Job Title

purposeThe business change lead is a critical role within our transformation team, acting as the sole point of accountability for change management across our strategic growth programme and key business initiatives.you will lead the design, coordination, and execution of change strategies that ensure new ways of working are successfully adopted by teams across the business - from our restaurant teams across 160+ sites to central functions. We have an ambitious and exciting 3-year plan and you will play a pivotal part in setting us up for success to land change brilliantly. working across our strategic workstreams such as menu innovation, and guest experience, your focus will be on helping people understand, embrace, and thrive through change to ensure we achieve the maximum value. Initiatives include (but are not limited to) delivering new and exciting menu customisations, landing new guest facing technology into sites and reengineering our guest service model.This role will be pivotal in ensuring that transformation is not only planned and lands effectively, but delivers lasting, people-led impact that drives our strategic outcomes.Key AccountabilitiesChange strategy & ownershipwork alongside programme + project teams as a trusted advisor and to produce hands on change management assessments and recommendationsown and lead the change management strategy for our strategic growth programme and supporting initiatives.define and implement structured change approaches (e.g., adkar, prosci) that guide stakeholders through the full change lifecycle — awareness, understanding, capability, and adoption.act as a single point of contact for all matters related to change — ensuring clarity, consistency, and accountability across workstreams.Planning & deliverybe embedded in strategic initiatives from the outset — supporting early story mapping, identifying change impacts up front, and ensuring that change considerations are baked into design and planning, not just implementation.partner with programme and project leads to embed change management strategies into overall initiative timelines and delivery plans.conduct change impact assessments and readiness reviews to identify potential barriers or risks to adoption.develop change toolkits, frameworks, and templates to ensure consistency and scalability of change practices across the organisation.Stakeholder engagementbuild strong relationships across all functions that are crucial to delivering change management activities, including operations, training, people, internal comms, marketing, and tech, to co-create and deliver change plans that resonate.influence senior stakeholders by communicating the case for change and providing regular progress updates, insights, and recommendations.work closely with internal comms to shape engaging and timely messaging that supports awareness and alignment.Capability building & adoption·partner with the training and central ops teams to develop and roll out training materials and support resources for front-line and central support teams.·monitor adoption and embedding change post go live and suggest / implement real-time revisions to drive more adoption and value — using both qualitative feedback and quantitative measures (e.g., training completion, behavioural change, operational kpis).·support your local marketing teams to create regional leaders with tools and coaching to enable them to lead through change confidently.Continuous improvement + upskilling·support central ops and project teams to capture lessons learned and feedback to evolve change approaches and strengthen future initiatives.·contribute to the development of our overall transformation and change management capability across the business.·act as a pioneer and advocate for change management, coaching our internal teams in best practice and supporting project teams to upskill in industry standard methods that will produce the most valueIdeal experience & profilestrong experience in a change management, business consulting, or transformation role — ideally within hospitality, retail, or other operationally complex, customer-facing sectors.demonstrated experience designing and delivering change strategies across multi-site environments.proven ability to lead people-led change in areas such as service model design, operational processes, menu innovation, digital adoption, or internal ways of working.demonstrable experience in setting up and maturing change management best practice; comfortable operating in a newly formed transformation function where change management is not yet fully understood.confident acting as an internal consultant, setting up change management practices, and developing their own tools, templates, and ways of working from the ground upSkills & competenciesdeep understanding of change management methodologies (formal accreditation a plus, but not essential).exceptional relationship-building and influencing skills — able to engage credibly with stakeholders at all levels.practical and outcome-focused — able to balance change theory with real-world business needs.strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to simplify complexity and craft compelling narratives.skilled in advising on and creating engaging, visually impactful change communication materials — from briefing decks and playbooks to training content and internal updates — that drive understanding and inspire action.data-led and outcomes-focused — able to define and track meaningful change KPIs, measure adoption, and demonstrate the real-world impact of change initiatives on people, performance, and operations.highly organised with strong planning, time management, and prioritisation skills.empathetic and people-centric — with a strong understanding of front-line operational realities.wok's in it for you |a competitive annual salarydiscretionary 30% bonus opportunity per yearwagamama food allowanceprivate healthcarepension contribution25 days holiday + all bank holidaysvarious discount across retail, hospitality + leisureinternal progression opportunities | fully funded apprenticeship programmes to support your growthkintsugi wellness | access to councillors, cycle to work scheme, discounted gym + leisurefamily friendly policy | any expectant person or anyone adopting a child will receive 26 weeks full pay + 13 weeks half payfinancial wellbeing support | access to loans repaid through your salary for those ‘strapped for cash’ moments in life