Customer Assistant, Team Leader

About the Role

As a Team Leader within one of our John Lewis shops, you are integral to delivering the unique John Lewis difference. You will lead Partners in providing the distinctive service and passion for products that our competitors cannot match. Your commitment to going the extra mile for both customers and Partners is vital. You will be instrumental in shaping the customer impression of the John Lewis brand, cultivating lifelong trust and loyalty that encourages repeat visits, all while maximising sales and profit. In addition to your contractual pay, any time worked between 22:00 - 06:00 will attract Night Premium at a rate of £3.75 per hour. This will also apply to existing Partners who have enrolled onto Enhanced Hours Premium arrangements.

Key Responsibilities

• Driving a great customer experience by ensuring that every customer has a positive interaction with a Partner on their visit.
• Ensuring all operational tasks are completed with a "heads-up approach," guaranteeing that Partners are always looking out for customers and their needs.
• Effective utilisation of the systems, tools and resources to deploy labour resource to match customer and operational requirements.
• Championing our key differentiators by ensuring Partners are actively sharing their knowledge with each other and our customers.
• Inspiring, encouraging, and guiding Partners, clearly communicating expectations and building robust relationships based on honesty and respect.
• Driving the delivery of excellent in-store standards, including efficient recovery, visual merchandising, shop cleanliness, accurate ticketing, and product availability.
• Supporting the shop's leadership team with operational tasks and collaborating with all shop areas to effectively meet dynamic customer demand.
• Ensuring all Partners operate in a safe and legal manner.

Essential Skills and Experience

• Evidence of consistently delivering amazing customer service personally.
• Demonstrable people and leadership skills.
• Experience working in a customer-facing environment.
• A strong understanding of retail and how to maximise commercial success.
• Effective stakeholder management skills when working with third parties and the wider John Lewis Partnership.

Desirable Experience

• Duty Manager Training (Internal Partners only).

Additional Information

Closing Date: June 28, 2026
Pay: £14.58 Hourly
Contract Type: Permanent
Hours of Work: Various Hours Available up to 36.5 hours per week, including early starts, late finishes and weekends.
Job Level: Partnership Level 10
Location: Edinburgh (John Lewis & Partners), 60 Leith Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3SP
Pre-employment vetting may include DBS checks and financial probity checks. Please discuss flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts if applicable.