Head of Workforce Management

The Range; Plymouth; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading UK retailer is seeking a Head of Workforce Management to lead strategic and operational direction in Plymouth. This role focuses on maximizing colleague productivity and optimizing wage spend across stores. The ideal candidate will have proven experience in workforce optimization in multi-site environments, strong analytical skills, and proficiency in WFM software. The position offers a competitive salary, pension, and employee benefits, emphasizing collaboration and continuous improvement.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Pension

Long service awards

Employee discount

Cycle to work scheme

Qualifications

• Proven experience in a senior workforce management or labour optimisation role.
• Strong understanding of productivity modelling.
• Experience managing large wage budgets.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement workforce management strategy.
• Lead forecasting and budgeting of labour demand.
• Define and deliver KPIs for monitoring productivity.

Skills

Senior workforce management experience

Understanding of labour forecasting

Analytical skills

Stakeholder management skills

WFM software proficiency

Knowledge of UK retail labour laws

Tools

Kronos

Reflexis

Quinyx

Job description

CDS Superstores, trading as The Range, wilko & Homebase is one of the UKs fastest-growing retailers. With nearly 300 stores nationwide and over 15,000 colleagues. Our vision is to deliver outstanding value and choice to our customers every day. As we continue to expand, we’re investing in smarter ways of working ensuring every colleague, shift, and hour delivers maximum impact for our customers and business.

As a result of our expansion plans and our continued ongoing success we are now looking to appoint a Head of Workforce Management. Based at our Head Office in Plymouth, with national travel as required, this unique opportunity combines a challenging, high impact role with a sought-after Devon location and lifestyle.

About The Role

The Head of Workforce Management (WFM), reporting into our Chief Operating Officer, will lead the strategic and operational direction of labour planning, scheduling, and optimisation across our retail estate and support functions. This role will be responsible for maximising colleague productivity and customer service while optimising wage spend, ensuring that our stores are efficiently resourced to deliver commercial and operational goals.

You will drive continuous improvement through data‑led decision-making, workforce analytics, and system‑enabled optimisation, partnering closely with Operations, Finance, HR, and Store Leadership Teams.

Your Key Responsibilities Will Include

• Develop and implement our workforce management strategy to balance customer service, operational efficiency, and wage cost optimisation.
• Lead forecasting and budgeting of labour demand, ensuring alignment with business trading patterns, sales targets, and seasonal trends.
• Define and deliver KPIs to monitor labour productivity, cost‑to‑sales ratios, and scheduling accuracy.
• Oversee the deployment and continuous improvement of workforce management systems and tools (e.g., forecasting, scheduling, and time‑keeping platforms).
• Partner with Operations to ensure staffing models are consistent, efficient, and support exceptional customer experiences.
• Drive labour standards and productivity benchmarks across departments and store formats.
• Use analytics and modelling to identify labour cost efficiencies and productivity improvement opportunities.
• Translate insights into actionable recommendations for senior leaders and store teams.
• Continuously refine forecasting algorithms and labour models based on business performance and external factors (e.g., trading conditions, seasonality).
• Work with Finance, and Operations to ensure wage budgets are effectively controlled and understood at all levels.
• Engage with Retail management to embed a culture of labour efficiency and accountability.
• Lead communication and training programmes to enhance scheduling accuracy and colleague engagement.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, and cross‑functional collaboration.

About You

• Proven experience in a senior workforce management or labour optimisation role within a multi‑site retail or hospitality environment.
• Strong understanding of labour forecasting, scheduling, and productivity modelling.
• Experience managing large‑scale wage budgets and delivering measurable cost efficiencies.
• Commercially astute with strong analytical and financial acumen.
• Skilled in using WFM software (e.g., Kronos, Reflexis, Blue Yonder, Quinyx, or similar).
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills across all levels.
• Strong understanding of UK retail labour laws and scheduling compliance.
• Background in change management and process improvement.

Our Values

• Impact led and commercially focused.
• Tenacious in the face of challenges.
• Collaborative and caring.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary
• Pension
• Long service awards
• Employee discountCycle to work scheme

Position

Permanent, Full‑time

Hours

Monday – Friday, 08:45 am – 17:30 pm.

Location

Plymouth, Devon