Associate Director, Premium Retail – UK & Ireland Growth

Wella International; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 95,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days holiday

Personal leave

Volunteer days

Pension scheme

Private medical insurance (family)

Income protection

Life insurance

Staff discount

Employee assistance program

Enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption

Eye tests

WOW Program (bonus)

Remote work abroad 4 weeks

Early Friday finish

Job summary

The Wella Company in London is seeking an Associate Director for Premium Retail (UK/Ireland). Hybrid role with Wimbledon-based responsibilities, leading the Premium Retail account team, negotiating with top premium retailers, and driving growth across channels.

You will own P&L, develop multi-year growth plans, and partner with Marketing, Finance, and Digital teams to deliver integrated brand plans and superior consumer experiences.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in Premium Retail, Beauty, Luxury, FMCG or Consumer Goods with demonstrated success managing premium retail customers.
• Proven track record of delivering sustainable sales growth and market share gains.
• Strong sales and customer management background with experience leading strategic customer relationships and joint business planning.
• Proven experience managing and developing high-performing sales teams, including Senior National Account Managers and National Account Managers.
• Strong commercial acumen with experience in P&L management, budget planning, forecasting and customer profitability management.

Responsibilities

• Own Premium Retail P&L, delivering revenue, gross margin, profitability and market share objectives.
• Develop annual business plans and multi-year growth strategies for the Premium Retail channel.
• Lead forecasting, budgeting and commercial planning processes.
• Monitor key performance metrics and drive actions to close performance gaps.
• Identify growth opportunities through distribution expansion, assortment optimization and new business development.
• Plan, develop, agree and implement an annual Joint Business plan with the customer.
• Create business plans with the customer and activate contingency plans when needed.
• Build relationships with the specified customers at all levels of customer business.
• Liaise with the Senior buying teams.
• Be first point of escalation for all accounts in the portfolio, establishing strong relationships with Senior Buyers and Category Directors across the portfolio.
• Develop and execute a differentiated Premium Retail strategy aligned to brand objectives.
• Define channel priorities across assortment, merchandising, innovation and consumer activation.
• Identify white-space opportunities and emerging premium retail channels.
• Partner with eCommerce and Digital teams to create seamless omnichannel consumer experiences.
• Support growth across retailer.com platforms, marketplaces and social commerce channels.
• Drive digital shelf excellence, content optimization and retailer media activation
• Collaborate closely with Marketing to deliver integrated brand plans.
• Agree promotional forecast with Demand Planning to support the achievement of Forecast Accuracy objectives.
• Responsible for management and coaching of Senior & National Account Managers.
• Responsible for developing annual team and individual objectives.
• Responsible for leading by example and exuding positive growth mindset and culture.

Skills

Premium Retail

Sales leadership

Strategic customer relationships

P&L management

Budget forecasting

Negotiation skills

Excel skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

Excel

Job description

The Wella Company in London is seeking an Associate Director for Premium Retail (UK/Ireland). Hybrid role with Wimbledon-based responsibilities, leading the Premium Retail account team, negotiating with top premium retailers, and driving growth across channels.

You will own P&L, develop multi-year growth plans, and partner with Marketing, Finance, and Digital teams to deliver integrated brand plans and superior consumer experiences.