Head of Retail Operations & Facilities

VanWonen; Norwich; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Angling Direct is seeking a commercially focused Head of Retail Operations & Facilities to lead the end-to-end retail operating model across our nationwide estate. You will partner with the COO and store leadership to drive operational excellence, optimise labour deployment, and manage facilities, safety and compliance at scale.

You will shape processes, implement new initiatives, and ensure budgets, targets and performance standards are met while delivering meaningful improvements.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in multi-site retail operations.
• Experience within a central retail operations or leadership role.
• Strong ability to turn strategy into practical store operations.
• Good financial and supplier management skills.

Responsibilities

• Own and continuously improve the retail operating model and store procedures.
• Coordinate and prioritise store workloads to protect peak trading periods and maximise productivity.
• Develop seasonal payroll budgets and store deployment strategies.
• Lead operational delivery of retail projects and change programmes.
• Oversee Merchandising and Space Planning to ensure effective layouts.
• Manage central communications to stores and provide operational updates.
• Lead facilities management strategy and supplier relationships across sites.
• Drive compliance, safety, resilience and sustainability initiatives.

Skills

Multi-site operations

Retail leadership

Budget ownership

Facilities management

Data analytics

Tools

BI tools

AI-enabled tech

Job description

Lead the Engine Room Behind a Growing Retail Business

At Angling Direct, we're passionate about delivering exceptional experiences to our customers and creating stores that are safe, efficient and easy to run. As we continue to grow, we are looking for an experienced and commercially focused Head of Retail Operations & Facilitiesto take ownership of the systems, processes, assets and standards that keep our retail estate operating at its best.

This is a pivotal leadership role at the heart of our retail operation. You will be responsible for creating a safe, simple, efficient and consistently executed operating environment across our stores, ensuring colleagues can focus on what matters most: serving our customers.

Working closely with the COO, Heads of Operations and support centre teams, you will drive operational excellence, optimise labour deployment, lead facilities management, improve execution standards and deliver meaningful business improvements across our nationwide estate.

What You'll Be Doing

Retail Operations & Governance

• Own and continuously improve the retail operating model and store operating procedures.
• Ensure operational standards are clear, practical and consistently executed.
• Coordinate and prioritise store workloads to protect peak trading periods and maximise productivity.
• Lead business continuity planning and critical incident response processes.

Labour Planning & Performance

• Develop seasonal payroll budgets and store deployment strategies.
• Monitor productivity, payroll performance and operational efficiency.
• Support the setting of store targets, budgets and performance expectations.
• Manage manager and colleague bonus processes, ensuring accuracy and transparency.

Change & Continuous Improvement

• Lead the operational delivery of retail projects, new initiatives and business change programmes.
• Ensure new processes, services and technology are introduced successfully into stores.
• Identify opportunities to simplify processes and reduce non-value-adding activity.
• Track benefits realisation and continuous improvement initiatives across the estate.

Merchandising & Space Planning

• Lead and support the Merchandising and Space Planning function.
• Ensure store layouts, fixtures and merchandising standards are commercially effective and operationally practical.
• Drive compliance with store standards and layout requirements.

Communications & Colleague Engagement

• Own all central communications to stores, ensuring messages are relevant, coordinated and easy to action.
• Produce weekly retail bulletins and operational updates.
• Support retail conferences, engagement activities and leadership communications.

Facilities & Asset Management

• Lead the facilities management strategy across a multi-site retail estate.
• Manage maintenance providers, contractors and service partners.
• Control facilities budgets, capital expenditure and asset replacement programmes.
• Ensure stores remain operational, safe and compliant through effective supplier management and planned maintenance.

Compliance, Safety & Resilience

• Partner with Health & Safety, HR and Security teams to maintain legal and policy compliance.
• Drive adherence to statutory inspections, maintenance schedules and contractor controls.
• Support effective incident management and operational resilience.

Sustainability & Energy Management

• Lead operational initiatives that reduce energy consumption and improve environmental performance.
• Monitor utilities usage and identify opportunities for efficiency savings.

What We're Looking For

We're seeking a highly capable operations leader with a track record of managing complex retail environments and driving improvement across multi-site locations.

Essential Experience

• Significant experience in multi-site retail operations.
• Experience within a central retail operations, operational support or retail leadership role.
• Proven ability to translate strategy into practical, executable store operations.
• Strong understanding of facilities management, compliance and operational risk.
• Experience leading business change, projects and continuous improvement programmes.
• Strong financial and commercial awareness, including budget ownership and supplier management.
• Advanced analytical and reporting skills, including Excel and PowerPoint.
• Experience utilising data, BI tools and AI-enabled technologies to support decision making.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills.

Personal Attributes

• Commercially astute and customer focused.
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Confident leading through influence across multiple functions.
• Results-driven and highly organised.
• Clear communicator with the ability to engage stakeholders at all levels.
• Passionate about operational excellence and continuous improvement.

Why Join Angling Direct?

This is an exciting opportunity to shape the future of retail operations within a growing and ambitious business. You'll have the opportunity to influence strategic decisions, drive meaningful improvements across our stores and play a key role in supporting our continued success.

Location: Norwich Head Office (3 days) / Field Based (2 days)
Salary: Competitive + Bonus + Benefits
Reports to: Chief Operating Officer (COO)