FOOD LOGISTICS GRADUATE PROGRAMME

Salary:: £34,000
Closing date:: 08/11/2026

Keep some of the UK’s best-loved food products moving. Delivered by Gist, M&S Food’s Logistics partner, get hands-on experience across one of the UK’s largest and most complex food supply chains, with a structured two-year programme designed to accelerate you into leadership.

About the programme

What you’ll be doing

The M&S Food Logistics Graduate Programme offers two distinct development journeys, depending on the pathway you choose when you apply.

If you join one of our specialist schemes (Project Management, Safety, Sustainability or Fleet Engineering), you’ll spend your first six months building a strong understanding of our operations, customers and supply chain. From there, you’ll transition into your chosen specialism, where you’ll develop technical expertise, gain exposure to real business challenges and take ownership of meaningful projects that support the future of our network.

If you choose the Logistics Management scheme, your journey will be focused on developing the leadership, operational and commercial skills needed to manage warehouse and transport operations. You’ll gain hands-on experience leading people, delivering performance and understanding how we keep products moving to M&S stores across the UK.

What it takes to succeed

High standards and a love of solving problems. That’s what you’ll need.

We’re looking for ambitious, curious and motivated people who want to learn and make a difference. You don’t need previous logistics experience. What matters is your skill as a team player and your desire to take on new challenges.

Alongside that, you'll thrive if you can:

take ownership and embrace responsibility
build strong relationships with others
adapt to changing environments
challenge yourself to continuously improve.

Where it could lead

This programme is about creating a pipeline of future leaders across M&S Food Logistics. So, wherever your ambitions lie, we’ll give you the experience, support and network to progress into operational leadership or specialist roles across our business.

Depending on your chosen pathway, you can progress into manager and then leadership roles in vital areas of our business, helping to shape the future of M&S.

Why M&S Food Logistics?

Our food is not just any food.

We’ve built our reputation on quality, value and innovation. And it shows, with over 32 million customers and stores nationwide. By ensuring our customers can find the products they need, when and where they need them, our Logistics teams are crucial to this success.

Our five-year vision is to reshape retail for the future and as a future leader of our Food business, you could play an important role in this transformation.

Your team

The reason I love it so much is because the things I do feel like they’re actually making an impact. You get the opportunity to present to people who really value your opinion, and it’s nice seeing the work you do being put into play, especially when you’re making a difference for your store colleagues.

Daire (He / Him) | Graduate Read full story

I’m encouraged to soak up and learn as much as possible and I’m given the freedom to guide my own learning and be curious about all aspects of the business. From structured personal development workshops to shadowing colleagues from across the Food team or our suppliers, I’m learning new things every day.

Lizzie (She / Her) | Food Graduate Read full story

I like seeing the bigger picture, understanding how everything works, and then finding ways to improve it. What I really appreciate about the M&S graduate scheme is that I get to learn something new, become the expert in it, and then build on that knowledge in the next challenge – like looking at how we can grow our Foods business.

Busola (She / Her) | Graduate Read full story

Your career path

Bold ideas. Real impact. Clear progression. Wherever your ambitions lie within M&S Food Logistics, you’ll gain the experience, support and network needed to build a successful future.

Once you’ve completed the programme, these are the kinds of career paths you could take.

Warehouse Leadership
Transport Leadership
Project Management
Safety
Safety
Sustainability
Fleet Engineering

Warehouse Operations Manager

Lead a warehouse operation, managing colleagues, performance, service and operational objectives. You'll be responsible for ensuring the operation runs safely, efficiently and delivers exceptional service to customers.

Assistant General Manager

Support the leadership of a large-scale logistics operation, working across multiple departments and helping drive operational performance, customer service and colleague engagement.

General Manager

Take overall responsibility for a logistics operation, leading large teams and managing service delivery, customer relationships, financial performance and long-term operational strategy.

Project Management Office Co-ordinator

Work across a number of projects, turning project data into insight and providing the governance, co-ordination and structure that keeps delivery on track. Build a broad understanding of how projects work together, whilst developing the foundational skills of project management.

Project Management Office Manager

A management-level role with responsibility for the effectiveness of the PMO and project delivery standards, developing and improving PMO processes and ways of working. Work closely with Project Managers to challenge, support, and improve delivery performance, building a strong project management culture.

Project Management Office Lead

The PMO Lead acts as a trusted partner, helping shape portfolio decisions and improve project delivery maturity. Establish and improve governance, controls, standards and project management methodology. Develop project management capability through coaching, mentoring and development of the PMO Manager and wider PMO team.

Head of Project Management Office

A senior leadership role with influence and accountability. The Head of PMO sets the strategic direction, vision and operating model for the PMO and wider project delivery function. Build and develop a high-performing PMO team, whilst taking ownership for the organisation’s project management maturity and capability, embedding best practice and continuous improvement.

A group of colleagues gathered around a table, smiling and discussing work with laptops open in a modern office setting.

Being an in-person business

We're at our best when we're close to customers, and for many of us at M&S, that means working in store every day.

To stay close to customers, our support teams are in the office three days a week as we believe that skills are developed through collaboration, and that spending time together makes us more creative and connected. It also means we can solve problems as soon as they arise, learn and grow as a team, build trust, and get closer to our colleagues.

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Learning & support

Your development is our priority. We’ll give you a structured programme including mentoring, on-the-job training, and opportunities to solve real challenges that will help you build a long-term career at M&S. And, if we believe you can reach your potential faster, we will give you the tools and opportunities to do it. But the person who is really going to make this happen is you. With our support, we want you to own and drive your development.

Benefits

Wellbeing hub

Get access to resources to support your wellbeing, including a free virtual GP service.
Giving back

Support your favourite charities by donating through your pay or even volunteering for them.
Pay

Earn a competitive salary.
Colleague discount

After completing your probation period, you'll receive 20% colleague discount across all M&S products and many of our third-party brands for you and a member of your household.

Please note only contracts of more than 12 weeks are eligible for this benefit.
Time off

Competitive holiday entitlement with the potential to buy extra holiday days.
Life assurance

Get cover for twice your salary up to age 70 (double with our Pension Plan).
Workplace savings

We’ll help you save through our Pension Savings Plan, Share Buy and Sharesave schemes.
My Choices

Save on everyday costs through discounts and offers and get access to great health benefits.
Cycle to work

Bike/accessory hire with Cycle to Work and save on tax and national insurance.
Smart tech

Buy the latest technology with interest-free financing directly from your salary.

How to apply

You can apply via our Early Careers Application Portal here.

Get application ready by exploring more about our programmes and connect with M&S Buddies on our dedicated Life@M&S platform.

We want you to feel supported throughout the assessment process. If you need a reasonable adjustment, just let us know and we’ll do everything we can to support you.

Eligibility Criteria

You must have the right to work in the UK for the full duration of the programme
You will have graduated from any degree by the time the programme starts in September 2027

Application Form

Your first step will be to complete our online application form. You can only apply to one programme per annual recruitment cycle, and we’d encourage you to choose the one that feels like the best fit for you.

We close our vacancies on a rolling basis and closing dates can change. We recommend submitting your application as soon as possible.

Online Assessment

We’ll invite you to take part in a two-stage online assessment, where you can find out more about M&S whilst we find out more about you.

Assessment Centre

If your online assessment is successful, you’ll be invited to an in-person Assessment Centre. The recruitment process for store-based roles will also include an opportunity to attend your final interview in one of our stores.

You can find out more detailed information about our assessment process on Life@M&S.