Chief Executive Officer - Department Store Chain

We are recruiting a Chief Executive Officer for a successful and growing chain of department stores in India. The business sells through around 40 department stores with retail sales of $1.5bn. They are seeking an experienced Chief Executive Officer to run the operations, optimise their retail real estate, improve productivity and profitability.

This role will suit someone from a Department Store background in the UK or Europe with a background in Buying & Merchandising. 

Chief Executive Officer: The Role:

• Lead the Department store chain across India to deliver business metrics such as EBIDTA, NPS & as well as Store KPIs (SPSF, ATS, sell through & footfall).
• Overall responsibility of buying and merchandising. Build strategic relationships with brand customers 
• Overall P&L responsibility. Deliver on agreed business plan and growth initiatives
• Establish & define targeted quantitative and qualitative goals for stores. 
• Deliver on agreed metrics with brands using the store real-estate
• Plan and deliver on processes to improve operational efficiency at store level without compromising on effectiveness
• Support the launch of new stores as per the business plan/budget.
• Work with key cross-functional business partners  to improve retail performance and gain share of the market
• Collaborate with IT, Security, Legal and Regulatory teams to guarantee operational compliance on store safety & hygiene factors.

Chief Executive Officer: The Person:

The ideal candidate will be a B&M Head or Head of Retail Operations for a large department store such as House of Fraser. The role will suit someone who is enthusiastic, adaptable leader with the passion to make an impact not just on their own role but across the entire business.

• A degree level or equivalent
• Experience in managing Department Stores 
• Commercial awareness and the ability to relate business needs and requirements in a compelling and understandable way to the team and the wider business stakeholders.
• The leadership skills to lead a team and engage/influence multiple stakeholders at all levels of the organisation.
• Demonstrated ability to quickly appraise complex situations, identify key issues and make tough, timely decisions.
• Ability to manage large teams 
• The ability to work under pressure and be resilient and tenacious to get results.
• Excellent communication skills to instigate and maintain excellent working relationships with cross business stakeholders.

Package: Up to £200,000 salary plus expat benefits (accommodation, insurance, car/driver, flight tickets home).