you’ll be welcomed whoever you are and wherever you work. Around here, there’s always the chance to try something new — whether that’s as part of an evolving team or somewhere else across the business - and we take development seriously and promise to support you. We also recognise and celebrate colleagues when they go the extra mile and, where possible, offer flexible working. When you join our team, we’ll also offer you an amazing range of benefits. Here are some of them: Starting off with colleague discount, you'll be able to save 10% on your shopping online and instore at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat, and we regularly increase the discount to 15% at points during the year. We've also got you covered for your future with our pensions scheme and life cover. You'll also be able to share in our success as you may be eligible for a performance-related bonus of up to 5% of salary, depending on how we perform. Your wellbeing is important to us too. You'll receive an annual holiday allowance and you can buy up to an additional week's holiday. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, salary advance (where you can access some of your pay before pay day) as well access to a great range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers. And if you ever need it there is also an employee assistance programme. Moments that matter are as important to us as they are to you which is why we give up to 26 weeks’ pay for maternity or adoption leave and up to 4 weeks’ pay for paternity leave. Please see www.sainsburys.jobs for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibiity criteria may apply).
