National Multi-Site Retailer (Confidential)
Our client is a nationally recognised retailer with a significant UK store estate and an ambitious growth strategy. They are looking to appoint an exceptional Divisional Director to lead a large region across the North of England, reporting directly into the Retail Director.
This is not a traditional operational leadership role.
The business is investing heavily in creating a culture where exceptional customer experience, colleague capability and commercial performance go hand in hand. They are looking for a leader who can inspire, coach and develop teams to create stores where customers receive genuine advice, expert guidance and outstanding service.
The Opportunity
Leading a team of Regional Managers, who in turn lead Store Managers across a significant multi-site operation, you will be responsible for driving commercial performance by developing people and creating a customer-first culture.
Success will not be measured simply by operational execution or compliance, but by your ability to create stores where colleagues are confident, knowledgeable and passionate about helping customers make informed purchasing decisions.
You’ll spend time in stores coaching leaders, challenging behaviours and creating an environment where customer conversations become a genuine competitive advantage.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead, coach and develop a high-performing team of Regional Managers.
- Build a culture where customer experience sits at the heart of every decision.
- Develop Store Managers who inspire, coach and grow capable, customer-focused teams.
- Improve customer satisfaction through behavioural change, coaching and leadership.
- Drive commercial performance through improved customer engagement, conversion and service standards.
- Embed a culture of ownership, accountability and continuous improvement across the region.
- Use customer insight, commercial data and operational performance to identify opportunities for improvement.
- Partner with central support functions to successfully deliver strategic initiatives.
- Ensure operational excellence supports, rather than replaces, outstanding customer experience.
About You
You’re a field leader who understands that outstanding retail is created through people, not process alone.
You have successfully led large, multi-site retail operations and can clearly demonstrate how you’ve improved customer experience by developing leadership capability, coaching behaviours and creating high-performing cultures.
You’ve worked within environments where colleagues are expected to build relationships, understand customer needs, confidently explain products and provide genuine advice rather than simply complete transactions.
You’re passionate about developing leaders and creating teams that customers actively choose to return to because of the service they receive.
Experience We’re Looking For
We’re particularly interested in leaders who have developed their careers within customer-led, consultative retail or service environments where colleague knowledge, customer engagement and service excellence are central to commercial success.
Examples could include:
- Furniture & Interiors
- Kitchens & Bathrooms
- Garden Centres
- Specialist Retail
- Consumer Electronics
- Premium Retail
- Automotive Retail
- Hospitality
- Other consultative, service-led customer environments
Candidates who have successfully transitioned from grocery retail into a more customer-led, consultative environment are also encouraged to apply.
Essential Experience
- Significant multi-site retail leadership experience.
- Proven experience leading Regional Managers and senior field leadership teams.
- Demonstrable success improving customer experience through coaching and cultural change.
- Strong commercial acumen with a track record of improving sales and customer engagement.
- Experience building high-performing, customer-focused teams across large retail estates.
- A visible, hands-on leadership style with a passion for developing people.
This role is unlikely to be suitable if…
- Your experience has only been within high-volume grocery retail where success has been driven primarily by operational execution, replenishment, or compliance.
- You have limited experience leading cultural or behavioural change across large field teams.
- Your leadership style is centred on process, task management and operational control rather than coaching, customer engagement and developing people.
- You have not worked within an environment where colleagues’ product knowledge and customer conversations are fundamental to commercial success.
Why Apply?
This is a rare opportunity to influence the direction of a nationally recognised retailer by developing exceptional leaders, improving customer experience and creating a culture that delivers long-term commercial success.
If you’re passionate about building high-performing teams and believe that outstanding customer service is the strongest competitive advantage a retailer can have, we’d love to hear from you.