Head of Group Loyalty

Job description / Role

We are a leading partner for luxury across the Middle East. With more than 600 stores, 300 brands and over 65 years of experience in the region, we have become a major player in the beauty, fashion and gift sectors, by offering service excellence to our partners and delighting all our customers. We are moving fast from a traditional distributor and retailer for luxury in the Middle East, to a hybrid retailer bringing luxury experiences to the fingertips of customers everywhere.

To fuel the next stage of our growth we are looking to build a world class team. From physical retail through to supply chain and customer loyalty, we aim to use technology and data to continuously improve every aspect of our operations. We are looking for top talent to join us on this journey of exploring new horizons together.

What you'll be doing

The Head of Loyalty defines and leads the loyalty program's strategy in order to increase customer value and ensure strong retention. They collaborate closely with the brands to define the program's value proposition, develop customized customer experiences and focus on engaging the identified customer segments.

The Head of Loyalty would balance being both strategic and operational to connect with the ground when needed, extremely data-driven to leverage the programme and extract the right insights about customers' behaviours and patterns.

Strategy & Leadership Activities
- Defines the loyalty program vision, 3-year strategy and roadmap in line with Chalhoub Group's and the brands' objectives including the program's expansion to other key markets
- Develops customer strategies to improve customer recruitment across all channels, customer data capture and optimize Recency, Frequency and Monetary Value (RFM), Average Transaction Value (ATV) and Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
- Clarifies loyalty program roadmap with milestones (e.g. benefits, experiences and events) for implementation and highlights the relevant customer segments for each identified tier
- Ensures that the set strategy and program retains and delights members by offering an exceptional experience and further engages them through program propositions such as a Points, Member Only Offers, Benefits and Experiences
- Oversees the loyalty budget (both cost and revenue forecasts) as well as the P&L of loyalty program
- Leverages historical campaign insights and future customer behavior studies to identify key decisions and plans to upsell, grow the customer base and increase customer retention
- Drives innovation in the program to keep it fresh and relevant for the customer, to retain existing customers as well as acquire new ones
- Benchmarks loyalty programs of other players in the region and globally across various categories to understand the drivers of success and innovative/ next-generation offerings that could potentially be leveraged by the group
- Leads end-to-end program initiatives from requirements definition to deployment and performance analysis, along with issue and risk management

Operational Activities
- Oversees, reviews and aligns on the program's operating plans against program focus areas and KPIs
- Identifies ways to monetize the loyalty program and ensures the program is converted into a profit center
- Oversees and monitors the performance of loyalty related campaigns to provide direction for maximizing the Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) by increasing their tenure and growing revenues/margins
- Identifies partnerships needed to support the loyalty program (e.g. retailers, airlines, hotels, restaurants) and align with the Brands and Partnerships team to develop mutually beneficial agreements
- Aligns with the marketing teams in the Brands to manage a diverse range of loyalty campaigns and customer retention initiatives
- Ensures that analysis, testing and learning principles are conducted in a systematic way to identify areas of improvement and optimizations for the loyalty program
- Oversees the management of all the loyalty products/tools
- Ensures efficient utilization of the loyalty team and identifies potential growth and development opportunities

Communication & Stakeholder Management
- Builds strong ties with brand VPs and GMs to help increase adoption of the loyalty program and drive tangible business results
- Maintains close alignment and coordination with the marketing teams and the Loyalty Champions across the Brands to cascade the loyalty strategy, plan of action and KPIs and to capture their feedback on areas of improvement
- Collaborates with Customer Care and CX teams to leverage insights (e.g. customer complaints, churn reasons, loyalty program contact reasons) and highlighted pain-points to drive continuous improvement
- Aligns with Tech, Retail Operations, Finance, e-Commerce and Supply Chain functions to ensure the smooth running of the program
- Leads regular business reviews/ health checks to measure program performance, updates, progress, key wins, success stories and areas of attention
- Conducts quarterly meetings with Chalhoub Group Leadership Team to share updates, progress made against set targets, key learnings and wins

Requirements

Education:
- Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Communications or related field

Experience:
- 10+ years of experience in the development and execution of loyalty programs
- 5+ years of program design and management experience, with a proven track record in knowing what's required to deliver a successful loyalty program and can execute accordingly

Skills & Competencies:
- Experience in being commercially driven to maximize Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), drive incremental sales, manage the profitability and P&L of the loyalty program
- Ability to translate organizational objectives, collected customer data, research insights and other relevant data into operational plans across multi-year strategies
- Strong background in customer acquisition, re-engagement and retention strategies across various customer segments and channels
- Experience in managing a large team with a diverse portfolio of experience across different geographies and collaborating with other functions (e.g. Finance, IT, CRM, Brand Marketing, Retail Ops and Data)
- Proven track record in project management and a strong eye for detail as well as the bigger picture to take informed decisions on program performance and enhancements
- Knowledge of loyalty platforms
- Data-driven with strong ability to interpret analysis and derive actionable insights

What we can offer you

With us, you will turn your aspirations into reality. We will help shape your journey through enriching experiences, learning and development opportunities and exposure to different assignments within your role or through internal mobility. Our Group offers diverse career paths for those who are extraordinary, every day.

We recognise the value that you bring, and we strive to provide a competitive benefits package which includes health care, child education contribution, remote and flexible working policies as well as exclusive employee discounts.

About the Company

The Chalhoub Group is the leading partner for luxury across the Middle East since 1955. As an expert in retail, distribution and marketing services based in Dubai, the group has become a major player in the fashion, beauty and gift sectors regionally.

By blending its Middle East expertise and intimate knowledge of luxury, Chalhoub Group is building brands in the region, by offering service excellence to all its partners and a unique experience to its customers through its passionate teams.

With a growing workforce of more than 9,000 people, implemented in 14 countries, as well as the operating of over 470 retail outlets, the group's success is attributed to its most valued asset of highly skilled and dedicated teams. Professionalism and passion are what fuel the Chalhoub Group's competitive edge in today's market.

By being committed to implementing sustainable practices into their business, the Chalhoub Group has been awarded in 2013 the CSR Label from the Dubai Chamber of Commerce.