Department Manager - Relocation Opportunities

Job Introduction

Selfridges has always been much more than a shop. We’re a social space where everyone is welcome and feels a sense of belonging, a creative playground where culture and commerce collide, and an experimental hub where you can discover the most innovative and sustainable ideas in retail. We’re here to help make the world brighter. And you can be an important part of this. We’ll talk more about the role below, but before we get to that, let’s share with you the good stuff…  

Rewards and benefits 

Life at Selfridges is dynamic, exciting, and always evolving. As well as working with some of the most cutting-edge, iconic and boundary-pushing brands, designers and creatives, we also offer our team members opportunities to help make a positive difference through our network of communities, both within and outside Selfridges. Here are just a few of our rewards and benefits that help make our team experience that bit more extraordinary. 

• Flexible working options to benefit you, your family and your wellbeing that can include part-time, flexi-time, job sharing or hybrid working

• Generous annual leave that increases with length of service 

• Up to five paid volunteering days – from beach cleans to co-ordinating food and clothing donations 

• Family leave that suits your set up including Maternity, Paternity, Adoption, Surrogacy and Shared Parental leave policies 

• Defined pension contribution scheme  

• Generous bonus and/or commission scheme  

• Enviable team member discount including sale previews and double discount days 

• Exclusive local discounts on a range of restaurants, bars, beauticians and entertainment 

• Subsidised gym memberships  

• Annual travel pass and cycle-to-work schemes  

• A sustainable car salary sacrifice scheme 

• Several internal communities to get involved in from our Diversity Board and Green Warriors who are leading the charge on D,E&I and sustainability, to the Wellbeings who are always thinking of new ways to champion healthy minds, bodies and routines for our team members 

• Workplace Options, our confidential team member assistance programme for when life gets tricky or you need a little guidance 

• Access to a wide range of training programmes to help your career development 

Read on to find out how you can play your part in Reinventing Retail… 

Role Responsibility

Are you looking for a fresh start? Could It be Manchester? We have several opportunities and would be open to speaking to talent across the UK who may be interested in starting there Selfridges journey at one of the best city in the world.

As a Department Manager you will be the driving force behind your business, customer and team results. You will deliver an extraordinary customer experience whist meeting sales, service and profit targets. Facilitating teamwork, providing guidance and nurturing your team is at the heart of what you do, driving them to succeed, develop and grow.

Reporting to the Divisional Manager/Sales Manager for your area of the store and working collaboratively as a team alongside several other Department Managers, the relationships you build with the stakeholders across the business will be critical to the success of your team and your department.

As Department Manager, you will focus upon four key areas:

Customer

• Drive service excellence, including consistency in net promoter scores and improvement across all other key service drivers, including service satisfaction, approach, and product knowledge.

• Build a strong clientelling mindset within the team, setting clear KPI targets to drive up customer frequency, number of customers on “My Yellow Book” and the number of established customer and successful appointments.

• Demonstrate and develop your own understanding of your customer profile vs the competitor and use this information to drive elevate the customer service / product offer.

People

• Coach and develop team on a regular basis, spending quality time with them, and providing clear and timely feedback which both recognises strong performance and addresses areas of improvement

• Analyse team performance using team member metrics – including “Spotlight” (customer feedback) and other key performance metrics

• Manage key people statistics for the department: conduct timely return to works, probation and performance reviews, investigation and disciplinary hearings and exit interviews

Commercial

• Drive your “own-bought” business and strategy, regularly identifying opportunities & risks by reviewing customer data, market trends and stock information, and collaborating with key stakeholders to action relevant commercial decisions.

• Support the success of concession business by working collaboratively with the “Concessions Partnerships” team to identify growth opportunities

• Floor walk with Visual Merchandising and Buying and Merchandising to manage and maintain best sellers and stock risks and follow up on agreed actions.

• Embed a culture within your department and division that supports the “Prep / Perfect / Perform” model (London specific)

• Ensure that you put the customer at the heart of what we do, optimising the clienteling tool to help retain and develop loyalty via clienteling. ​

Operations

• Take ownership for stock accuracy by preparing for and actioning audits in line with the correct requirements, investigating losses and working with operational teams to enforce back of house controls

• Drive standards and compliance by managing stockroom standards and compliance (both front of house and back of house) to a consistently high standard

• Collaborate with the workforce scheduling team to ensure effective adherence to the planning and scheduling for your team – in line with set requirements

The Ideal Candidate

An excellent communicator – both on an individual and group basis, with examples of having managed / delivered complex and difficult messages

•Able to operate and work within a fast paced and dynamic environment – with examples of having shown resilience and positivity

•Able to use insight, information and analysis to draw conclusions and suggest strategic responses

•Able to demonstrate skills in driving collaboration

•Proactive. Planning for the short, mid and long term, you own your business area and take responsibility for ensuring its success

•A leader, motivating and inspiring your team to deliver exceptional service and meet sales targets through coaching and leading by example. You show agility in order to drive performance and change

This guide represents a summary of the role; however, all team members are expected to be flexible in the work they undertake, which may change from time to time, according to the needs of the business

About the Company

Everyone is welcome 

Selfridges is a place where we want everyone to feel a sense of belonging. We embrace every self and are committed to cultivating a diverse and inclusive working culture. We are leading with purpose to not only increase the visibility and recognition of under-represented talent within our organisation, but the wider industry too. Here at Selfridges, everyone is welcome – irrespective of race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, age or disability, we stand by equal opportunities for all.   

Our awards cabinet  

We’re not ones to brag, but since you asked...Selfridges has won the award for The World’s Best Department Store an unprecedented four times at the IGDS awards, with an additional award for the Best Sustainability Campaign. We were also recognised as a ‘Best 25 Big Company to Work For 2020’ as awarded by The Sunday Times. 

Selfridges