Manchester Department Managers, Selfridges

The Outsiders Perspective; Manchester; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

Selfridges in Manchester seeks an experienced Department Manager to lead the own bought and concession department at the Exchange & Trafford stores. You will drive sales, oversee payroll, and partner with the Concession Manager to set targets and resolve issues.

You will motivate your team with product knowledge, coaching, and a focus on exceptional service while ensuring compliance with trading standards and safety policies. This role requires leadership, collaboration, and proactive planning.

Qualifications

• Commercially minded with plan to achieve targets and manage stock levels.
• Collaborative with teams, concession partners and wider store community.
• Retail expert with experience in fast-paced, high-volume environments.
• Excellent communication with customers, team members and stakeholders.
• Leadership experience, coaching and development of staff.
• Adaptable to change with strong prioritisation skills.
• Proactive planning for weeks, months and seasonal periods.
• Demonstrates company values as a trusted colleague.

Responsibilities

• Own and drive the bought and concession department strategy, including payroll.
• Support concession businesses by working with the Concession Manager to set targets and resolve issues.
• Motivate the team to exceed sales targets through product knowledge and service excellence.
• Lead and coach the team with regular feedback, creating development plans.
• Act on insights from engagement surveys and team feedback to improve performance.
• Ensure compliance with trading standards, health and safety, and store procedures.
• Aim to reduce stock loss through effective processes and training.
• Collaborate with VM and B&M to improve visuals, stock levels and customer feedback.

Skills

Commercial mindset

Collaborative leader

Retail expert

Strong communicator

People leadership

Adaptable

Proactive planner

Values-driven

Job description

We are working with Selfridges to find exceptional Department Managers across the Manchester Stores Teams (Exchange & Trafford)

As a Department Manager you will:

• Be responsible for the own bought and concession department and strategy (including payroll), identifying opportunities and risks using external market trends and competitor insights
• Support the concession businesses in your department by working closely with the Concession Manager to support and set improvement targets, resolve issues that may arise
• Motivate the team to exceed sales targets by developing skills in product knowledge, cross category selling, after sales service and awareness of other services within Selfridges
• Manage and lead your team giving regular feedback and coaching. Recognising both talent and development areas, you will create unique plans to progress your team using the tools available
• Act upon information and feedback from across the business e.g spotlight, engagement survey and team member feedback to name a few
• Ensure that the department is fully compliant with trading standards, health and safety legislation and all store operating procedures
• Achieve stock loss KPI through effective management of procedures, stockless action plan and team member training
• Liaise and influence VM and B&M team to seek ways to improve visual presentation, stock holding and relay customer feedback, including best and worst sellers
• Keep consistently high standards in your department through the completion of daily floor walks and checks, following up on required improvements

A bit about you:

• Commercially minded. Understanding the numbers, you have a plan to achieve sales targets, realise the importance of managing stock levels and are reactive to external factors that may impact performance
• Collaborative. Building relationships is one of your strengths. Whether it's with your team to drive performance, your concession partners to initiate positive change, or with the wider Selfridges community, you realise the importance on working together
• A retail expert. Accustomed to working in customer focused, fast paced/high volume environments, you bring both passion and knowledge to support your team. Generating ideas and implementing plans to develop business opportunities
• A good communicator. Your friendly and confident manner is appreciated by customers, team members and stakeholders alike
• A leader. Motivating and inspiring your team to deliver exceptional service and meet sales targets. You understand the importance of leading by example and provide coaching to drive performance and change
• Adaptable. Prioritising is one of your skills and you know how to keep you team calm and focused in times of change
• Proactive. Planning for the weeks, months and season ahead from floor cover, events, stock and many more, you truly own your business area and take responsibility for ensuring its success
• An example of our values, a trusted and respected colleague