Retail Operations Assistant Manager MENA

Established in the 1930s as a trading business, Al-Futtaim Group today is one
of the most diversified and progressive, privately held regional businesses
headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Structured into five operating
divisions; automotive, financial services, real estate, retail and healthcare;
employing more than ‎35,000 employees across more than ‎20 countries in the
Middle East, Asia and Africa, Al-Futtaim Group partners with over ‎200 of the
world's most admired and innovative brands. Al-Futtaim Group's
entrepreneurship and relentless customer focus enables the organization to
continue to grow and expand; responding to the changing needs of our customers
within the societies in which we operate.
By upholding our values of respect, excellence, collaboration and integrity;
Al-Futtaim Group continues to enrich the lives and aspirations of our
customers each and every day

Overview of the role

The Retail Operations Assistant Manager will be accountable to maintaining and
increasing the efficiency of Store Operations. This position is critical to
the success of the M &S MENA operations which include the overall business
growth strategy in Foods, the clothing & home goals and the shift in customers
shopping habits. The role is responsible for the stakeholder engagement with
the Principle and the M&S department function leads. Markets covered are UAE,
Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt, Kuwait, KSA.

What you will do

• Design & development of operational retail efficiencies aligned to and supporting the M&S store transformation


• Develop business cases and/or demand requests as required and work in partnership with AF retail teams to deliver projects (POS , RFID , CAFÉ)


• Utilise existing and new platforms to stay in touch with the needs of our customers and colleagues


• Develop an effective network in other industries to share and learn best practice and identify opportunities to apply the most effective future industry thinking


• Identify, Deliver and Embed cost reduction initiatives in OPEX Cost Areas and the end-to-end operations


• Design and Implement more efficient processes and ways of working in stores


• Investigates & manages all store reporting to maintain accuracy,


• Drive efficiency and provides advice & solutions where necessary to maintain data integrity.


• Provides evidence to stores to drive actions required to reduce stock and cash losses.


• Monitors the shrinkage action planning process and assists in the identification, protection and improvement of stock loss across the store.


• Provides productivity data, reviews, and makes recommendation to improve Business targets.

Required Skills to be successful

• Excellent communication skills across all levels, including influencing senior stakeholders


• Resilience and confidence to drive and deliver cultural and behavioural change and develop at team of colleagues for the future


• Team player who communicates effectively and builds strong relationships in order to work confidently alongside a strong, high performing leadership team


• Desire to push boundaries and collaboratively make a difference


• Strong understanding of retail operational principles as well as the ability to analyse and interpret a range of commercial data to support decision making in order to drive sales performance


• Ability to work as part of a diverse and experienced store team and be confident to challenge peers and work collaborative


• Excellent numerical reasoning with statistical analysis preferred and uses data, customer insight and market analysis to plan and create a clear strategy

What equips you for the role

• ‎5+ years work experience in Retail, preferably both Food and Clothing & Home


• University degree


• Working knowledge in SAP - ERP system (preferred) Good knowledge of MS Excel, Word and PowerPoint Strong analytical skills

About Al-Futtaim Retail

Al-Futtaim Retail has established itself as one of the leaders in Retail
across the Middle East, Africa & Asia over the past ‎30 years. We have
developed partnerships with some of the biggest and most respected Brands in
the world including IKEA, ACE and Toys R Us in the Middle East and the Inditex
Group of Brands (Zara, Mango, Bershka and P&B) across Asia. We are also one of
the largest Global partners of Marks and Spencer's in both regions with over
‎75 stores offering both fashion & food options.

Most recently we have been responsible for bringing brands to the Middle East
for the first time with the exciting launches of Watsons and B&Q and we aim to
continue to be agile and adaptive to our markets with new launches and further
development. For this to be possible we aim to recruit the best talent from
all backgrounds who will continue to challenge and develop our diverse
workforce which includes over ‎100 nationalities across ‎12 countries. Join us
today and make a difference…