Head of Retail

The role is to generate income for the hospice through our 10 shops, Warehouse operations and E-Commerce business. Everyone in the team plays a part in ensuring the smooth running of the operation, providing an excellent customer experience and maximising profits so that more funds are available to benefit patients and their families.

The team has ambitions to generate £1.6 million this year, and every penny helps the hospice’s clinical staff provide expert care and support for local people with terminal or life-limiting illnesses and their families, in the hospice and at home.

So, if you are looking for a challenging and rewarding new role and share our values, now is a very exciting time to join us and make a real difference to the lives of local people facing life-limiting illnesses through your work.

What you need:

We are looking for an experienced leader with significant experience in managing and developing a team. You will also need to have a demonstrable track record in achieving financial targets, effectively managing resources and identifying new business opportunities.

You will be an excellent communicator and relationship builder, able to influence others and be highly organised with the ability to manage multiple projects.

You will need to demonstrate a strong commitment to the hospice’s values and we are looking for someone with charity retail or retail experience.

St Luke’s is an adult hospice based in Winsford that cares for people in mid and south Cheshire who are suffering from cancer and other life limiting illnesses. We offer specialist treatment, care, advice and support to many seriously ill people and their families every year. We’re a small hospice with a big heart whose ethos, values and beliefs are core to everything we do. If you feel the same way we’d love to hear from you.

Key Tasks and Responsibilities:

• To lead and drive forward the continued success of the trading operation, increasing sales and profit from existing shops, online operations and new commercial opportunities.
• Develop a stock acquisition strategy, working with other areas of the organisation if appropriate. To support stock generation all year round.
• Identify growth and new business investment opportunities to include expanding the shops portfolio and developing new initiatives that will increase sales and income.
• Build the annual budget for income and expenditure and, once approved, take responsibility for achieving these targets. Undertake ongoing analysis, planning, quarterly forecasting and management of the trading budget.
• Ensure all trading income is raised lawfully, with particular regard to data protection legislation, Charity Commission guidance and Fundraising standards and Charity Retail Association codes of practice.
• Remotely line manage the Area Manager and Warehouse Manager, setting KPIs and objectives, and supporting their development and business delivery through regular supervisions and annual appraisals.
• Develop a volunteer strategy to attract, recruit and retain volunteers across the retail portfolio, working with other areas of the organisation if appropriate.
• Utilising the charity's CRM system, interrogate data and insight to make informed decisions about the business to increase performance on a local and regional level.
• To ensure the retail operation complies with all the charities policies and procedures and that statutory requirements are met.

The person:

• You will have gained substantial experience within the charity retail or retail sector particularly at a senior leadership level.
• Experience of managing a budget and stock control and working to targets.
• A strategic thinker with strong negotiation and persuasive skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively to a wide range of people.
• Approachable, professional and compassionate.
• Experience in developing partnerships that generate stock acquisition & donations.
• Strong commercial and analytical skills with a good understanding of profit and loss, managing budgets and working to targets.
• Proven track record of leading, managing and developing a geographically diverse team.
• Excellent leadership skills with the ability to inspire, motivate and manage a team of staff.
• Demonstrable experience of strategic planning in a retail environment.
• Experience in increasing and maintaining sales income and net contribution even in challenging economic market conditions.

Please read the recruitment pack, including the person specification, before submitting an application. This can be accessed via our website.

St Luke’s is committed to equality and diversity and promotes an inclusive working environment. We encourage applications from all areas of the community, regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships.

We are also happy to discuss any reasonable adjustments needed during the recruitment process.

Successful applicants will be required to undertake a disclosure and barring services check (DBS) at the level required for the role applied for (with the exception of roles based within our shops and warehouse. St Luke’s will cover the cost of the DBS check. However, should the successful candidate leave within 6 months of employment the full cost of this check will be deducted from their final salary. Information about sensitive DBS checks can be found here - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/transgender-applications.