General Manager - Retail (ACE Hardware)

Job description / Role

Overview of the role

To deliver a profitable operation, ensuring continuous sales growth online and offline of the Group's ACE businesses, as well as establishing a high level of customer service. Maintaining effective relationships with ACE organisations as well as other relevant principals and effectively managing the budgeted resources to deliver the agreed financial objectives. Ensuring that teams are fully engaged and are receiving both regular performance feedback, as well as creating an environment that engages employees and lives the AF values.

What you will do

1. Operating Results: Achieve turnover, net profit, gross margin, OTB, ROI, and market share targets as budgeted.

   The job holder (JH) is responsible for ensuring operating results are within plan. The JH will be required to regularly review results and implement, where necessary, activity to ensure the objectives and targets are being achieved. Where they are not, corrective plans will be implemented. This will require range reviews ensuring that product availability at key times meets both customer and market demands. The JH will ensure that the sourcing of product from both local and international vendors meets the needs of the category plans and is accountable for the accurate and proper inventory management in the business. Notably, effective and efficient use of warehouse and distribution and ensuring processes are enforced.

2. Strategic Planning: Support future profitable growth by preparing and gaining the agreement of the commercial teams and the MD - Multiband for strategic plans (short, medium, and long-term) which meet the needs of ACE and are consistent with the Al-Futtaim Group's values and guidelines.

   The JH, through analysis of previous results and through gaining a sound understanding of local and GCC market business opportunities, will prepare long, medium, and short-term plans to achieve financial targets. The JH will identify future business opportunities as well as assist the Group in implementing new opportunities identified outside current markets for B2B and B2C. The JH will be required to build the e-commerce business for ACE, doing sales and ensuring a joint trading plan with stores. Improve operational cost effectiveness by ensuring the best deployment of financial and human resources and by agreeing with subordinates clearly understood accountabilities, objectives, targets, and measures. The JH will constantly challenge the team to fully utilise all resources to ensure maximum effectiveness. The JH will operate with a category management approach to selling and buying.

3. People Management: To 'lead by example' and ensure that clear objectives are set, constructive feedback is given, the team(s) are motivated and effective, as well as efficient teamwork is encouraged. To improve the quality of senior management by ensuring sound recruitment is delivered in cooperation with the HR Manager - Retail. The JH is responsible for ensuring that training and continuous learning and development takes place using a consistent approach in both brands.

   The JH will be the leader in establishing an environment where effective teamwork is considered a normal part of the way we work, where respect and cooperation are achieved. The JH will ensure that talent management and succession planning reviews are ongoing within the businesses. Drive engagement and act on an action plan to perform. To also implement NPS into the business with a customer-centric approach using voice of the customer.

4. Monitoring and Control: Fulfill company objectives through the monthly review of performance against plan, by taking prompt action to resolve variances. Assist in the development of and ensure effective implementation of all Group policies and procedures.

   Through weekly, monthly, and quarterly meetings, the JH (along with the management team) will review results and take decisions on corrective action where needed. Through delegation and supervision, the JH will be responsible for ensuring compliance with company policies and procedures and, if required, will initiate an investigation if any deviance from policy is found. The JH will be responsible for ensuring that the senior management team are managing all costs in their areas of responsibility as well as reviewing the P&L each month and taking appropriate action where there are variances to plan.

5. Relationship with Principals: The JH will serve the best interests of the owners and principals by regular personal contact with principals at a high level and by keeping them alert to opportunities and implications of changes in market and competition conditions.

   The JH must at all times maintain an effective working relationship with the principals through regular contact and feedback. As the custodian of the brand name, the JH is responsible for ensuring that the reputation of the brand is maintained to the highest standard at all times.

6. Exclusivity: The JH is responsible for ensuring that a high level of exclusivity is maintained at all times in ACE principal brands.

   In ACE, exclusivity should be sought by the buying team when agreeing new ranges. By means of buying trips to trade fairs throughout the world, new ranges, items, and brands should be sought to ensure newness as well as to bring exclusive ranges to market.

7. Management Information Systems - SAP: Improve sales, profits, customer service, inventory management, and managerial control by the development and implementation of superior management information and accounting systems.

   The JH will ensure that the most effective IT solutions are available to provide information across all functions and at the appropriate levels. The JH will be required to develop strong relationships with the IT department to ensure that all opportunities for development are achieved. The objective under this heading is to ensure that the teams are working in an efficient way, utilizing the latest technology to deliver increased sales and profit and superior customer product availability.

Required skills to be successful

• Leadership skills
• Commercial acumen
• Team management
• Driving profitability
• Result-oriented
• Self-motivation
• MS Office/SAP experience

What equips you for the role

• Education: Graduate in any discipline
• Minimum Experience and Knowledge: Extensive experience in retailing, with a store operations and/or commercial background. Home improvement experience essential. E-commerce/omnichannel experience advantageous.

We're here to provide excellent service but a little help from you can ensure a five-star candidate experience from start to finish.

Before you click "apply": Please read the job description carefully to ensure you can confidently demonstrate why this opportunity is right for you and take the time to put together a well-crafted and personalized CV to further boost your visibility. Our global talent acquisition team members are all assigned to specific businesses to ensure that we make the best matches between talent and opportunities. We not only consider the requisite compatibility of skills and behaviours, but also how candidates align with our values of respect, integrity, collaboration, and excellence.

As part of our candidate experience promise, we also want to make ourselves available to you throughout the application process. We make every effort to review and respond to every application.

About the Company

Established in the 1930's, the Al-Futtaim Group initially operated as a trading enterprise. Rapid development throughout the 1940's and 50's saw it establish itself regionally as an integrated commercial, industrial and services organisation, positioning itself one of the leading business houses in the lower Gulf region. Today, it operates collectively over 40 companies bearing the Al-Futtaim name, dominates many market segments in the UAE, and has expanded its sphere of operation to include Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Egypt.

The Group comprises a diverse range of strategically positioned operating subsidiaries and associate companies, structured to give the Al-Futtaim Group the flexibility and versatility to keep ahead of local competition while keeping pace with the ever-evolving global business scenario. The Groups continued investment in world-class systems technology is clear evidence of its commitment to maintain leading edge performance and service delivery.

The success of the Al-Futtaim Group can be attributed to a business approach that combines the ability to change with the traditional values of integrity, service and social responsibility that define its core business philosophy. This, linked with the Groups belief in decentralisation, gives the heads of the operating companies a high degree of functional autonomy and authority, providing the Group with essential flexibility, and individual employees a clearly defined work culture and sense of responsibility.