Retail support administrator jobs in Manchester

We believe everyone deserves healthy, sustainable and culturally appropriate food, where they live. We believe the way people access food should be rooted in health, dignity and choice. We believe the food system should be shaped and determined by everyone, and that every voice matters. We believe a thriving local, independent food economy is one that celebrates healthy food. We believe that good food is not a luxury. It’s a basic human right.

If this aligns with how you see the world, and you want to use your skills and experience to help us build towards it, you’ll feel at home here.

Why this role matters

 Alexandra Rose run practical place-based food system transformation projects based around a voucher for fresh fruit & veg. We currently have 9 projects across the UK, and we’re aiming to scale in the coming years. Each project operates the same model, but each project adapts to work with different communities, different languages, different community support infrastructure, different retail options, and more.

At the core, we work with local trusted community organisations who distribute our vouchers to local families on low incomes with young children, and in some areas to local adults on low incomes managing food related health conditions (diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, etc). Voucher distribution is linked to a range of wider wrap around services to ensure that our projects support people in getting out of poverty in real and long-lasting ways. Our vouchers area accepted exclusively by local, independent healthy food businesses, ensuring that we are also supporting a fairer, healthier local food economy.

Our model directly tackles the barriers of affordability and accessibility to the most nutrient dense and most expensive element of a healthy diet. We change the health outcomes of young children and adults living with food related health conditions. We actively change the food environment that is available to a range of people who have been disadvantaged for decades.

As we grow nationally and expand the reach of our projects across multiple regions, we need strong operational leadership to ensure we can deliver consistently, efficiently and with confidence. You will help shape the systems and structures that support our operations, building on the strong work of our existing project teams.

This role is central to developing an operational approach that is both standardised and adaptable, supporting diverse communities while ensuring high-quality delivery, compliance, data collection and organisational resilience. As a senior leader, you will be an active part of the organisation’s Senior Management Team, and play a vital role in guiding the organisation through change, whether driven by shifts in policy, political context, funding environment or community need.

 Key Responsibilities

 Operational Leadership & Systems Development

• Build on the strong work of our project teams to develop consistent, scalable systems and processes that support effective delivery across different communities.
• Lead the design, implementation and continuous improvement of robust operational systems: data management, compliance, monitoring, reporting, risk management and quality assurance.
• Ensure compliance with relevant regulations (including data protection/GDPR), charity governance requirements and internal administrative standards.
• Work closely with external tech support and internal teams to maintain and improve our digital platforms and tools.

 Project Oversight & Delivery

• Provide leadership and coordination to regional project coordinators, ensuring high-quality delivery and alignment with organisational standards.
• Oversee the development of a simple, practical monitoring, evaluation and reporting framework to enable accurate tracking of reach, impact and performance across all projects.
• Support internal reporting to the CEO, SMT and Board, and external reporting to funders, partners and local authorities.

Financial & Resource Management

• Work with the Head of Finance to align operational budgets with organisational priorities, ensuring responsible resource allocation and cost-effective delivery.
• Contribute to financial forecasting and scenario planning from an operational perspective.

Organisational Resilience & Adaptability

• Contribute to organisational planning in response to external changes (policy shifts, political changes, funding conditions, inflationary pressures, etc.).
• Lead operational risk management and ensure continuity of delivery under changing circumstances.
• Promote a culture that values clarity, reliability, adaptability and dignity in service delivery.

Team & Stakeholder Management

• Line-manage project coordinators.
• Maintain strong relationships with local partners, community organisations and local authorities to support effective delivery.
• Support clear internal communication so that people understand processes, compliance expectations and their roles in operational delivery.

Person Specification

 We’re looking for someone who:

• Has significant relevant experience in operations management.
• Is highly organised, systems-focused and confident designing and continually reviewing and improving processes, tools and operational frameworks as the organisation grows.
• Is comfortable navigating and coordinating multiple projects, teams and stakeholders across different regions.
• Understands data protection, compliance and risk.
• Has strong digital literacy and can quickly learn new systems. The platforms and apps that underpin our work are central to Operations Team working.
• Has strong financial literacy and experience with budgets, forecasting and resource planning.
• Remains calm, pragmatic and solutions-focused during periods of change or uncertainty.
• Communicates clearly, constructively and collaboratively.
• Shares our belief in dignity, community, independence and the right to good food.

 Why join us?

• A senior leadership role with genuine influence in a mission-driven charity.
• The opportunity to shape and strengthen the systems that will support national growth.
• Work that contributes directly to fairer, healthier, more dignified food access across the UK.
• A culture that values flexibility, clear thinking, integrity and adaptability.

Use of AI in applications

We recognise that candidates may choose to use AI tools to support aspects of their application, such as grammar, formatting, or drafting. We understand that using AI tools in this way can help you express your strengths more clearly. However, your final submission must be a genuine, accurate reflection of your own skills, experience, and understanding of the role. 

To support integrity and transparency in our recruitment process, we ask that you include a brief note explaining where and how AI tools were used in your application. Applications that appear overly generic, inconsistent with interview performance, or rely heavily on generative AI without clear attribution may raise concerns during the selection process.

 Additional information

We want our organisation to reflect the diversity of the communities we work in, and we welcome applications from people from all backgrounds.

Interview dates

• First stage interview - Thursday 19th Feb online via Teams
• Second stage interview - Thursday 26th Feb in person in a central London location TBC