Director - Retail - LEGO Group - Shanghai

Job description
Within the growth strategy of TLG the Republic of China (PRC) has been selected to be number one priority. To deliver on our omnichannel approach the decision has been made to setup an owned and operated Retail Structure in ROC which will be the foundation of a potential future BU D2C China/Asia.



Purpose of the position:
Purpose of this position:
To establish, develop and enhance the retail structure while delivering the growth defined within the PRC Business Plan. In addition, the strategy aims to bring consistency within GBR (both LCS and LBR) which is aligned to the ‘URA’ initiative in order to deliver a succinct LEGO experience to shoppers and consumers around the globe. The role will also implement, manage and develop a structured local Center of Excellence (CoE) that provides in-house expertise, competency building and consultancy for both internal Key Account Managers (KAMs) and Country Managers as well as external LCS operators.

This position will play a lead role in the identification and agreement of new LBR and LCS sites. This will require all aspects of selecting a new site including, site selection, term negotiation, lease review, lease management and renewal of existing locations.

For both channels (LBR and LCS) this position will heavily influence the strategic growth plan for new sites, as well as the sign off of locations.

This role will be responsible for the analysis, evaluation and review of new locations, leading to the preparation of Business cases for both LBR and LCS locations. Business Cases will be prepared in conjunction with Corporate Finance and Regional teams for review and sign off by CM using an internal approval model.

Another key responsibility will be the development and implementation of GBR training across LBR and LCS. The key recipients for training will be LCS employees, LBR employees as well as internal Key Account Management teams.

What did you do in the job?

-Develop, support and implement the LBR set up for the PRC

-Support in the PRC

-Support the China Retail team to help deliver LBR profitability.

-Find and manage real estate regarding new openings, renewals, relocations and upgrades including assessing locations and financial planning for LBR and LCS

-Support China Retail in delivering high level brand standards for both LCS and LBR stores

-Support China Retail in improving processes as well as strategic operational best practise

-Work with legal shared services to support any retail legal issues and to support human resources and property on contracts and leases

-Steer the collaboration between LBR and LCS

-Support China retail in the recruitment and set up of the China Retail organization

-Develop, implement and maintain the local PRC CoE including our Sharepoint (networking) sites, that cater for both internal and external users.

-Convert the LCS tools and materials into PRC language such as:
Standard contractual agreement
Training Material
Operations Manual
Visual Guidelines
- Negotiate heads of terms for renewals of existing lease agreement

-Prepare business cases for LBR Store opportunities and drive appropriate RAID model

-Prepare business cases for LCS Store opportunities and drive appropriate RAID model

-Capture LCS partner feedback to drive continuous performance across the entire Retail chain.
-Provide support to China Retail for LBR openings and assist in openings of new LCS locations according to new LCS design program

-Support finalization of LCS agreements including required local adaptations and align final version with relevant internal stakeholders (legal, RD)

-Support GM and KAMs with know-how and best practices for negotiations with existing Monobrand and potential new LCS partners

-Provide general Retail Consulting

-Manage relationships with the following external partners:
Legal and Franchise Consulting Partner
Training Platform Partner
Mystery Shopper Partner
Customer Satisfaction Tracking partner

What else we also expect you to help us to achieve?
- Support China Retail in the opening of LBR stores in China
- Support China Retail in the hiring of the LBR PRC team
- Find and evaluate LBR and LCS Store locations
- Convert GBR guidelines into ROC context including local law and language adaptations
- Establish and implement a full-service LCS CoE
- Work collaboratively with Country Managers on country specific

LCS strategies and provide appropriate adaptation and implementation plans with prioritized emphasis on strategic requirements and individual business plans 2016

- Communicate and advertise the Monobrand initiative details to TLG and ensure that guidelines get followed through to increase consistency in brand experiences towards our consumers

- Roll out LCS standards including LCS manual, LCS design program, Mystery Shopping and e-learning

- Implement the regional Mystery Shopping portal

- Establish regional Visual Merchandising guidelines in collaboration with D2C that ensures a consistent appearance

- Establish LCS forecasting process to create transparency about future LCS openings

- Develop an internal Retail Training Platform that delivers effective learning tools to improve competencies within LBR and LCS

- Develop training tools for LCS partners to ensure an increase of customer service and operational retail excellence towards LEGO standards

- Define on boarding training for LBR and LCS key person withinLBR organization including internal remuneration and training material

- Ensure systematic remodeling of existing Monobrand Stores towards new LCS design

- Work alongside Retail Expansion counterparts to ensure consistency and efficiency through constant communication and collaboration

Do you have what we’re looking for?

-Deep understanding of the PRC Retail industry

-International working background in a senior manager role

-Comprehensive understanding of the Retail business

-Experience in owned and operated and franchise business

-Negotiation experience on Real Estate

-7-10 years working experience in an existing and successful owned and operated Retail business in a senior manager role +

-5-8 years working experience in an existing and successful operating franchise business

-7-10 years - deep understanding of Retail in general and operations in particular

-Fluent in English

-University degree or similar educational background

-Various training on the job

-Working experience in an existing international Retail company with focus on Retail Operations and Franchise of a well known brand (e.g. Levi´s, Ecco, Nike etc.)

-Strong communication skills

-Strong commercial skills

-Strong inter cultural skills

-Ability to sell new ideas into an organization

-Ability to lead a team of 50+ people

-Ability to “lead without power” in regards to LCS setup

-Fluency in English

-Willingness to travel (70%)

-experience in using Window´s office package

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