Head of Retail

Head of Retail (UK & Ireland) Location: London (Hybrid – 2-3 days in office & 2/3 days travel to site) Company Overview: With a long-standing history, the company are one of the Top 5 leading beauty companies in the world, operating in 100+ countries with 40k+ employees and a portfolio of globally recognised skincare, fragrance and cosmetics brands. Opportunity: Their Head of Retail is responsible for defining and delivering the retail strategy across their UK&I brand portfolio, partnering with their Commercial Director to lead retail organisation, drive sales performance, elevate customer experience, and strengthen brand equity across their sites, balancing strategic leadership with hands-on retail execution to ensure consistent delivery of luxury standards. Key Responsibilities: Retail Strategy & Commercial Performance: Define and execute the UK&I retail growth strategy to set sales targets & strategic direction with National Field Sales Managers (tracking KPIs, performance insights, and sales forecasts) Analyse market trends, competitor activity, and consumer behaviour to identify growth opportunities across partners, doors, and channels Leadership & Team Development: Lead and develop senior retail leaders and field teams (2 direct NSM reports + indirect oversight across 3 ASM & 15 Store Managers & 300+ in-store colleagues) Build a high-performance retail culture & support recruitment, onboarding, and succession planning; driving accountability and productivity across field teams Operational Excellence: Drive innovation and efficiency in retail operations whilst maintaining luxury standards across stores, counters, and retail environments Ensure strong visual merchandising, staffing models, and stock management Customer Experience: Champion luxury service standards and experiential retail; elevating product knowledge and service behaviours across teams Monitor customer feedback and refine service models Retail Partner Management & Cross-Functional Collaboration: Build strong strategic relationships with key retail partners, advising them on space, visibility, staffing, and commercial terms; act as the senior escalation point for retail issues Work closely with Marketing, Education, Commercial, Supply Chain, and VM to ensure strong launch execution and in-store brand activations; representing the internal voice of retail Your Experience: Senior multi-site retail leadership experience within luxury beauty, cosmetics, or premium retail  Proven commercial track record delivering sales growth & experience leading large multi-layered field teams Strong understanding of retail operations and luxury service standards through making data-driven decisions and utilising strong stakeholder management skills Leadership Profile: Commercially driven & strategic yet operationally hands-on, eager to collaborate, influence & advise others; agile & solutions-focused with a customer-centric luxury mindset Offering: Competitive salary DOE + 18% bonus + £5k travel allowance 26 days holiday + BH + time off for your Birthday, Marriage & Moving House  Private Medical + Enhanced Parental Allowance + 8% Matched Pension + Life Assurance up to 4x salary Generous product allocation & discount + Flexible Fridays + Wellbeing programmes + Incredible L&D opportunities