Shop Manager

The-Children; Horsham; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 34,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

36 days leave

Enhanced maternity/paternity leave

Pension match up to 8%

Free counselling

Skills development

Volunteering time

Job summary

The Children’s Society in the United Kingdom is seeking a passionate Shop Manager for our Southwater shop. You will lead a high-performing team, drive sales, and ensure an outstanding customer experience while delivering community impact.

We value strong leadership, retail and charity sector experience, and the ability to recruit and develop volunteers. This role offers a welcoming team, ongoing training, and a chance to grow with a national charity.

Qualifications

• Strong leadership skills, ability to motivate and develop volunteers and colleagues to achieve goals.
• Commercial awareness and confidence using sales data to drive income growth.
• Excellent customer service and communication skills, building positive relationships in the local community.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a high-performing shop team.
• Maximise shop income and achieve sales targets.
• Create an outstanding customer experience and community impact.
• Recruit, train and retain volunteers to build an engaged team.

Skills

Leadership

Commercial awareness

Customer service

Job description

• 36 days’ annual leave, inclusive of flexible bank holidays, increasing with length of service
• Enhanced maternity/paternity leave
• We match up to 8% pension
• Free counselling service
• Opportunities to develop and widen your skills
• 2 days of paid volunteering time per annum to support another part of the organisation

About us:

The Children’s Society has been helping children and young people in this country for over 140 years. We deliver essential local services that provide safe, trusted support to children and young people during times of significant need.

We run over 100 retail shops covering the whole of the UK – every one of these shops play a vital role in our mission to providing support to children and young adults. Every day we’re changing the lives of children in this country for the better – and with your help, tomorrow we can be there for even more.

About the role:

This role sits within our Retail Domain, which transforms donated goods into vital income to support young people across the UK. We’re looking for a passionate, commercially minded and people-focused Shop Manager with the ability to lead and develop a high-performing team, maximise shop income, and create an outstanding customer experience, driving improvements that strengthen the shop's performance and community impact at our South water shop.

Key Skills and Competencies:

The required skills and competencies for this role are:

• Strong leadership skills with the ability to motivate, coach and develop volunteers and colleagues to achieve shared goals.
• Commercial awareness and confidence using sales data to drive income growth and maximise shop performance.
• Excellent customer service and communication skills, building positive relationships within the local community.

It would also be an advantage if you have any of the following skills and competencies:

• Previous experience in retail management, charity retail, hospitality or a customer-facing leadership role.
• Experience recruiting, training and retaining volunteers to build an engaged and effective team.
• Knowledge of visual merchandising, stock management and delivering high standards of shop presentation.

Closing date:

Midnight on Monday 16th November 2026.

Interviews:

Date to be confirmed.

The Children’s Society is committed to safeguarding and protection of the children and young people we work with. As such, our safer recruitment process includes a Basic or Enhanced DBS check, 2 years of references, and additional vetting checks relevant to the role. We have a comprehensive range of policies and procedures in place to promote safeguarding and safer working practices across all areas of our organisation.

In support of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, shortlisting is carried out on an anonymised basis. Personal details are hidden from the shortlisting panel, and candidates are referenced by a candidate number only. As part of this process, we ask that your CV is anonymised before submission - this means removing personal information such as your name, contact details, age, and any other identifying details.

AI tools can support your application but only when used appropriately. You’re welcome to use them to improve clarity, structure, and research. However, overuse or misuse (e.g. inventing experience or using AI during assessments) may lead to rejection at any stage. We want to hear the real you - authenticity matters.