Head of BD and BTS

Specsavers; Vantaa; On-site; EUR 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Specsavers Finland is seeking a strategic Head of Business Development & Business Transfer Services to shape the growth of our store network. You will drive portfolio development, manage expansions, and oversee ownership transitions, coordinating with Property, Retail Support, Partner Recruitment, Finance and Marketing to deliver sustainable results.

You will lead a small team and partner with Finland's Country Director to ensure adherence to brand standards while expanding across the market.

Qualifications

• Proven experience managing and growing retail portfolios.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams.
• Fluent Finnish and business English.

Responsibilities

• Develop strategic plans for the Finnish store portfolio including openings, relocations and rebrands.
• Identify growth opportunities through market analysis and financial modelling.
• Lead portfolio development with cross-functional teams.
• Drive ownership transitions with compliant processes.
• Build trusted relationships with store Partners and stakeholders.

Skills

Retail portfolio growth

Stakeholder management

Project leadership

Strategic thinking

Financial modelling

Negotiation skills

Team leadership

Finnish & English

Job description

Shape the future growth of Specsavers across Finland

Are you a commercially minded leader with experience driving retail growth, managing complex projects and building strong stakeholder relationships? As our new Head of Business Development & Business Transfer Services, you'll play a key role in shaping the future of Specsavers Finland by identifying growth opportunities, developing our store portfolio and supporting successful ownership transitions across the business.

To strengthen our Country Operations team, we're searching for an experienced Head of Business Development & Business Transfer Services to join our team. In this role, you'll combine strategic thinking, commercial acumen and operational execution to deliver sustainable growth and ensure our stores continue to meet the highest standards.

The team you’ll join

The Business Development & Business Transfer Services function plays a key role in shaping the future of our store network across Finland. Through portfolio planning, new store development, relocations, rebrands and ownership transitions, the team helps drive sustainable growth while ensuring our stores continue to deliver exceptional customer experiences.

As Head of Business Development & Business Transfer Services, you'll join the Country Operations team and report directly to the Country Director, with a dotted reporting line to the Head of Business Development Northern Europe and BTS Director. You'll lead a small team of 1–2 direct reports while working closely with stakeholders across Property, Retail Support, Partner Recruitment, Finance, Treasury, Marketing and Northern Europe Business Development.

This is an exciting time to join as you'll have the opportunity to influence the long-term development of the Finnish store estate, supporting both expansion opportunities and the continued evolution of our business transfer activities across the market.

How You’ll Make Impact

As our Head of Business Development & Business Transfer Services, you'll be responsible for leading the strategic development of the Finland store portfolio while ensuring effective and compliant business transfer processes. Through commercial insight, strong stakeholder management and effective project leadership, you'll help drive growth and create value for both Specsavers and our store Partners.

• Develop and execute strategic plans for the Finnish store portfolio, including new store openings, relocations, rebrands and investment opportunities.
• Identify growth opportunities through market analysis, customer insights and financial modelling, building robust business cases to support investment decisions.
• Partner with Property, Retail Support and Partner Recruitment teams to deliver successful portfolio development initiatives across Finland.
• Build trusted relationships with store Partners and influence investment decisions that support long-term business performance and brand standards.
• Lead business transfer activities, ensuring ownership transitions are legally compliant, well-governed and supported by effective due diligence processes.
• Collaborate with Legal, Tax, Treasury and Retail teams to facilitate smooth ownership transitions and continuously improve business transfer processes.

Extensive travel across Finland is required, along with occasional travel within Northern Europe.

What You’ll Bring

We're seeking an experienced leader who combines strong commercial awareness with a passion for business growth, stakeholder engagement and project delivery. We need someone who can balance strategic thinking with hands‑on execution while building strong relationships across a diverse stakeholder landscape.

• Proven experience managing and growing retail portfolios through store openings, relocations, rebrands or similar development activities.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, with the ability to identify growth opportunities and build compelling business cases.
• Experience managing multiple projects simultaneously within a fast-paced retail, franchise or similar environment.
• Strong stakeholder management and negotiation skills, with the ability to influence and build relationships with Partners, colleagues and external stakeholders.
• Experience leading and developing teams while creating an environment built on trust, collaboration and high performance
• Fluent Finnish and strong business English skills.

On a more personal level, we believe being commercially curious, collaborative and solution‑oriented will help you thrive in this role. You'll enjoy success here if you're motivated by finding opportunities, driving results through others and working across multiple stakeholders to turn strategy into action.

Why should you join us?

At Specsavers, we're dedicated to making eye and hearing care accessible to all. As a global, family-owned business, we bring together thousands of colleagues across the world, united by a shared purpose and a commitment to delivering exceptional experiences for our customers.

We have been Great Place to Work® certified for several years, and in 2024 we were ranked #1 workplace in Finland. According to our employees, this is due to our unique, family-like company culture, the development opportunities we offer, and our meaningful mission.

Specsavers is the world’s largest privately owned optical chain with stores and offices in 11 countries. Our 43,500 dedicated employees work together every day to provide eye and hearing services to 44,6 million customers worldwide. Specsavers was established in Finland in 2007, and we now have 52 stores across the country. Visit join.specsavers.com for more information about us and career opportunities at Specsavers.

To support a fair and unbiased recruitment process, we encourage you to focus your CV on your professional experience and qualifications.

Diversity & Inclusion at Specsavers

Specsavers will consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other legally protected factor.

In line with our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, we integrate these principles into all aspects of our work, from product development to team building.