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Competitive salary plus benefits

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The Healthcare Lead Area Manager – North Division is a field‑based leadership role responsible for driving commercial performance, operational excellence, and regulatory compliance across Asda’s Optical and Pharmacy departments within the North division.
The role leads and develops a team of Area Managers, with overall accountability for 60 Optical departments and 84 Pharmacies across all devolved nations. Working closely with the Head of Field Operations, the postholder will play a critical role in shaping and delivering the healthcare strategy, ensuring consistent execution of operational change, and embedding a strong performance and compliance culture.

This role requires exceptional relationship‑building skills to work effectively with Home Office teams, retail stakeholders, and store leadership, alongside a strong coaching presence in stores. The successful candidate will demonstrate strong commercial acumen, data‑led decision‑making, and an appetite to continually learn and develop within GPhC and GOC contractual frameworks.

Leadership & People Development

• Lead, coach, and inspire a team of Area Managers, ensuring strong capability, engagement, and succession planning across the North division.

• Maintain a visible, field‑based presence to support Area Managers in their store environments, providing effective coaching, feedback, and performance management.

• Foster a high‑performance culture aligned to Asda’s values, focusing on accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Commercial & Operational Performance

• Drive the commercial agenda across Optical and Pharmacy, ensuring delivery of all Key Result Areas (KRAs) including sales, profitability, productivity, and customer outcomes.

• Analyse performance data and insights to identify trends, risks, and opportunities, translating analysis into clear actions for Area Managers and stores.

• Ensure consistent execution of operational standards and best practice across all departments within the North division.

Compliance, Governance & Risk

• Maintain robust compliance with GPhC and GOC contractual and regulatory requirements, ensuring safe, effective, and compliant healthcare services.

• Support Area Managers in managing regulatory inspections, audits, and improvement plans, embedding a strong culture of governance and patient safety.

• Demonstrate a proactive approach to learning and development within regulated healthcare environments.

Strategy & Change Delivery

• Support the Head of Field Operations in shaping the Healthcare strategy for the North division, contributing insight from field operations and performance data.

• Lead the implementation of all operational change initiatives across the division, ensuring clarity, consistency, and pace of execution.

• Act as a change leader, ensuring Area Managers and store teams are fully engaged and supported through periods of transformation.

Stakeholder Management

• Build strong, credible relationships with key Home Office functions, retail leadership teams, and wider healthcare stakeholders.

• Act as a trusted partner to store leadership, ensuring alignment between healthcare, retail operations, and commercial priorities.

• Represent the North division professionally within cross‑functional forums and senior leadership discussions.

Key Skills & Capabilities

• Proven field leadership experience within a multi‑site retail or healthcare environment

• Strong commercial acumen with the ability to interpret and act on complex performance data

• Excellent coaching, influencing, and stakeholder management skills

• Experience operating within regulated environments (or a strong appetite to learn within GPhC/GOC frameworks)

• Ability to lead large‑scale operational change with pace and discipline

• Highly organised, resilient, and comfortable working in a geographically dispersed, field‑based role

Everything you'll love

To ensure we balance moments where we know we need to collaborate together and the need for flexibility, Asda has a hybrid way of working with a minimum 3 days a week in one of our Home Offices. Over and above this, each area of Asda may have additional requirements which may require spending more days in the office, visiting suppliers, stores or depots.

You will also get an excellent benefits package including:

• Discretionary company bonus

• Company pension up to 7% matched

• Company Car allowance of £5,700

• 15% colleague discount in store and online

• Free access to wellbeing services such as Stream, 24/7 virtual GP, counselling, health and dental cash plans and a 24/7 employee assistance helpline, alongside discounts across a range of services and activities, from airport parking, enhanced to theme parks and cinemas.

• Asda Allies Inclusion Networks – helping colleagues to make sure everybody is included and that our differences are recognised and celebrated

• Excellent parental leave policies, including maternity & adoption leave, paternity leave, shared parental leave, neonatal care leave, and support for those doing fertility treatments.

We want all colleagues to be able to bring their best and true selves to work, every day. Simply put, we want our colleagues to be Proud to be Asda and proud to be themselves