Retail Store Manager

The Works Stores Ltd; Folkestone; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 38,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25% Colleague Discount

MyWorks online discounts

Family Friendly Leave

Holiday – 33 days

Job summary

The Works Stores Ltd in Folkestone is seeking a Store Manager to lead a busy retail team. You will drive commercial performance, deliver exceptional service, and ensure a welcoming shopping experience while owning all store operations.

You’ll coach your team, use data to improve results, manage stock and visuals, and collaborate with area and central teams to implement initiatives.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in a retail management role.
• Strong leadership and people development skills.
• Commercially focused with a track record of delivering results.
• Excellent communication, planning, and organisational abilities.
• Confident using data to inform decisions and improve performance.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop your team to deliver excellent customer service and achieve store targets.
• Lead by example as a brand ambassador representing The Works to inspire your team to follow.
• Take full ownership of store performance, using data and insights to drive results.
• Ensure high standards of visual merchandising, stock availability, and store presentation.
• Recruit, onboard, and train new team members, building a high performing, engaged team.
• Manage rotas, payroll, and operational tasks to ensure efficient day‑to‑day running.
• Maintain compliance with health & safety, cash handling, and loss prevention policies.
• Foster a positive, inclusive, and supportive team culture where people feel developed, and genuinely cared for.
• Collaborate with your Area Manager, stores in your area and central teams to implement business initiatives and share feedback from the shop floor.

Skills

Retail leadership

People development

Data-driven decisions

Communication skills

High-volume retail

Tools

EPoS tills

Retail systems

Job description

40 hour contract

Why The Works?

We don’t just sell products. We inspire reading, learning, creativity and play. You could recommend the paint set that helps someone discover their inner artist. The book that inspires a future author. The game that brings a family together. Or the puzzle book that reconnects someone with a treasured memory.

You never know what future outcomes your customer interaction might spark, or who someone might become. With your passion and our products, you’ll help people discover new interests, explore their creativity, find a new hobby or reconnect with something they once loved.

Whether you’re engaging with customers on the frontline or supporting our colleagues behind the scenes, your impact can be profound and far-reaching. The unseen possibilities are limitless - and it all starts with you.

Become a Retail Store Manager

As a Store Manager, you are responsible for leading your store to success. You’ll inspire and develop your team, drive commercial performance, and ensure every customer enjoys a welcoming, well‑run, and engaging shopping experience. You’ll take ownership of all aspects of store operations, from people and performance to standards and service.

Your mission is to deliver exceptional service, spark brilliant conversations, and help customers with their shopping missions - whether it’s discovering new products they'll love, or finding the perfect gifts for someone else. By getting to know their interests or shopping mission, you’ll be ready to recommend things that surprise, delight, and inspire them. You’ll also play a key role in keeping the store well‑stocked, tidy, safe, and welcoming. You help create an environment where everything runs smoothly and everyone feels supported, included and developed in the team.

Being a Brand Ambassador

Being a brand ambassador at The Works isn’t your job title. It’s the way you bring our brand to life every day through the moments you create. It’s the smile that puts someone at ease, the warm welcome into the store, the way you support your colleagues with kindness and teamwork, the conversation that helps a child discover their new favourite toy, or the encouragement that inspires someone to reconnect with their creativity, or their love of reading. These small interactions - the ones that feel ordinary to you, often become extraordinary memories for the people who walk through our doors.

Whether you’re on the shop floor, in our distribution centre, or at our support centre, you’ll always be representing our products, services, values and behaviours in a positive and authentic way, whatever the environment, where ever you are. You help build trust, brand awareness and loyalty simply through how you show up. At The Works, we are all Brand Ambassadors.

Your Mission

• Lead, coach, and develop your team to deliver excellent customer service and achieve store targets.
• Lead by example as a brand ambassador representing The Works to inspire your team to follow.
• Take full ownership of store performance, using data and insights to drive results.
• Ensure high standards of visual merchandising, stock availability, and store presentation.
• Recruit, onboard, and train new team members, building a high performing, engaged team.
• Manage rotas, payroll, and operational tasks to ensure efficient day‑to‑day running.
• Maintain compliance with health & safety, cash handling, and loss prevention policies.
• Foster a positive, inclusive, and supportive team culture where people feel developed, and genuinely cared for.
• Collaborate with your Area Manager, stores in your area and central teams to implement business initiatives and share feedback from the shop floor.

Skills / Behaviours That Will Set You Apart

• Proven experience in a retail management role.
• Strong leadership and people development skills.
• Commercially focused with a track record of delivering results.
• Excellent communication, planning, and organisational abilities.
• Confident using data to inform decisions and improve performance.Flexible, resilient, and able to adapt to changing priorities.
• Experience in a high-volume or value retail environment.
• Familiarity with retail systems and reporting tools.
• Experience managing recruitment, training, and performance processes.
• Tech savvy with using back‑office systems, EPoS Tills, emails and video calls.

Being a Great Leader

As a great leader with wonderful people skills, you'll create an environment that's more inclusive than just co‑workers - it's a team.

• Inspire and motivate your team in line with our employer brand, values, behaviours and purpose.
• Lead your team to reach their potential and steer your store to break records and get in the spotlight.
• Work collaboratively with support departments and peers.
• If something's not quite right, speak up so we can work together to get it right or make it better! - Nobody is too proud for constructive feedback so we all win together!
• But let's not forget about the most important part… your team's well‑being and aspirations. You'll be their biggest supporter, cheering them on. You'll have amazing everyday conversations with your team, discussing everything from performance to career aspirations and helping them get there

Our PERKS really are ‘The Works’

• 25% Colleague Discount! - Plus, exclusive Double Discount days!
• MyWorks - Access exclusive online discounts across hundreds of retailers, holidays, utilities deals, tech and more!
• Family Friendly Leave - Enjoy some time well spent with enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay.
• Holiday – 33 days, including bank holidays
• Stream - Claim early access to 50% of your wages as you earn them – for when ‘life’ happens!
• Can-Do Academy - Grow your skills and career with instant access to further training and development in areas that interest you.
• Share Scheme - Unleash your inner Monopoly mogul and own a piece of The Works!
• 24/7 support for you and your family - Through our partnership with the Retail Trust who provide an Employee Assistance Programme and so much more!
• Healthcare Cash Plan – To support your everyday healthcare costs.
• And loads more! – Long service awards, pension, life assurance, Cycle to Work scheme and optional charity giving.

Our Purpose

To inspire reading, learning, creativity and play

Our Values

We are Crafty | Smart with what we've got.

We are Caring | Heart in every action.

We are Can-do | Energy that gets it done.

Promoting Diversity, Inclusion, and Applying Reasonable Adjustments.

At The Works, we’re proud to have an inclusive culture where everyone can feel able to be themselves. Our roles are open to everyone, and we particularly welcome applications from people and communities that are under‑represented in our business.

We’re open to conversations about working hours and flexible working and, where possible, we’ll try to support this. If you need any reasonable adjustments during the application or interview process - or would like to discuss how you could carry out an essential part of the role - please let us know. We’ll be happy to explore what support may help.

We don’t just sell products. We inspire reading, learning, creativity and play.

Because when people spend time doing what they love, it’s Time Well Spent.

And with the right passion - It All Starts With You.