Retail Director - UK

Retail Director - UK

Department: Retail

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: Head Office, London

Reporting To: Chief Commercial Officer

Description To lead the retail and wholesale channel strategy with full accountability for sales, service, execution, and profitability across owned stores and retail partners, while ensuring a premium, omnichannel customer experience aligned with the Elemis brand Strategy.
Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership: Shape and expand the global retail strategy - translate high-level business goals into tactical retail plans.
• Relationship Building & Stakeholder Management: build and nurture strong relationships with internal teams, retail partners, franchisees, and luxury department stores.
• Commercial Acumen: Champion omnichannel execution: store-to-online services, clienteling, and loyalty integration whilst scaling retail footprint profitably, including new market entry, flagship development, and retail partner expansion.
• Retail Operations Excellence: Proven experience in optimizing in-store execution, operations, and staffing models across diverse markets.
• Customer-Centric Mindset: Ensure world-class premium service standards and customer experience. Deep understanding of luxury customer expectations and behaviours, with a focus on delivering elevated, personalised service & clienteling.
• Brand Stewardship: consistent global brand expression in all physical retail environments, including visual merchandising, store design, and training programs to uphold brand equity.
• Global Market Knowledge: navigate multinational retail environments, adapting strategy to local consumer behaviours and market conditions. Deep understanding of regional compliance, consumer trends, and partner models.
• Leadership & Team Development: motivate & develop high-performing teams across geographies, instilling a culture of excellence, agility, and continuous improvement.
• Innovation & Agility: embrace new technologies and retail formats (e.g., omnichannel, pop-ups, spa integrations). Pivot to changing consumer expectations and competitive pressures.
• Results-Oriented Execution: deliver measurable growth & market share gains. Launch new stores, optimise existing retail operations, and drive exponential growth in retail mix.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• Managing, developing and inspiring high performing cross functional teams.
• Demonstrated success in leading commercial partnership with our retail partners and delivering high growth ambition
• Delivered best in class operational excellence across multiple touch points in luxury space, less customers, more time, executing the brand journey to deliver, loyalty and higher spend
• Strong experience with retail commercial levers in store and with partners.
• Excellent Partnership building - professional, credible, articulate communicator, gravitas
• Excellent negotiation ability
• Customer centricity - the customer is at the heart of everything we do
• Comfortable leading transformation
• Resilient and adaptable
• Operational excellence

Benefits

• Generous Staff Discount on all your favourite ELEMIS products and spa treatments, as well as discounts on L'OCCITANE Group products (including L'Occitane, Erborian and more)
• Excellent well-being policies including enhanced Maternity & Paternity policies, Income Protection, Life Assurance and more
• Generous Holiday Allowance, increasing with length of service
• Company Pension Scheme
• Bonus/Commission Scheme
• Healthcare Cash Plan (with Dental)
• Employee Assistance Programme for all Associates and their families
• Cycle to Work Scheme, Season Ticket Loan, Length of Service Awards
• Much, much more!

Some benefit eligibility is based on length of service or contract type