Head of Platform - Contact & Salesforce

Head of Platform - Contact and Salesforce
£110,000 to £116,000 plus private healthcare, a company car or car allowance, and more great benefits (Work Level 4) 
Manchester city centre - in this role you’ll work in a hybrid way splitting your time between home and the office once per month (find out more about our hybrid working policy at https://jobs.coop.co.uk/hybrid-working-policy).  

We’re open to applications from people who may require flexible working arrangements. There’ll be an opportunity to discuss your flexible working requirements during the interview process, and at offer stage.

We’re reshaping our Digital, Technology and Data function for the future, creating new opportunities, strengthening our capability, and building clearer, more resilient ways of working so we can deliver even better services for our Co-op, our colleagues, members and customers.

We're looking for a Head of Platform - Contact and Salesforce to join our Technology team and help us shape and develop the platforms that support millions of colleague and customer interactions every year. You'll lead the strategy, direction and performance of our Salesforce estate and contact technology platforms, ensuring they're reliable, scalable and fit for the future. Working across multiple business areas, you'll bring together customer contact channels, service technologies, automation and self-service capabilities to create seamless experiences and deliver value for our customers, colleagues and members.

Why this role matters

This is a unique opportunity to lead one of Co-op's most important technology platforms and influence how we serve customers and support colleagues across the organisation. You'll have the chance to shape the future of our Salesforce ecosystem, drive enterprise-wide technology decisions and play a key role in major transformation programmes. Working with senior partners across Digital, Technology, and Data and the wider business, you'll help deliver better experiences, unlock new opportunities and ensure our platforms continue to evolve in line with Co-op's ambitions.

What you’ll do

• Set the strategic direction and roadmap for our Salesforce platform and wider contact-to-resolution technology landscape
• Establish platform standards and ways of working to ensure a consistent and effective Salesforce experience across Co-op
• Manage the enterprise relationship with Salesforce, including commercial performance, licensing and supplier management
• Lead the development and continuous improvement of platforms supporting customer contact, service operations, automation and self-service
• Work with business and technology leaders to balance priorities, manage investment decisions and deliver measurable value
• Lead, coach and develop Product Managers and work closely with engineering, architecture, service and delivery teams
• Ensure platforms are secure, resilient, scalable and aligned to long-term business and technology strategies
• Represent your portfolio in transformation programmes, managing dependencies and helping deliver successful organisational change
• Ensure our team is ready to meet future technology challenges and has the capability to manage these

What you’ll bring

We’re committed to making our roles as accessible as possible, so we only ask for the minimum criteria. To thrive here, you’ll need to bring:

• Significant experience leading, developing, and implementing enterprise Salesforce platforms, with a strong understanding of products such as Sales Cloud, Service Cloud and related customer-facing capabilities
• Strong knowledge of Salesforce architecture, governance and platform strategy, with experience balancing business needs, platform health and long-term scalability
• Experience developing platform strategies and roadmaps that balance business priorities with long-term platform health
• The ability to run platforms that can successfully manage large usage demands
• Proven ability to influence and build strong relationships with senior partners, suppliers and technology partners
• Strong commercial and financial management experience, including supplier relationships, budgeting and investment decisions
• Experience leading and developing high-performing teams in a product, platform or technology environment
• A strategic, data-led approach to decision making, with a focus on delivering measurable outcomes and continuous improvement

We know some people may hesitate to apply if they don’t meet every requirement. At Co-op, we’re committed to building diverse and inclusive teams, so if you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align perfectly, we still encourage you to apply.

Why Co-op?

At Co-op, we’re owned by our members. And because we’re owned by you, we can do right by you. So when you join us, you’re not just taking a job, you’re joining a movement. We’re an organisation that puts people and communities first, and we’re powered by purpose. We want this to be a place where you can thrive, so you’ll also receive:

• An annual bonus (based on personal and business performance)
• 28 days holiday (rising to 32 with service) plus bank holidays 
• A pension with up to 10% employer contributions 
• A company car or £6,000 car allowance
• Private healthcare 
• Access to a subsidised onsite gym (at our Manchester HQ)
• 30% discount on Co-op products and 10% off other brands 
• Stream – early access to a percentage of your pay as you earn it 
• Virtual healthcare including GP appointments, mental health support, nutrition and fitness advice 
• 24/7 colleague support service 
• Training and support for your development and career progression
• Cycle-to-work scheme

A place you’ll belong

We’re building diverse teams that reflect the communities we serve. We welcome applications from everyone, and our support centre is an inclusive environment where all our colleagues can thrive.

If you have a disability, we’ll make reasonable adjustments to support you through the recruitment process. We’re also proud to be part of the Disability Confident scheme - if you’re disabled and you meet the minimum criteria for this job, we’ll guarantee you an interview.

Learn more about our recruitment process at https://jobs.coop.co.uk/apply-process

Explore our commitments to diversity, inclusion and wellbeing at https://jobs.coop.co.uk/diversity-inclusion-wellbeing