General Manager

• A broad career opportunity: to showcase your leadership talents and retail prowess within a progressive and stylish women’s fashion brand with quality, trend, value and service at its core
• An opportunity to be part of a family-owned business that looks after their most important asset, their people. So much loyalty and trust has been fostered amongst its team
• Your senior team of reports, right across the retail disciplines are talented and highly capable and are all ready to warmly welcome their new leader into the business
• The package: is set to attract, reward and retain one of the markets best
• The offices: are design led and collaborative, and are based in the inner South East

Your prospective employer:Crafted for the contemporary Australian woman, this trusted women’s fashion brand designs and retails adored garments that blend functionality, femininity and appeal, like no other. Their ranges are unsurpassed; with success anchored in their timeless designs, classic styling, magnificent fabrics and superb cuts that are all retailed from prime locations right across the country. With its proud family-ownership and cohesive leadership team, the business remains nimble and innovative allowing decisions to be made and executed with ease and speed, without layers of hierarchy and sign off. With an exciting growth agenda, this role presents as a fantastic opportunity to bring retail operational excellence, an eye for style, a love for product, a clear vision, ‘first class’ leadership and a passion for developing a strong sales and service culture and to take this business from ‘great to greater.’ Such exciting times ahead!What will you do in an average week?

• Working to your strengths, you will provide over-arching leadership of the business, ensuring decision-making is made with the core organisational values of honesty, integrity, ethics and respect at the forefront
• Be accountable for the day to day general management of the business to ensure maximum efficiency and effectiveness of its operations including stores, merchandise, production, marketing, people management and expense management, all to maximise sales and profitability
• To be contributing and delivering on a cohesive company strategy and vision, ensuring its clearly communicated and articulated in a precise and engaging way to all internal and external stakeholders, ensuring ongoing alignment. You will also drive the business development and expansion strategies to continue to strengthen the company’s market position
• You will directly oversee your senior team across all functions of the business, keeping them aligned to the company strategy and providing them with leadership and development opportunities
• You will act as the custodian of the culture and heartbeat of the organisation to ensure the business remains an ‘employer of choice’

Here’s what it will take:

• Proven GM level experience in a ‘like for like’ role within a small to medium retail organisation. Those candidates ready to step up into this level of role will also be strongly considered providing they have GM/senior level experience of a retail function as well as experience across other multiple organisational functions
• A variety of industry backgrounds will be considered although it’s highly likely you will have experience in soft goods (textiles and/or apparel). Essential will be a strong sense of style, an eye for product and a senior retail leader who is effortlessly ‘on trend’
• A deep passion for retail, product, sales, service, people and delivering sustainable results. You know effortlessly how to translate a ‘vision’ into day-to-day retail operational excellence and achieve results that are sustainable for the long term
• Are proven in your ability to articulate a clear vision and to create and develop a strong retail sales and service culture. You develop, plans, targets and timelines that will take a business and its team, from its current state to its next level of accelerated growth ensuring high levels of customer services is always at its core
• A customer-centric mentality and a retailer at heart. You have unquestionable passion for retail and a high level of interest to visit stores regularly to ensure you fully across, the heart and pulse of the business. You inherently believe that customers come first every time and a retail business exists to create ‘customers for life’
• An understanding of the nuances of a family business, its therefore unlikely you will come from a pure corporate background
• A leadership style that will naturally listen, learn and build relationships in the first instance. You are also pragmatic and measured in your approach to decision-making and advice-giving
• Have sound business acumen and have managed significant P&L’s. You therefore have a deep understanding of the financial levers across all areas
• Have strong exposure to market influences and inhabit a strong knowledge of demographics, competitor activity and environmental factors
• Are authentic, calm, humble and down to earth: this oozes from your every pore
• You take a non-hierarchical approach i.e. are just as comfortable getting your hands dirty as much as you are at performing at the strategic and high-level business and relationship management aspects of the role
• You are professionally mature: you inspire confidence, are incredibly commercial, you have endless drive, determination, resilience and persistence and you have a high level of commitment that inspires others. You are always ‘in it for the team.’

If this sounds like the career-defining opportunity in Retail General Management that you have been waiting for, please apply ASAP. Otherwise, for further question or a confidential decision, please contact Gabby Symons on 0432 261 116 or via gabbys@peopleequity.com.au