Woolworths

Workforce Experience Lead

We are Woolworths Group | Ko Woolworths Tātou

We are Woolworths Group. 200,000+ bright minds, passionate hearts, and unique perspectives across Australia and New Zealand. Connected by a shared Purpose - 'to create better experiences together for a better tomorrow'. That Purpose fuels our ambition to explore new ideas, make brave commitments, and innovate better ways to meet the food and everyday needs of more than 24 million customers every week.

If you're excited to turn today's blue-sky thinking into a better tomorrow for future generations, you'll find yourself supported and enriched in a dynamic, inclusive, and empowering workplace. With a culture of genuine care, a flexible approach to work, and opportunities across the group to grow your career and make a meaningful impact, the possibilities for what we can achieve together are endless.

What you’ll do | Hei mahi

You’ll be responsible for leading the Workforce Experience strategy and infrastructure for Woolworths New Zealand (WWNZ). This role drives store-level excellence through a strategic coaching roadmap, ensuring we have the right team in the right place at the right time. You will oversee the governance of leadership rostering principles, manage external labour provider relationships, and lead a high-performing team to deliver technical and coaching expertise across the store network.

Key Responsibilities:

• Store Coaching & Capability: Develop and execute a comprehensive roadmap for coaching store teams in effective rostering and labour forecasting, ensuring our teams can master forecasting for sales, items, and labour scheduling.

• Governance & Business Rules: Establish and lead the governance of rostering principles. You will ensure all business functions operate within established WFM business rules, manage people consultation plans for contract changes, and monitor labour standards.

• Team Leadership & Development: Lead, develop, and coach a Workforce Planning team of 5 direct reports, fostering a culture of high performance and ensuring the "on-sharing" of expertise from the national team down to store-level operators.

• External Relationship Management: Act as the key relationship holder for external labour providers (such as Sidekicker), collaborating with vendors to seamlessly integrate third-party labour with our wider workforce strategy.

• Change Management & Stakeholder Engagement: Lead people change plans in conjunction with the WWNZ People team. You will also influence cross-functional stakeholders to embed UKG/RT3 as our core WFM tools and partner with Australian WFM tribes to maintain group alignment.

What you’ll bring | Hei koha

You'll bring a purpose-led, empathetic approach to leadership with proven experience building strategic plans and roadmaps for large-scale workforce environments. You are highly adaptable and excel at translating complex forecasting and system data into relatable, actionable routines for store teams.

To be successful in this position, you will have:

• Significant operational experience (ideally 10+ years), with a deep understanding of store-level scheduling and labour standards. Previous or current senior leadership experience is highly valued!

• Strong understanding of retail processes, collective agreements, and labour scheduling.

• Demonstrated ability to lead consultation processes related to contract, business rule, or system changes smoothly.

• A proven track record of managing operational levers to drive growth while balancing short-term needs with a long-term WFM roadmap.

• Exceptional collaborative skills to influence cross-functional stakeholders, foster a welcoming team environment, and solve problems to simplify experiences for our team and customers.

What you’ll experience | Ngā Huanga

Our Team Members are at the heart of everything we do and we’re always looking for ways to support your career journey and reward great work:

• A commitment to flexibility through a hybrid working model which combines time spent at a support office or hub and time working from home, supporting both in-person connection and balancing the flexibility that remote working provides for our teams.

• High-impact role supporting our teams who enrich our communities.

• A global business with endless career possibilities around every corner and across every discipline – with valuable exposure to a vast and exciting business network.

• A range of programs to help you prioritise and manage your wellbeing, including 24/7 access to the Sonder app.

• A progressive and competitive leave policy that gives you more space for what matters to you.

• Team discounts across our range of Woolworths Group brands you know and love and a robust rewards program that celebrates and incentivises purpose-driven work.

Everyone belongs at Woolworths Group | No Woolworths tātou

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are key to realising our purpose of better together for a better tomorrow. We recognise the value our team’s diversity brings to our business, customers, and communities and that teams with diverse experiences and backgrounds enrich our group and are better able to innovate and solve problems. As one of the largest employers in Australia and New Zealand, we aim to create a truly inclusive workplace where everyone feels that they belong, can be their best selves, and reach their full potential.

We encourage all candidates to apply; please let us know in your application if we can support you with any adjustments in the hiring process.