Retail Talent Lead

OttoBauthentic; Durban; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

OttoBauthentic is seeking a senior HR leader to drive retail talent strategy, workforce planning, and external partnerships. You will shape recruitment, branding, and leadership development across a multi-site network.

The role requires 7–10 years of HR or Talent Acquisition experience in retail or hospitality, with strong analytics and stakeholder influence. Responsible for governance and continuous improvement in recruitment practices.

Qualifications

• 7–10 years of progressive HR or Talent Acquisition experience in multi-site retail or hospitality.
• Proven experience developing and executing workforce planning strategies.
• Strong track record in employer branding and recruitment marketing.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the retail workforce planning strategy aligned to business growth.
• Design and implement innovative sourcing methodologies.
• Develop diverse talent pipelines across all retail roles.
• Lead the retail succession strategy through critical role succession planning and talent reviews.
• Build leadership pipelines and monitor leadership readiness.
• Develop meaningful talent insights and report on KPIs to inform decisions.

Skills

Strategic Workforce Planning

Talent Acquisition

Employer Branding

Succession Planning

Talent Management

Retail Operations

Labour Legislation

HR Analytics

Recruitment Marketing

Assessment Methodologies

Talent Intelligence

Change Management

Job description

Job Purpose

To lead the retail talent strategy by ensuring the business has a sustainable pipeline of high‑performing talent through strategic workforce planning, innovative sourcing methodologies, employer branding, external talent partnerships, succession planning, and internal talent mobility. The role enables business growth by strengthening talent availability, reducing critical vacancies, and building leadership bench strength across the retail network.

Key Accountabilities

Workforce Planning & Talent Strategy

• Develop and execute the retail workforce planning strategy aligned to business growth.
• Translate commercial growth plans into talent demand forecasts.
• Identify future capability requirements and talent risks.
• Build proactive talent plans for new store openings and business expansion.
• Monitor workforce trends, labour availability and competitor activity.

Talent Acquisition Strategy

• Design and implement innovative sourcing methodologies.
• Develop diverse talent pipelines across all retail roles.
• Optimise recruitment channels to improve quality of hire.
• Drive recruitment efficiency, speed and candidate experience.
• Leverage talent intelligence to inform sourcing decisions.

Employer Brand

• Develop and execute the employer brand strategy across internal and external platforms by:
• Positioning the organisation as an employer of choice.
• Driving employee advocacy.
• Enhancing candidate experience.
• Developing recruitment marketing campaigns.
• Managing employer branding across digital platforms.
• Measuring employer brand effectiveness.

External Talent Partnerships

Develop strategic partnerships with:

Universities, TVET Colleges, SETAs, Recruitment partners, Community organisations, Industry bodies, Graduate programmes, Learnership providers to create sustainable talent pipelines.

Internal Talent & Succession

• Lead the retail succession strategy through:
• Critical role succession planning
• Talent reviews
• Talent calibration
• Bench strength planning
• Internal mobility
• Career pathways
• Readiness assessments
• Identification of high‑potential talent

Leadership Bench Development

• Partner with Learning & Development and Operations to:
• Build leadership pipelines.
• Develop future Store Managers.
• Strengthen Area Coach and Regional Manager succession.
• Monitor leadership readiness.
• Improve internal promotion rates.

Talent Intelligence & Reporting

• Develop meaningful talent insights by monitoring:
• Vacancy trends
• Time to fill
• Quality of hire
• Internal promotion rate
• Succession coverage
• Bench strength
• Candidate experience
• Source effectiveness
• Turnover trends
• Workforce risks
• Translate data into actionable business recommendations.

Governance & Operational Excellence

• Ensure recruitment governance and compliance.
• Standardise talent practices.
• Improve recruitment processes.
• Manage recruitment technology and systems.
• Ensure legislative compliance.
• Drive continuous improvement.

Decision Making

The role is accountable for decisions relating to:

• Talent sourcing strategy
• Workforce planning recommendations
• Recruitment methodologies
• External partnerships
• Employer branding initiatives
• Succession pipeline recommendations
• Talent risk mitigation
• Recruitment governance

Stakeholder Management

Internal

• Executive Leadership
• HR Executive
• Operations Executive
• Regional Managers
• Area Coaches
• Store Managers
• Learning & Development
• HR Business Partners
• Reward
• Marketing

External

• Recruitment agencies
• Universities
• TVET Colleges
• SETAs
• Community organisations
• Industry partners
• Employer branding agencies
• Digital recruitment platforms

Key Performance Indicators

• Time to Fill
• Quality of Hire
• Cost per Hire
• Internal Promotion Rate
• Succession Coverage
• Leadership Bench Strength
• Critical Vacancy Fill Rate
• Candidate Experience (NPS)
• Hiring Manager Satisfaction
• Employer Brand Reach
• Pipeline Readiness
• Diversity Targets
• Offer Acceptance Rate
• Early Attrition
• Recruitment SLA Achievement

Required Knowledge

• Strategic Workforce Planning
• Talent Acquisition
• Employer Branding
• Succession Planning
• Talent Management
• Retail Operations
• Labour Legislation
• HR Analytics
• Recruitment Marketing
• Assessment Methodologies
• Talent Intelligence
• Change Management

Experience

• 7–10 years’ progressive HR or Talent Acquisition experience, with significant exposure to multi‑site retail or hospitality environments.
• Proven experience developing and executing workforce planning strategies.
• Demonstrated success leading employer branding initiatives and recruitment marketing.
• Experience designing succession planning frameworks and building leadership pipelines.
• Strong track record of establishing strategic external partnerships and talent sourcing networks.
• Experience influencing senior leaders through data‑driven talent insights.

Competencies

Strategic Leadership

• Strategic thinking
• Commercial acumen
• Systems thinking
• Business partnering

Talent Excellence

• Workforce planning
• Talent assessment
• Succession management
• Talent analytics
• Recruitment strategy

Leadership

• Influencing
• Stakeholder management
• Executive communication
• Coaching
• Collaboration

Execution

• Planning and organising
• Project management
• Innovation
• Continuous improvement
• Results orientation

Behavioural

• Customer focus
• Accountability
• Courageous conversations
• Adaptability
• Learning agility
• Integrity