Job description
Position Summary:The Senior Director, Store Planning is responsible for the full scope of the design, project management and budgeting process for retail, wholesale, partner and outlet projects, and collaborates on pop-up locations for the brand globally. This role will report to Chief Commercial Officer.
Responsibilities include but are not limited to:
Projects & Scheduling
- Partner with Retail and Wholesale Team to analyze all potential projects from a store planning perspective, including providing schedule and budget estimates.
- Work with Retail Ops, Buying, Wholesale or Partners to analyze feasibility of capacity requirements needed for the space to meet its ROI requirement.
- Prepare budget estimate for NOP to assess financially feasibility.
- Prepare schedule estimates
- Evaluate and provide feedback on lease terms as it pertains to the space
- Oversee all department scheduling, most notably delegating projects to internal and external project managers managing the bandwidth of the teams
- Assist and teach project managers to resolve timeline issues that arise on projects
- Work with Retail Ops to ensure openings are spaced appropriately for the bandwidth of the operational team.
Design Management
- Work with Project Managers to approve layouts and educate the team on best practices based on the operational needs of the business.
- Work with teams to study and design the BOH spaces to meet the needs of the business
- Oversee Project managers incorporation of key operational tools – people counter, security cameras etc. Into the design ensuring it is in keeping with the aesthetics of the brand.
- Oversee Project Management of all materials and sampling to ensure all materials meet brand standards and are reviewed/approved internally.
- Manage external rendering/drawing strategies
- Source and maintain relationships with vendors, consultants, and collaborators to ensure the success of the store network growth plan and to achieve competitive pricing.
- Create templates, tools etc. as needed to improve the process
- Visit stores regularly to see the designs and material implemented
Operational Standards
- Oversee the external partner that manages the Concept book to ensure it is kept up to date
- Evaluate all fixtures, finishes and construction details to ensure they meet the brands needs both operationally, aesthetically and require a reasonable amount of maintenance
- Partner with VM to develop VM tools and new fixtures as necessary
- Partner with internal/external creatives on new fixtures and finishes as necessary
- Oversee technical development of all architectural, fixture and finish details
- Put in place a process for handling aesthetic maintenance issues that arise within the network and a way of tracking them
- Identify recurring issues and flag them as design changes that need to be made for future projects an prepare solution for stores that contain the same condition
- Work with Retail Ops to identify, price out and execute strategic small renovation work within the store network that is needed to maintain the brand’s image and KPIs.
Budget Development & Management
- Track & provide estimates on all project costs to understand budget trends globally
- Partner with CCO and CFO on budget estimates for projects and building out of the 5-year plan
- Analyze department and project costs to find cost saving solutions.
- Assist and educate project management team on negotiating terms, pricing etc. for project-specific vendors.
- Prepare annual department OpEx and CapEx budgets and provide reforecasting as necessary
Position Requirements:
- 10+ Years of experience
- Architecture/design degree
- Ability to read architectural and engineering drawings
- Strong global construction knowledge
- Ability to sketch out details and resolve design problems thoughtfully and quickly
- Understanding of the brand aesthetic
- Strong cross-functional communicator and problem-solver
- Strong understanding of retail operations, capacities and project context and ability to translate these into functional store layouts
- Familiar with leases and contracts
- Experience assembling significant CapEx and OpEx budgets
- Should come with key industry contacts to further support the development of the Store Planning resource network
- Capable of leading a team & performance management
- Able to provide reliable, accurate schedules for projects and the department as a whole