Staff were told on Thursday morning that the jobs will go at Coles' head office in Tooronga, in Melbourne's east, as part of an efficiency drive.

Coles has been leaving vacant roles unfilled, so the total number of staff who will lose their jobs will be less than 450. A Coles spokesman confirmed the announcement but declined to comment further.

The restructure will also see two senior executives leave the business.

Alister Jordan, who is chief executive officer of Coles Express, online and corporate affairs, and was Kevin Rudd's chief of staff during his prime ministership, will leave the company at the end of this year.

The running of the Coles Express convenience store business will pass over to Greg Davis, currently Coles' chief operating officer, who has also been appointed chief executive of commercial, which is a merchandising role.

Coles' chief store operations officer Paul Bradshaw will also leave the business.

Coles chief supply chain officer Matthew Swindells has been elevated to chief operations officer, overseeing supply chain and store operations.

And the company has poached IGA supplier Metcash's "transformation director" Ian Bowring to head up its "smarter selling" unit.

Mr Cain took over as the boss of Coles last year, and is leading the supermarket giant as an independent business following its demerger from the Wesfarmers group.

The restructure announcement comes ahead of Mr Cain revealing a major "strategic reset" next week in which he will outline his plan to reshape the Coles business.