Associate Manager, Store Operations (18 Month Contract)

Canadian Tire Financial Services; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 68,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Canadian Tire Financial Services is seeking an Associate Manager, Store Operations (Best Practices) to lead the national rollout of operational best practices across our store network. You will drive program design, stakeholder alignment and KPI tracking, partnering with Dealers and Retail Execution teams to optimize costs, productivity and the customer experience.

You will manage workshops, tools and training materials, while ensuring adoption at store level and continuous improvement through

Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years progressive retail operations experience.
• 3-5 years of Project Management experience.
• University degree in business or related area.
• Strong understanding of store operations including logistics, retail merchandising and eCommerce.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with a passion for retail and collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Lead the creation of operational plans and best practices for national implementation.
• Collaborate with Dealers, Regional VPs and Field Managers to set priorities and deliver results.
• Facilitate workshops and design sessions with Dealer working groups.
• Provide regular status updates to senior leaders on program progress.
• Manage Operational Health Checks tools and program tracking.
• Monitor KPIs and advise improvements based on data and feedback.
• Develop tools, training documents and job aids to roll out best practices.
• Ensure cross-functional alignment and effective communication across teams.
• Support new corporate programs with sustainable in-store adoption.

Skills

Retail operations

Project management

Stakeholder management

Analytical thinking

Process design

Training materials

Education

University degree in business or related area

Tools

Microsoft Office 365

Frontier

Job description

Reporting to the Manager, Store Operations Best Practices, the **Associate Manager, Store Operations (Best Practices)** is a customer-focused and analytical thinker who is experienced with navigating the complexities of CTR Store Operations. This role has extensive knowledge of retail operations and is focused on identifying solutions to lead the creation, sustainment and deployment strategy of all operational best practices across our network of stores. The Associate Manager will work closely with the Retail Execution Field Managers and Corporate cross functional teams. In addition will assist in managing best practice workshops and meetings with our Store Operations Dealer Committee to prioritize and develop in-store processes to improve operating costs, productivity, customer experience and grow sales using programs that are flexible to meet the needs of all store formats and sales volumes. What you’ll do* Lead the creation of operational plans and best practices for national implementation, including scope, timelines, resource requirements, process design, and stakeholder analysis. Make recommendations to the Best Practice Manager on the best approach for delivery of a national program* Work collaboratively with Dealers, Regional Vice Presidents, Retail Execution Field Managers to establish operational priorities and deliver results* Facilitate and lead large scale brainstorming sessions, program design workshops with our Dealer working groups* Provide regular status updates to AVP of store operations, Manager of Best Practice and key stakeholders on progress of programs* Manage the development and proper functionality of Operational Health Checks (OE Tools)* Monitor program performance against KPI and critical success factors to measure success and provide recommendations for improvements* Identify program benefit / KPIs that will be shared with Dealers and Senior Managers to help promote program value and objectives* Work collaboratively with the REM Team to provide tools, training documents and program tracking* Manage communication, presentation decks and training plans for the supported programs to the Field Team through the WebEx, in person team meetings, team SharePoint site, and conference calls* Document feedback and suggestions to help continue to refine and improve programs and initiatives* Responsible to create documentation, tools and job aids to support the rollout of best practices* Ensure cross functional alignment and impact is understood and considered with all decisions* Support new corporate programs with operational best practices to ensure that programs are easily adopted and sustained at store level Who you are* Creative and courageous, with the ability to manage in an environment of change and ambiguity to help us take bold, strategic moves in this rapidly evolving retail environment* Action oriented, and comfortable taking calculated risks to better serve our customers and business* Outcome focused, critical thinkers with the ability to analyze and visualize, to ensure continuous improvement across our entire business* Collaborative team players with superior influencing skills, who build relationships easily across various stakeholder groups to move initiatives forwardWhat you bring:* Extensive retail operations acumen gained through minimum of 5 years progressive retail operations experience* 3-5 years of Project Management experience* University degree in business or related area* Strong understanding of store operations including logistics, retail merchandising and eCommerce* Excellent interpersonal skills with a passion for retail and a desire collaborate, influence and work with a variety of entrepreneurial Dealers* Demonstrated ability to lead and influence the development and execution of business strategies and initiatives that achieve financial performance and operational targets* Ability to analyze operational processes, make recommendations for improvements based on research, Dealer / Field feedback and analysis* Strategic thinker with experience in building process and/or policy from the ground up (Corporate or retail)* Proven ability to strive for continuous improvement through constantly challenging the status quo* Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with an ability to interact with multiple stakeholder groups across the organization at various levels, and confidence representing the team in various forums/committees* Strong leadership with the attention for detail and a readiness to continually look for ways to improve productivity* Strong project management, facilitation and presentation skills is a must* Ability to manage multiple projects in tandem and adhere to various deadlines* Experience in eCommerce or technology fields is an asset* Advanced skills in Microsoft Office 365* Knowledge and experience with Frontier* Travel will be required periodically to Canadian Tire stores across Canada The target salary range is between $68,000.00 and $75,000.00 CAD Annual. Salary decisions are also dependent on other factors such as your experience, job-related knowledge, skills and competencies, market location, industry benchmarks, internal equity and other role-specific requirements.