Role profile

Role purpose

The Retail General Manager leads a large-format Scope retail shop and is accountable for delivering its full commercial potential. The role maximises sustainable income and profit across all sales channels, including shop-floor trading and ecommerce and is responsible for driving income, managing costs and achieving the budget each year.

The role provides leadership for a large and complex retail operation, including high-volume warehouse and stock-processing activity, corporate stock, online sales, and management and motivation of a varied colleague and volunteer workforce. Working with the Area Manager and central teams, the General Manager develops and delivers plans that drive growth, improve productivity, strengthen the customer experience and maximise the shop’s contribution to Scope’s wider retail strategy.

The manager will ensure that all team members understand the importance of communication with customers about Scope’s purpose and campaigns. They will actively forge links with the local community using social media and building relationships with businesses and other organisations.

Key responsibilities

Commercial leadership and performance

• Develop and deliver an annual business and performance plan for the shop, aligned with agreed retail priorities
• Take accountability for achieving challenging sales, profit, productivity and growth targets across all income streams (including giftaid)
• Use agreed KPIs and performance information to identify opportunities, address underperformance and take timely corrective action.
• Drive sustainable growth across donated stock, corporate stock, new goods, ecommerce, eBay, eBay Live and other agreed income streams.
• Make effective commercial decisions on stock allocation, pricing, product mix, space, merchandising and sales-channel selection.
• Identify and implement opportunities to increase income, improve productivity and strengthen long-term profitability.
• Provide clear performance reporting and insight to the Area Manager and relevant central teams.
• Contribute learning, ideas and evidence to the continuing development of Scope’s large format retail model.

Leadership and people management

• Lead, motivate and develop a large and varied team of paid colleagues, volunteers and community payback participants where applicable.
• Drive volunteer recruitment, induction, engagement, development and retention to support the operating model and rota.  Ensure there are enough volunteers to build in resilience and flexibility.
• Set clear objectives and performance expectations, supported by regular one-to-ones, team meetings, coaching and feedback.  Ensure the team understands the shop’s KPIs and their contribution to achieving them.
• Build a high-performance and inclusive culture in which colleagues and volunteers understand their contribution to commercial and customer outcomes.
• Plan and deploy resources effectively across the sales floor, warehouse, stock processing and online sales activities.
• Identify capability and succession needs and ensure colleagues receive appropriate training and development, including communication with customers, e-commerce and social media
• Address performance, conduct, attendance and wellbeing matters promptly and in line with Scope policies.
• Ensure volunteers are appropriately supervised, trained and supported including communication with customers, e-commerce and social media

Customer experience and shop trading

• Lead the team to deliver consistently excellent and inclusive customer service.
• Ensure the shop is safe, welcoming, well-presented and easy for customers to navigate.
• Deliver high standards of visual merchandising, stock density, pricing and product presentation.
• Use customer, sales and stock insight to improve the offer and respond to local trading opportunities.
• Promote Scope, its services, mission and campaigns to customers and within the local community.
• Build relationships with local businesses, community organisations and corporate donors to increase stock, volunteering and customer engagement

Ecommerce and online sales

• Accountable for ecommerce and online-sales performance within the shop’s commercial plan.
• Lead the development of eBay, eBay Live and other agreed online sales opportunities.
• Ensure suitable stock is identified, prioritised and channelled to the platform that will maximise value.
• Oversee online listing activity and ensure effective use of specialist listing resource.  Develop further resource where needed
• Monitor sales, productivity, stock conversion and other agreed ecommerce KPIs and take action to improve results.
• Work with the ecommerce team to implement agreed standards, processes, campaigns and improvement activity.
• Lead and support social media activity to increase brand awareness, build a loyal customer following, promote products and events, and generate additional sales through both in-store and online channels.

