Job Description

In a nutshell

The Seller Acquisition Lead is responsible for attracting, evaluating, and onboarding high‑quality third‑party sellers that enhance customer choice, strengthen category growth and improve Marketplace performance. They will develop and execute an acquisition strategy that brings in the right sellers, delivers friction‑free onboarding, and aligns with the wider marketplace strategy.

What I am accountable for

• Identify and target high‑potential sellers aligned to growth categories and Marketplace objectives.
• Develop and pitch compelling outreach campaigns and value propositions that attract sellers to the platform.
• Assess seller suitability through commercial, operational and compliance evaluations to ensure high-quality onboarding.
• Coordinate cross‑functional onboarding processes, ensuring sellers progress smoothly from contract to go‑live.
• Implement scalable tools, processes and documentation that simplify seller activation and reduce onboarding friction.
• Produce regular performance reports outlining acquisition pipeline health, channel performance and seller conversion metrics.
• Recommend improvements to acquisition strategy based on data insights, market trends and seller feedback.
• Manage relationships with external acquisition partners and internal stakeholders to accelerate growth.
• Review and iterate the seller onboarding journey to continually improve seller experience and reduce time‑to‑activation.
• Analyse market trends and competitor activity to inform business development strategy.
• Communicate regularly with internal and external stakeholders to ensure alignment and progress.
• Own and maintain all materials to support seller acquisition.

Key Performance Measures:

• Number and quality of new sellers/partners onboarded
• Revenue and GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) generated from new business
• Seller and partner pipeline conversion rates and time-to-sign
• Seller and partner satisfaction and retention rates
• Contribution to overall marketplace growth targets
• Range coverage in target categories
• Team satisfaction survey scores

What I need to know

List the skills, qualifications and experience the job-holder should have, and whether they are essential or desirable. Essential

• Proven experience in business development, sales, or partner acquisition roles within ecommerce, retail, or digital marketplaces
• Strong understanding of digital retail, third‑party seller models and online category dynamics.
• Knowledge of ecommerce platforms, seller ecosystems, and marketplace dynamics
• Strong commercial acumen and negotiation skills.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to interpret data to identify opportunities and make commercial decisions.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder‑management skills.
• Proven experience influencing cross‑functional teams to deliver business outcomes

Desirable

• Experience in seller acquisition, new business development or seller onboarding roles within a Retail Marketplace environment.
• Knowledge of regulatory frameworks relevant to eCommerce sellers (product safety, VAT, compliance).
• Familiarity with CRM tools, seller‑management platforms or workflow tools.
• Experience working with external acquisition partners and channel managers

#LI-NR1

#ArgosCommercialandDigital

We’d all like amazing work to do, and real work-life balance. That’s waiting for you at Sainsbury’s. From fragrance to car care, clothing and pots and pans, our General Merchandise team delivers all the non-food items for Sainsbury’s, Habitat and Argos customers. This multi-brand environment means you get to work across most areas. You can also be a pioneer, because the team believes in being brave, iterating and learning as they go. They also develop deep connections to other departments, which opens up a lot of different career opportunities for you. What’s certain is that you’ll spend time on the shop floor to get closer to customers, and bring a broad perspective and the full support of your manager with you wherever you decide to develop next.

We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer so you’ll be welcomed whoever you are and wherever you work. Around here, there’s always the chance to try something new — whether that’s as part of an evolving team or somewhere else across the business - and we take development seriously and promise to support you. We also recognise and celebrate colleagues when they go the extra mile and, where possible, offer flexible working. When you join our team, we’ll also offer you an amazing range of benefits. Here are some of them:

Starting off with colleague discount, you'll be able to save 10% on your shopping online and instore at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat, and we regularly increase the discount to 15% at points during the year. We've also got you covered for your future with our pensions scheme and life cover. You'll also be able to share in our success as you may be eligible for a performance-related bonus of up to 10% of salary, depending on how we perform.

Your wellbeing is important to us too. You'll receive an annual holiday allowance and you can buy up to an additional week's holiday. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, salary advance (where you can access some of your pay before pay day) as well access to a great range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers. And if you ever need it there is also an employee assistance programme.

Moments that matter are as important to us as they are to you which is why we give up to 26 weeks’ pay for maternity or adoption leave and up to 4 weeks’ pay for paternity leave.

Please see www.sainsburys.jobs for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).