Franchise Partner Manager - MENA & ASIA

Marks and Spencer; City Of London; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading retail organization in the UK is seeking an International Franchise Partner Manager to oversee and enhance franchise operations across multiple international markets. The ideal candidate will possess strong commercial acumen, analytical skills, and the ability to foster effective relationships. This role involves managing performance against key metrics, ensuring timely product launches, and collaborating across functional teams. Join a fast-paced, innovative environment where you can make a significant impact.

Qualifications

• Experience in retail sectors, preferably in selling or trading roles.
• Ability to work independently and within a collaborative team.
• Strong interpersonal skills that foster effective partnerships.

Responsibilities

• Lead franchise operations across international markets, ensuring high standards.
• Drive performance against KPIs and manage seasonal product launches.
• Analyze trading plans with the Finance team and adapt strategies as needed.

Skills

Commercial acumen

Analytical ability

Stakeholder relationship building

Negotiation skills

Organizational skills

Job description

Overview

Are you a commercially savvy, relationship-driven professional with experience in Foods or Fashion, Home & Beauty looking to make a global impact? We're seeking an International Franchise Partner Manager to lead the day-to-day delivery of franchise operations across multiple international markets. In this role, you'll drive weekly actions and monthly retail performance against key KPIs, ensuring partners meet high operational standards. You'll support strategic planning alongside the Regional Partnership Manager and collaborate across functional teams to deliver transformation workstreams that support a 3-year growth plan. If you thrive in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment and have a deep understanding of customer and market dynamics, we'd love to hear from you.

To stay close to customers, our support teams are in the office three days a week as we believe that skills are developed through collaboration, and that spending time together makes us more creative and connected.

What you'll do

Your key accountabilities will include

• Work closely with BUs and Franchise Partners to agree a forward trade plan, build a retail budget and ensure the smooth delivery of the 3-year planning process that is then agreed with partners. You will take the retail budget and convert it into reported sale and collection plan, holding partners to account for delivery against that.
• With our partners, you will shape and agree the seasonal launch dates, selling and collection plans, key promotions and events and markdown strategy across all channels and BU's alongside the BU teams to ensure stock into sale, sell through and profit targets are finely balanced.
• You will work closely with the Supply Chain team to ensure the critical path for delivery is clear and network capacities can support the operational requirements. Working with partners, you will ensure that the right products are on sale at the right time with a clear plan for the effective exit of residual stocks from the business.
• Support the Finance teams to analyse, model and review the commercial effectiveness of the trading plan and to make recommendations for future mechanics and tactical trading responses and ensure all relevant franchise inputs are shared in accordance with the finance critical path.
• Input into the quarterly business review process and analyse in-season trading performance working with the franchise partners and M&S teams to adapt and adjust in response to changing customer mindsets and market conditions.

Who you are

Your skills and experience will include

• Strong commercial and trading acumen alongside confident analytical ability
• Experience in building effective stakeholder relationships at all levels and working collaboratively across multiple functions to achieve a consensus and deliver an end goal
• The ability to negotiate successfully with partners to reach an agree a joint annual business plan, shipment plan and in trading decision making
• Highly organised self-starter that is capable of working independently as well as playing a key role in a high performing partnership team
• Previous Retail experience in market in a selling or trading role and/or store leadership experience is desirable

Everyone's welcome

We are ambitious about the future of retail. We're disrupting, innovating, and leading the industry into a more conscientious, inspiring digital era. We're transforming how we work together and offering our most exciting opportunities yet. Marks & Spencer strives to be an inclusive organisation, trusted, and admired by our colleagues, customers, and suppliers. Join us and make change happen.

We are committed to building diverse and representative teams, where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and be at their best. We support each other and work together to win together.

If you feel you\'d benefit from any support or reasonable adjustments during any stage of the recruitment process, please don\'t hesitate to let us know when completing your application. This information will be picked up by our team, so we can try and put steps in place to help you be at your best through this process.