KEY RESPONSIBILITIES – Tokyo, Osaka & Nagoya, Free Standing Stores & Boutiques in Department Stores

RETAIL PERFORMANCE

• Identify and maximize turnover opportunities. Develop and implement action plans to reach boutique teams’ KPIs and productivity.
• Assess sales potential, define targets and motivate boutique teams to achieve sales goals.
• Address low-performance swiftly and through concrete action plans.
• Direct sales leads conversion. Activate product launches, events, walk-ins and CRM campaigns.
• Provide accurate sales forecasts.
• Assign resources, define and control retail budgets (e.g. sales, EBIT, PL, HR, T&E, boutique operations).
• Collaborate effectively across functions, such as Marketing, Operations, HR
• Identify and negotiate with relevant stakeholders to meet the needs of boutiques (e.g. products, activations, headcount, skills...)
• Participate in monthly boutique meetings and quarterly meetings with HQ.

• Remain aware of market trends. Provide assessments of Boutique and competitors’ performance (e.g. sales, opening/closing, landlords, activities) to the management and HQ.
• Provide regular feedback to HQ concerning change in customer behavior and comments (e.g. our product prices in relation to other brands or regions, customer service, demands)

CLIENT DEVELOPMENT AND CRM

• Support teams achieve sales through client relationships.
• Direct client leads conversion. Support boutique managers plan approaches.
• Define regional client recruitment strategies with regional CRM and marketing experts.
• Support the optimization of client KPIs and Customer Equation.
• Contribute to planning and execution of brand marketing activities.
• Entertain and manage selected Retail VIPs.
• Enhance customer’s in-store experience via a consistent selling ceremony.
• Resolve client complaints. 

RETAIL STRATEGY & NETWORK DEVELOPMENT

• Contribute to annual regional strategic plans.  Translate the brand’s global retail strategies into regional action plans.
• Contribute to the development of regional 5-year plans (e.g. estimate TO, sqm, FTE, traffic).
• Engage boutique managers with brand/retail initiatives. Drive the change management as the strategy evolves.
• Accountable for accelerating DTC business.
• Participate in new boutique opening, relocation and renovation projects.
• In collaboration with SDP, regularly control boutique and display conditions.
• Review retail headcount, propose and implement organization changes
• Increase synergies among boutiques. Reduce harmful inconsistencies with other distribution channels, if any.
• Develop and manage professional relationship with department store stakeholders
• Translate central guidelines, webinars and training material to Japanese to provide a comprehensive framework in terms of strategy and procedures for the retail teams

CUSTOMER SERVICE

• Integrate customer service business into retail business model.
• Identify opportunities, challenges and develop customer service action plans with HQ Sales.
• Resolve poor customer service performance. Partner with Retail Operations Director and HQ with service cases involving difficult and sensitive end-clients.
• Supervise implementation and localization of the brand customer service organization, guidelines, policies and processes.

LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT

• Identify necessary retail capabilities to deliver the brand retail strategy.
• Develop boutique managers’ skills: management, leadership and coaching to ensure continuous personal growth, development of competencies and expertise.
• Develop and submit retail training plan to Akademie.
• Partner with Akademie.  Monitor regional progress. Address training needs.

• Encourage and accompany in-store training sessions. Highlight best practices and diffuse learnings among boutiques to promote continuous improvement.
• Respond to and encourage talent and skills development through re-organization, role re-alignment, mobility opportunities, offering visibility, transfers and promotions.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Enable success of Retail team with decision support, good energy, resources, shared services and best practice exchanges.
• Develop trusting relationships with boutique managers. Facilitate round-table discussions, collective rewards and team member bonding within the retail community.
• Identify success profiles and talent planning to define career paths and promote advancement.
• Maintain active HR notes on team performance. Deliver annual evaluations (PMP).
• Participate in the hiring of boutique managers, boutique teams and other retail positions.

• Execute onboarding, coaching and training of boutique managers and other retail positions.
• Handle retail teams’ HR issues.
• Work with HR and HQ team to ensure equitable remuneration policies, commission and incentive schemes.

REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor’s and/or Master’s degree, preferably in business with a major in retail management, marketing, communication or a related field
• At least 8-10 years of sales, retail or commercial experience at managerial level in a multinational environment, preferably in luxury industry
• Strong leadership, communication and people skills, excellent figures acumen and analytical skills, structured, proactive and passionate
• Excellent command in both spoken and written English, other languages depending on the region
• Strong sense of luxury service and experience
• IT savvy in MS office
• flexibility towards traveling in order to present the company/brand across the market/region