WHITTARD OF CHELSEA
JOB DESCRIPTION – HEAD OF RETAIL
Job Title:
Head of Retail
Salary:
Reports to:
CEO
Direct Reports:
Area Managers and Retail Operations Support Manager
Department:
Retail
Job Purpose:
The Head of Retail will manage and drive all commercial aspects of the UK Retail business to
achieve the business’ stated growth objectives whilst operating in accordance with defined
business strategy.
Key Accountabilities:
Driving commercial performance: Full P&L ownership and budgetary responsibility
 Define and achieve the strategy and goals for the retail team including sales,
contribution, conversion/transactions, SPH, ATV, CRM.
Location: Witney based with travel throughout UK
Delivery of a consistently exceptional customer experience in all Whittard stores
 Team: Attract and retain a team of talented retail professionals (Whittard Friendly
Fanatics) at all levels
 Customer: High quality of customer service delivery – repeat customers, positive
customer comments, net promoter score
 Store operations: Housekeeping and visual merchandising are delivered to brand
standards.
Key Activities:
Driving commercial performance: Full P&L ownership and budgetary responsibility
 To develop and execute annual budgets and quarterly forecasts covering a set of clearly
defined business metrics and KPIs in order to monitor and drive commercial performance
in line with the overall business strategy and brand positioning.
 Interpreting performance and developing tactical responses to ensure targets are
outperformed.
 Achieve strategy through positive working relationships and strong project management.
 Lead weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual meetings with key stakeholders, detailing sales
performance, highlighting issues and devising strategies to address under-performance
and capitalise on opportunities to drive further growth.
 Liaise, challenge and represent the interests of the retail business to other departments
and the Executive Team in order to optimise the channel’s commercial performance (e.g.
product range and pricing; promotional activity, visual merchandising, store layout and
fixture design, instore & local marketing opportunities).
Delivery of a consistently exceptional customer experience in all Whittard stores
Team and Communication
 Effectively communicate strategy, providing appropriate and timely updates on all key
deliverables to shareholders, the executive team and employee base.
 To recruit, inspire, lead, coach, develop, motivate and retain a team of (up to 400)
talented retail professionals (Whittard Friendly Fanatics) at all levels – continually driving
up the calibre, encouraging two-way communication to drive up performance.
 Develop and maintain strong working relationships across the senior team.
Customer
 Ensure a high quality of customer service is delivered consistently across all stores
encouraging repeat purchases, positive customer comments, appropriate customer
feedback shared with relevant departments and a positive net promoter score.
This job description should be reviewed on an annual basis. Where the job description and performance review objectives differ, the latter takes
precedence.
Head of Retail
Whittard HR
Version Number 0001
Page 1 of 2
Issue Date: 01/08/2016
Review Date 01/08/2017
WHITTARD OF CHELSEA
JOB DESCRIPTION – HEAD OF RETAIL
Store operations
 Processes to ensure housekeeping and visual merchandising are delivered to brand
standards.
Other
 Play a leading role in the on-going Retail Estate optimisation process i.e. identifying sites
for new store locations based on the agreed network plan, signalling the need for ongoing maintenance and repairs to existing stores, contributing to the constant
improvement to store layouts and fixture design, and recommending stores for closure.
Relationships:
Internal: Shareholders, Executive team, Store Teams, Central support teams-Finance,
Merchandising, Buying, HR, Marketing Communications.
External: Retail service providers and shopping centre management.
Qualification/Experience:
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Competencies:
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He/she will have demonstrated their ability to develop strategy and tactically operate a
retail business unit with a track record of delivering commercial performance.
 He/she will have outstanding retail experience with a deep understanding of the required
technical, customer and commercial levers for driving the growth.
 He/she will have a breadth of understanding of the end-to-end customer journey, with
experience covering customer conversion optimisation, customer service and customer
retention strategies.
 He/she will have experience of full P&L ownership, budgeting and forecasting.
 He/she will have strong evidence of developing teams, delivering through people,
implementing and inspiring consistency in order to optimise contribution.
 He/she will have experience of (or understanding of) operating in a multi-channel
business
 The individual is likely to have previous experience within a premium brand and an SME.
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Commercial, practical, results focused and action orientated.
A clear thinker who is analytical and detail focused (analyse and optimise data).
Agile and able to learn quickly, adaptable to rapidly changing trading environments.
A good communicator (oral and written) with strong interpersonal and influencing skills.
Developed leadership skills; firm, fair and goal orientated yet able to nurture and develop
talent and build a high performing team.
Energetic, enthusiastic and not afraid of hard work.
Disciplined and well organised but with an entrepreneurial style.
Curious and prepared to experiment.
A sense of humour!
This job description should be reviewed on an annual basis. Where the job description and performance review objectives differ, the latter takes
precedence.
Head of Retail
Whittard HR
Version Number 0001
Page 2 of 2
Issue Date: 01/08/2016
Review Date 01/08/2017