Early Careers
We're passionate about nurturing talent, and our Early Careers programmes are designed to bring out the best in you, offering support and opportunities that grow with your career. Whether you're curious about retail, technology, or anything in between, dive into a huge amount of opportunity and make a difference to customers nationwide – and your own career.
Grow your career with us
Why you should join us
We invest in you, providing the tools and support to realise your career aspirations. In a collaborative team environment that values curiosity and courage, you'll be empowered to make a real difference. Join us and become part of a team that values your development and encourages you to reach your full potential. You’ll enjoy great pay and benefits, too.
How you’ll develop
Your journey with us is an opportunity for continuous growth. You'll gain invaluable hands-on experience and develop in-demand industry skills. With dedicated one-to-one support from experienced colleagues who possess years of industry experience, you'll receive personalised guidance to accelerate your learning and development. Together, we'll work to create meaningful solutions that impact millions of customers nationwide.
Where your career could go
We're committed to your long-term growth and success. That's why we offer clear, relevant, and first-class learning opportunities that align with your career goals. Your voice matters to us; we listen to your feedback and regularly measure how we're doing to ensure your experience is fulfilling. We also understand the importance of flexibility, so we offer various working options to cater to your individual needs and lifestyle. As you progress with us, you'll discover a multitude of pathways to advance your career, all while enjoying a supportive and inclusive work environment. Check back here for our opportunities in Early Careers.
Our Retail Trainee Management Programme is now open
Our Retail Trainee Management Programme is your opportunity to develop into your first management role at Sainsbury’s or Argos. The programme ensures you are set up for success, offering comprehensive training designed to build core leadership, technical and operational skills. We are focused on developing confident and capable first-time leaders who can do great things for their teams and our customers helping take our business to the next level.
Why join the programme
A career in retail management is fast-paced, varied and never dull. A wide variety of roles are available across both our Sainsbury’s and Argos brands. Our trainee manager programme offers a three-phase learning journey to get you ready to excel in your first management role. By immersing yourself in the role of a colleague, you'll gain hands-on experience in both leading a team and understanding your team's responsibilities. Whichever management role you are placed in at the end, you’ll be supported to create joyful experiences for colleagues and customers every day.
Understanding the programme
Phase 1: Weeks 1 - 6
Your first six weeks are an introduction to Sainsbury’s through your onboarding and induction, followed by a programme to get you ready to start your role. You will focus on a new topic each week to build the knowledge and skills required whilst also spending time working and learning the role of a colleague in Sainsbury’s or Argos across different parts of the store.
Phase 2: Weeks 7 – 18
You'll get role–specific training and start to perform the daily and weekly routines involved with being a retail manager. At this point, we’ll place you in a retail management role, with the support of job experts on hand to support and mentor you during this training period.
Phase 3: Weeks 19 – 31
You’ll start practising and embedding your learning, understanding how to drive performance in your team and focus on delivering key leadership skills such as giving feedback and team dynamics.
Good to know
Qualifications or experience aren’t essential. We want to meet individuals driven to provide brilliant customer experiences
It’s a 31-week development programme with a job at the end
You'll have support and training for every step of the way
Latest roles
What it’s like to work here
We want you to be happy that we’re the perfect place for you and your career. So here’s a look at life and work at Sainsbury’s.
Training and development
As well as development tailored to you and your role, we offer everything from leadership and management development to skills-boost sessions and coaching opportunities. It’s all designed to help you be your best and build the career you want.
Wellbeing
We are committed to giving all our people access to the mental, physical and financial health and wellbeing support they need to thrive in all aspects of work and life.
