M&S Food is changing, and fast! We are undergoing one of the biggest transformations in retailing today to build a bigger, better, fresher food business. It’s an exciting time at M&S as we accelerate our transformation programme. To drive our ambitious plans we are growing our Strategy Team within M&S Food and looking for an experienced Strategy Manager to join our growing team.

Reporting to the Head of Food Strategy & Special Projects your role will be to contribute to formulating strategy for the business and project manage key initiatives, supporting the growth plan. Utilising your knowledge and experience you'll provide relevant insights to help the company make the right decisions, address key challenges, and identify new ways to grow.

Key accountabilities and measures

• Identify and lead strategic analysis of important business challenges and growth opportunities to influence strategy and policy development, including evaluation of existing business processes
• Develop solutions and action plans based on your strategic analysis, including evaluation of different solution options
• Develop financial models and business cases to support your analyses and enable data-driven decision-making
• Distil data, insights and information into clear and compelling written presentations / strategic papers
• Present findings to a wide range of senior stakeholders and influence decision-making
• Formulate implementation plans for, and mobilise, new strategic initiatives.
• Project manage ad hoc strategic initiatives
• Collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders across the Foods business in support of all of the above

Key relationships and stakeholders

• Food Leadership Team and Senior Leaders
• Programme Leads and team members
• Finance team

Key skills

• Exceptional analytical skills, including proven skills in financial modelling and strategic evaluation
• Advanced critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Strong influencer who can work with stakeholders at all levels of the organisation
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Confidence and poise in presenting to management
• Relentless focus on details, accuracy, and quality
• Intellectually curious, high energy and resilient
• Flexible and able to balance multiple projects / priorities