What you’ll be doing:

• Direct a small team of managers to showcase all our non – food products from homeware to beauty, including our fantastic TU and Habitat brands
• Planning for upcoming key trading activity by working closely with the rest of the store leadership team
• Regularly taking full accountability for the store in the absence of a store manager, role modelling and coaching for high standards and efficiency across the store. 
• Ensuring correct management of stock in our in-store warehouse
• People management is a big part of the role, managing performance and capability, conducting disciplinaries and ensuring scheduling and pay are accurate.

What makes a great Lead General Merchandise manager:

• A passionate leader who is consistently ambitious for their customers and colleagues, every day, growing their team to do the same.
• Experience of managing managers, in a fast-paced, customer-facing environment – doing this in a retail merchandising environment would be advantageous.
• An operator who is comfortable managing alone in the absence of more senior management.
• Driven to deliver high performance with a focus on efficiency and engagement.
• Confident in the use of data, and understanding / interpreting KPI's or other performance indicators, and has experience of improving these.
• Puts inclusivity at the heart of what they do and uses this to build an inclusive team and working environment.
• Can manage disciplinaries, performance issues or other similar employee relations issues (Up to dismissal).

Essential Criteria:

• Experience leading large teams in a fast-paced, customer-focused environment — you’ve developed leaders, built high-performing teams, and created a culture of ownership and accountability.
• A track record of delivering exceptional customer experiences across complex operations, with evidence of delivering these through your team.
• Proven success in delivering and improving KPIs — from sales and stock availability to customer satisfaction and colleague engagement, you’ve driven results that matter.
• Experience managing sensitive and complex people matters, including performance, absence, and formal employee relations cases, with confidence, fairness, and sound judgement.
• Leadership experience in an operational environment — whether in retail, hospitality, or food service — where you’ve owned departmental performance and confidently led the store in the absence of senior leadership.
• Can evidence leading change — whether rolling out new ways of working, embedding new systems, or shifting team mindsets, you’ve brought people with you and made change stick.