Department Manager

Go-Outdoors; Southampton; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 42,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary bonus

Staff discount

Health benefits

Training & development

Gym discounts

Job summary

GO Outdoors in Southampton is seeking a store leadership role focused on motivating a high performing team and delivering exceptional customer service. You will help develop staff, maintain safe operations, and drive sales targets through effective coaching and operations management.

The role emphasizes team development, KPI monitoring and cost control to ensure the store delivers outstanding value and experiences for customers, with a focus on local market engagement.

Qualifications

• Minimum 2 years management experience in a retail environment.
• Proven ability to lead and develop store teams.
• Strong focus on customer service and achieving targets.
• Experience using retail KPIs to drive performance.
• Ability to plan, prioritise and allocate tasks effectively.

Responsibilities

• Lead and motivate a high performing store team.
• Deliver exceptional customer service and resolve issues.
• Develop staff through training and coaching.
• Maintain compliance and safe store operations.
• Achieve store targets and manage costs within budget.
• Assist in hiring, onboarding and scheduling.
• Provide feedback to colleagues to improve performance.
• Support store managers in daily operations.

Skills

Store leadership

Customer service

Team coaching

KPI management

Budget control

Tools

Retail systems

Job description

Go Outdoors- 1344 Southampton, Third Avenue, SOUTHAMPTON, Southampton, United Kingdom

Job Description

Posted Tuesday 11 August 2026 at 00:00

This is GO Outdoors. Made for Exploring. Built for Everyone.

At GO Outdoors, our purpose is simple: to inspire and equip everyone for life outdoors. From hikers to cyclists, cold-water dippers to weekend campers, we believe the outdoors should be for all - and we’re here to make it accessible with trusted kit and unbeatable value.

We’re passionate, practical, and people‑focused. Our values - welcoming, responsible, authentic, and innovative - guide everything we do as we help the nation discover the joy of being out there. If you’re driven to empower every kind of adventurer and make the outdoors accessible to all, you’ll feel right at home with us.

This is your moment. This is GO Outdoors. Are you in?

Role overview:

Make your part of GO a great place to shop and work through the effective leadership and management of your store or defined business area. Motivate and coaching store teams to deliver service which has customers at the heart, through exceptional store standards and highly engaged colleagues.

Responsibilities:

• Support the Store Manager lead and motivate a high performing, highly engaged team.
• Create a culture of exceptional customer service ensuring our store teams win customers for life by exceeding their expectations.
• Develop store teams through internal development programme to support future talent and career pathways to help us grow our business.
• Uphold a store that is safe and compliant operating environment for all colleagues and customers.
• Deliver our financial results in line with or in excess of company targets.
• Support other retail management duties where required .
• Act as the point of contact for colleagues in the manager’s absence.
• Provide excellent customer service, addressing inquiries and resolving complaints professionally.
• Help manage day-to-day operations, including opening and closing procedures.
• Support cash management tasks, such as processing transactions and reconciling tills.
• Participate in hiring, onboarding, and training new employees.
• Provide feedback and coaching to colleagues to improve performance.
• Support the Store Manager in maintaining colleague schedules to ensure proper coverage and productivity

Role objectives and KPI’s:

• Contribute to achieving or exceeding the stores monthly sales target.
• Drive all additional KPIs including but not limited to Units, Conversion, ATV, UPT.
• Achieve upselling or cross-selling targets.
• Maintain a high customer metric score.
• Ensure stock accuracy during store Audits.
• Ensure all new colleagues complete mandatory training required.
• Ensure employee satisfaction stores or engagement survey results meet or exceed company benchmarks.
• Assist in keeping operational costs within the allocated budget

Skills and Experience:

• Great coaching, mentoring and team building skills that drives team performance.
• Clear, confident, and motivational communicator with excellent verbal, listening and written communication skills.
• At least 2 years management experience, preferably in a similar format of retail.
• Experience of effectively prioritising and delegating workload to achieve team goals and objectives.
• A proven record of successfully promoting and growing a brand or service in the local community.
• A passion for customer service and a proven record of delivering excellence in this area.
• Be able to demonstrate the ability to improve store performance & standards through effective planning.
• Robust working knowledge of retail KPI’s and the proven ability to control costs, increase sales and improve the customer experience.
• Knowledge of local market trends, competitor activity and the ability to identify local community growth opportunities.
• Leads with a plan/do/review mindset.
• Confident and clear decision maker.
• Communicates in a way that inspires and engages.
• Strives to be better.
• Resilient and positive attitude even under pressure.
• Lives and breathes our values.
• Passionate about developing teams.
• Committed to two-way, clear, and honest feedback.
• Builds great relationships

We know our employees work tirelessly to make JD Group the success it is today and in turn, we offer them some amazing benefits:

• Discretionary bonus schemes
• Company discount off a large number of products in-store and online (JD Sports, Size?, Foot Patrol, Blacks, Millets, GO Outdoors)
• Exclusive deals and discounts and offers from retail and hospitality businesses through our online benefits platform (TELUS Health)
• Access to digital health and well-being services through our benefits platform (TELUS Health)
• Health cash plans
• Wide range of internal development courses to support personal and professional development throughout your career journey with the Group
• Access to apprenticeships & accredited qualifications - Earn while you learn and gain nationally recognised qualifications (England Only)
• Discounted Gym memberships at JD Gyms
• Access to colleague networks, to share lived experiences and support initiatives that drive positive change.
• Opportunities to volunteer and contribute to JD Foundation
• Employer engagement forums to help influence positive change

Due to the high volumes of applications our opportunities attract, it takes time to review them all. If you don't hear back within two weeks of you applying, please consider your application to have been unsuccessful on this occasion Applications that meet the skills criteria will be contacted for a 1st stage meeting with the talent team. Shortlisted candidates will then be invited to interview with the hiring manager. Thank you again for your time

Go Outdoors- 1344 Southampton, Third Avenue, SOUTHAMPTON, Southampton, United Kingdom