Warehouse and high-volume stock operations

• Lead a high-volume stock operation across donated, corporate and purchased stock streams.
• Oversee safe and efficient warehouse, storage, stock-processing and stock-movement activities.
• Ensure appropriate systems, controls and routines are in place to maintain stock accuracy, security, quality and flow.
• Maximise value from stock through effective sorting, processing, rotation, allocation and exit routes.
• Work with transport drivers, Retail Operations, stock generation and commercial teams to improve availability and stock movement.
• Support the development of the shop as a regional stock hub, where this forms part of the agreed operating model

Financial, risk and operational control

• Manage the shop within agreed budgets and delegated authority, controlling costs and using resources effectively.
• Take overall responsibility for cash handling, banking, till operations, records and associated administration.
• Ensure compliance with Scope policies, the Shop Operating Manual and all legal and regulatory requirements.
• Take full accountability for health and safety compliance across the sales floor, warehouse, stock rooms and back-of-house areas, ensuring robust standards, risk controls and safe ways of working are consistently embedded.
• Ensure all paid colleagues, volunteers and relevant third parties complete the required health and safety training, understand their responsibilities, and maintain compliant working practices within a large retail and warehouse environment.[DB1] 
• Ensure appropriate controls are in place for the health and safety risks associated with a large retail and warehouse environment.
• Complete and maintain required risk assessments, checks, incident reporting and follow-up actions.
• Fulfil safeguarding responsibilities and escalate concerns through the appropriate arrangements.
• Maintain effective business continuity, security, housekeeping and maintenance arrangements.

Other responsibilities

• Work collaboratively across teams and departments to support Scope’s strategic direction and retail priorities.
• Attend relevant meetings, training, workshops and events and complete agreed actions.
• Act as a shop key holder and fulfil the responsibilities assigned under the Shop Operating Manual.
• Work in or support/provide training to other shops when requested. 
• Undertake other reasonable duties within the remit and seniority of the role.

Key relationships, internal and external stakeholders

Internal

• Area Manager - Retail
• Retail leadership and Retail Operations teams
• Ecommerce and online trading teams
• New Goods and Corporate Partnership colleagues
• Scope Drivers
• Finance, People, Property, IT, Marketing and Health and Safety colleagues
• Other General Managers and Shop Managers

External

• Customers
• Volunteers
• Corporate donors and partners
• Local businesses and community organisations
• Suppliers, contractors and delivery partners

Person specification

Knowledge and experience

Essential

• Experience of managing a high-volume or operationally complex retail environment.
• Proven experience of delivering challenging sales, profit, productivity or performance targets.
• Experience of analysing financial and operational performance information and turning insight into action.
• Experience of leading, motivating and developing a large and varied team in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience of managing significant stock volumes, stock processing and warehouse or back-of-house operations.
• Experience of ecommerce, online marketplaces or multi-channel retailing.
• Experience of managing budgets, controlling costs and maintaining effective financial and administrative controls.
• Experience of managing health and safety risks in a customer-facing operational environment.
• Experience of recruiting, supporting and developing volunteers or a mixed paid and volunteer workforce.
• Experience of improving performance, introducing change and embedding new ways of working.
• Understanding of Scope’s social model of disability and commitment to Scope’s mission, values and inclusive ways of working.

Desirable

• Experience of charity retail or another donated-stock environment.
• Experience of eBay, eBay Live or similar online marketplace activity.
• Experience of using social media and digital marketing activity to support customer engagement, brand awareness and commercial performance.
• Experience of corporate donated stock or large-scale stock partnerships.
• Experience of community engagement, local stock generation and community payback arrangements.
• Relevant retail management or health and safety qualification.

Skills and competencies

Essential

• Strong commercial and financial awareness, with the ability to balance income growth, profit, productivity and customer experience.
• Ability to interpret sales, stock, profit and productivity information and translate it into clear priorities and action.
• Ability to develop and deliver a practical business and performance plan.
• Ability to lead, motivate and hold a large team accountable for high standards and results.
• Ability to manage competing priorities across sales-floor, warehouse, stock-processing and online activities.
• Ability to make sound commercial decisions at pace while maintaining appropriate controls.
• Ability to identify growth opportunities, challenge established ways of working and drive continuous improvement.
• Ability to communicate clearly and influence a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to build effective relationships with customers, corporate donors, community partners, volunteers and central teams.
• Ability to create an inclusive environment and lead with fairness, integrity and respect.
• Ability to remain organised, resilient and focused in a fast-moving and operationally demanding environment.
• Confident use of digital tools, ecommerce systems and standard office applications.
• Flexibility to work a variable rota across five days of the week, including weekends and bank holidays, and to travel for training and meetings when required.

Desirable

• Ability to coach other retail leaders or contribute to wider retail improvement activity.
• Knowledge of warehouse, manual handling or stock-movement best practice.
  

 [DB1]@Emma Morgan  Ive just strengtherned these two bullet points aorund health and safety