Director of Stores - West Coast

Location: Remote in Western Canada

About Specsavers

Welcome to Specsavers - where we're not just about eyewear and eyecare, we're a purpose-driven organization committed to changing lives through better sight. As a certified Great Place to Work®, we take pride in our optometrist-owned and -led business model, providing quality eyecare and affordable eyewear to Canadians across the country.

Our journey began 40 years ago in the UK, with visionary optometrists Doug and Mary Perkins. Today, we support over 2,700 healthcare businesses, passionately caring for more than 44 million patients and customers worldwide.

At Specsavers, we believe that access to quality eyecare should be a right, not a luxury. That's why we go above and beyond to transform the eyecare experience in Canada. With our advanced clinical equipment and an extensive range of affordable and high-quality eyewear, we're here to make a real difference in the lives of our customers.

But that’s not all - we're also dedicated to fostering a positive, inclusive and supportive work culture. We strive to create an environment where our partners thrive while benefiting from the collective support and resources of our dedicated teams.

If you're passionate about making a difference, providing incredible care, and being part of a values and purpose-driven organization, join us on our journey to revolutionize the way Canadians experience eyecare. Together, we can change lives through better sight.

What You’ll Do

Purpose of the role

The Director of Stores is responsible for leading and managing a team of four Regional Relationship Managers (RRMs) who will focus on New and Existing Specsavers stores.  Their remit is to ensure that new stores launch and start to operate successfully to meet performance and business expectations. They will work regularly and closely with a store’s Partners to ensure they are effective, and capable of achieving their budgets and business plans and take corrective action where needed.

The Director of Stores has overall accountability for driving the sustainable performance and growth within their portfolio of ~80 stores, achieving consistent standards and improvement to ensure long term profitability and growth. This role is pivotal in ensuring that new stores launch and continue to operate successfully and meet performance and business expectations.

This role reports to and works closely with the Retail Director for Canada. They will be the senior lead in their geographical area and will collaborate with and coordinate the leads for property, BD, recruitment, partnership, clinical and training.  Key to the role is the ability to coach RRMs and store partners to become effective, capable of achieving their budgets and business plans with effective intervention from the retail support team.

Key Responsibilities

Trading, Growth and Profitability:

• Take a leadership role for overall trading performance of all stores within their geographical region
• Accountability for the P&L for their region and delivering partner profit targets
• Responsible for ensuring the onboarding, development, and training of all Partners within their region
• Creation and delivery of a program to support new Partners from 3 months before their store opens, to 3 months afterwards, and beyond
• Support the partners and RRMs with the formulation and creation of their store annual business plan
• Ensuring there is clear colleague/labour resource planning in all stores and working with the recruitment team to address opportunities
• Work with RRMs, partners and marketing teams to ensure effective cross-functional volume growth plans are in place
• Proactively share best practices from other regions
• Support the RRMs to ensure partners to deliver the best possible customer journey, recommending improvements and support available to support this
• Develop a plan for the region to ensure we have the appropriate physical capacity in our businesses for the next 5 years
• Responsible for delivering the Canadian annual plan, and other support office initiatives, within the region

Leadership:

• Overall leadership across their region
• Deliver the overall Canada Leadership group Annual Plan activity within the region and drive and implement change initiatives
• Cross-functional leadership across all functions within the region, even if not reporting into this role
• Key contact for managing and supporting key third party stakeholders within the region eg colleges, government representatives, associations
• Identify and feedback the needs from the team and partners to ensure support is provided from the wider support office
• Build, train and coach a team of RRMs to be effective and successful in their roles
• Lead region-wide events and forums to ensure clear direction, effective communication and relevant development is in place for Partners and teams

Risk Management:

• Ensure financial and underperforming stores are quickly identified and have a bespoke plan to improve volume and profit within 8 to 12 weeks.
• Engage support cross-functionally to ensure risks are mitigated and business targets are met
• Ensure stores represent the Specsavers brand and are always compliant

What We’re Looking For

Essential

• Ability to build strong personal and meaningful business relationships
• Able to identify and release potential within existing businesses - as well as identifying new business opportunities
• Track record of pushing sales from good to great, managing costs and maximising profitability to exceed budgets
• Ability to utilise local P&L data to improve performance at a regional level
• Successful track record in managing high performing teams and leading by example to elicit results
• Proven experience of implementing successful change initiatives
• Experience of managing multiple projects with multiple stakeholders
• Recruitment and selection experience at a senior level, with the ability to factor in succession plans for the region and the company as a whole
• Confidence to influence and challenge to ensure the right business outcomes
• Is commercially astute and able to think innovatively and creatively to resolve problems
• Ability to communicate effectively and at all levels, and adapt your communication style to suit audience and engage and present in a variety of different forums
• Experience in using coaching and relationship techniques to facilitate business discussions or negotiations to develop the business effectively
• Previous experience of identifying companywide initiatives and managing their implementation

Our Fellow ‘Speccies’ Enjoy

• Generous vacation allotment and 1 paid volunteer day
• 1 extra paid day off and an eyecare voucher on your birthday
• RRSP matching
• Quarterly performance bonus
• Healthcare spending account
• Health and dental benefits effective on your first day
• Team and company social events

Behaviours We Value

• Collaborative: We work together as one Specsavers to deliver our purpose
• Curious: We question, explore, and seek out diverse perspectives to develop our knowledge and understanding
• Courageous: We challenge the status quo, we experiment with good ideas, and we are brave, bold, and fast in our decision making
• Compassionate: We care, support, and help each other
• Commercial: We treat money wisely and make decisions that are good for our customers, our partners, our people, and good for the long term

We hope that in applying with us, you value these things as well!

Our Hybrid Work Model

Be part of the dynamic culture! Our workplace thrives on a hybrid model, combining in-office collaboration and flexibility. Join us in office, three days a week to contribute, connect and excel in our vibrant environment.

Equal Opportunity Employer

At Specsavers, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. We believe that a diverse team enriches our work environment and enables us to achieve our goals. We are an equal opportunity employer and encourage candidates of all backgrounds and abilities to apply. If you believe you can contribute to our mission and vision, we welcome your application, even if you don't meet every qualification listed. We value the unique skills and perspectives each individual brings to our team.