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