Showroom Projects Manager

Iolla; Scotland; On-site; GBP 48,000 - 66,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private healthcare

Annual leave enhancement

Employee Assistance Programme

High street discounts

Job summary

IOLLA, a Scottish-based eyewear retailer, is expanding with new showrooms across the UK. You will locate sites, manage fit-outs, and lead openings on time and within budget, coordinating designers, contractors and suppliers.

You’ll oversee multiple openings simultaneously, handle permissions, and drive value through careful planning, budgeting and execution while supporting existing estate improvements.

Qualifications

• 3+ years managing retail, hospitality or commercial fit-out projects.
• Delivered several projects at once, on programme and within budget.
• Comfortable reading quotes line by line and holding contractors to account.
• Understands commercial leases, landlord consents, planning and building control (Scottish and English systems a bonus).

Responsibilities

• Find the right sites: research target locations, work with agents and landlords, and prepare site appraisals for the Leadership Team
• Own each opening from plan to handover, running several projects at once at different stages
• Brief and manage designers, contractors and suppliers, compare quotes and value engineer where needed
• Set and track each project’s budget, flagging risks and overspend early
• Handle permissions and compliance: planning, building warrants and building control, landlord consents and signage
• Coordinate the practical side of opening, from utilities and IT to frame walls, furniture and stock
• Look after our existing estate: refits, maintenance, repairs and keeping on top of lease events
• Report weekly to the Operations Manager and Leadership Team, and build an opening playbook that makes every launch faster and better value than the last

Skills

Project management

Retail fit-out

Budget management

Vendor management

Site research

Driving licence

Job description

IOLLA is a Scottish based, direct to consumer, independent retailer of high quality eyewear; designed in house and enjoyed worldwide through our online and physical spaces. Our mission is to become the most popular prescription eyewear brand wherever we are, and we want you to help get us there!

We’re on an ambitious plan to open multiple new IOLLA showrooms each year, and we need someone to help find, build and open them, on budget and on time.

About the role

You’ll turn a target town into an open showroom: finding the site, running the fit-out and getting it trading on time, on budget and looking the way an IOLLA space should. Some will be company owned and others run with local Joint Venture Partners. As the estate grows, you’ll also look after our existing showrooms.

What you'll do

• Find the right sites: research target locations, work with agents and landlords, and prepare site appraisals for the Leadership Team
• Own each opening from plan to handover, running several projects at once at different stages
• Brief and manage designers, contractors and suppliers, compare quotes and value engineer where needed
• Set and track each project’s budget, flagging risks and overspend early
• Handle permissions and compliance: planning, building warrants and building control, landlord consents and signage
• Coordinate the practical side of opening, from utilities and IT to frame walls, furniture and stock
• Look after our existing estate: refits, maintenance, repairs and keeping on top of lease events
• Report weekly to the Operations Manager and Leadership Team, and build an opening playbook that makes every launch faster and better value than the last

Join our team because

• You have 3+ years managing retail, hospitality or commercial fit-out projects, ideally from site search through to opening
• You’ve delivered several projects at once, on programme and within budget
• You’re confident holding contractors and suppliers to account, and comfortable reading a quote line by line
• You understand commercial leases, landlord consents, planning and building control (knowing both the Scottish and English systems is a bonus)
• You care about design and how a space makes customers feel, not just whether it’s finished
• You’re happy to roll your sleeves up, whether that’s chasing a contractor or building a frame wall the night before opening
• You stay calm and solution focused when a programme slips or a quote comes in high
• You hold a full UK driving licence and are happy to travel regularly

Multi-site retail growth, franchise or JVP experience would be a real plus.

What you'll get

• A competitive annual salary
• A visible role shaping how IOLLA opens and runs its showrooms, with a real career path as we grow across the UK
• Enhanced annual leave with service, plus an annual leave purchase scheme
• Private healthcare
• Our Retail Trust partnership, including an Employee Assistance Programme and high street discounts
• Complimentary eyewear and a generous friends and family discount

We can’t wait to hear your story and look forward to meeting you!