Job Openings Chief Operation Officer

About the job Chief Operation Officer

 

Good Job! Good Life!

The HeadHunter Group is an innovative Staffing and Recruiting Company with HQ in the US, Dover, Delaware, operating in Canada, Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Cyprus, Greece, and Bulgaria. We offer the newest mentality in the Staffing industry and our core business is Candidates and Clients.

                                          

                                               COO - Lagardère Travel Retail Albania

REPORTING TO

Upstream:

Reporting to CEO LTR Albania; member of local Excom

Downstream:

Logistics manager

Platform manager(s) / Store managers


CONTEXT

Lagardère Travel Retail Albania took over operation of the Duty-Free store at Tirana International Airport [TIA] and it is heading for opening of other stores (in extension of TIA terminal, at port of Durres and potentially other projects in the target timeline of 2 years). 

The short-term target scope is the following:

  • 3 DF shops (main walkthrough store of 2000sqm, 1 last minute and 1 store at port of Durres)
  • 1-2 RELAY stores
  • 1-2 Fashion stores or fashion accessories
  • 1-2 food service stores
  • Estimated annual total turnover: 40-70+ million
  • Contract duration: 10 years

We are also in a dynamic of Business Development in Albania and in the region; so that the scope is expected to further grow in the future.

This is a unique opportunity for a dynamic and ambitious operational profile to build a new business

from scratch in a thrilling environment with diverse businesses from Duty Free to Dining, exposure to

an international Group and get his/her career to the next level!

OVERALL ROLE

  • We are seeking an experienced and dynamic Operations Director to implement and exploit our operational model from duty free, retail to food services, ensuring exceptional customer experience and efficient day-to- day business activities;
  • You will be responsible for driving sales, store contribution and customer experience in our stores, including:
  • Managing staff and make sure they deliver the expected service standards and sales;
  • Optimize operating costs;
  • Optimizing processes (in interaction with local and central teams) and implementing strategies to achieve our business objectives and meet high standards;

KEY RESPONSIBILITES BY ACTIVITY

Duty Free business extension:

  • Manage transition to multistore - multiplatform DF operation and prepare for further extension of our business activities;
  • Implement LTR Duty Free processes, including global Quality program (AURA);

Travel Essentials and Fashion implementation:

  • Implement operation of Travel Essentials / Convenience activities;
  • Start the operations of fashion retail (first store opening, organization of team);
  • Implement the LTR Travel Retail operation model, use synergies with DF operation;

Food services implementation:

  • Implement food service operations logistics flow and production;
  • Prepare and manage opening of first stores;
  • Set LTR Food Services operational standards and processes (with main focus on hygiene and food;

COMMON TARGET FOR ALL ACTIVITIES

Store Operations:

  • Structure and manage the store management teams to deliver excellent customer service;
  • Ensure that the teams are recruited, staffed in an optimized manner (seasonality challenge) and trained to be able to operate at an efficient level of staff, in cooperation with HR team;
  • Motivate your team, set performance targets (contribute to Budgeting and objectives definition) and provide ongoing feedback on performance: actively manage the store budgets and identify opportunities for cost savings and revenue growth. Work with finance and commercial teams to optimize profitability within the business; 
  • Share with the managers all their key KPIs and help them to manage the costs to deliver the best profit possible for the stores;
  • Monitor store standards and presentation of products (merchandising) to deliver the best customer experience;
  • Set and regularly update the store operational processes with key focus on health and safety (mainly but not only for Food Services operations);
  • Constantly analyse and optimize store operating costs to maximize the stores contribution;

Team management:

  • Ensure strong presence in the stores and encourage the management teams to take ownership of their businesses;
  • Set and manage down and up stream communication to align teams on overall company targets;
  • Build the skill level in the management team to enable our managers to take effective day to day decisions in store. 
  • Empower them to lead their teams and own their businesses, setting the appropriate level of autonomy
  • Foster a spirit of teamwork with all the managers and build cross function relationship to share customer feedback to grow performance;

Commercial & Marketing management:

  • Execute the commercial and marketing strategy set by the commercial team;
  • Ensure implementation of best-in-class merchandising and application of pricing policies set by the commercial team;
  • Adapt offer and pricing policy as defined by the commercial team, share feedback on pricing and price elasticity;
  • Implement the annual promotional and animations calendar (local and international offers);
  • Implement local loyalty and customer relationship programs;
  • Share customer and team feedback regarding the assortment and actively suggest points for improvement;

Stock management:

  • Manage inventory levels, including ordering and replenishment. Implement inventory control measures to reduce shrinkage and optimise stock turnover;
  • Use all the company tools to analyse quality of our inventory and the overall level of stock in the business to deliver the stock budgets;
  • Develop and implement loss prevention strategies to safeguard merchandise, assets, and mitigate risks;
  • Continually look to new ways of controlling shrink in the business, build and monitor controls to continually drive down losses;
  • Monitor and minimize food wastage, implement company programs to limit the waste;
  • Implement treatment and separation of packaging materials in line with company standards;

Logistics & Customs:

  • Challenge and optimise the logistics scheme and flows, to accompany development and optimize logistics
  • overall;
  • Oversee the logistics and supply chain to ensure timely and cost-effective inventory replenishment;
  • Ensure compliance with all customs and safety regulations, managing import processes;
  • Manage local warehouse team and processes; lead the overall strategy of our warehousing needs to ensure we can effectively deliver an efficient process for the whole business;
  • Implement and monitor Food and Safety logistics processes (e.g. chilled chain temperature monitoring);

Landlord relationship


  • Build a strong partnership with all our landlords to enable our relationships to drive performance and ease operations;
  • Liaise with all the key contacts from all elements of the commercial and operational teams;

Business development

  • Contribute to further business development in the countries by providing inputs for BPs, managing openings, etc.

PROFILE

Work experience:

  1. At least 10 years of experience in retail / food services operations with mandatory field experience
  2. Strong leadership skills and a proven track record of building relationships with various stakeholders, esp.
  3. Management and development of team experience
  4. Knowledge of international companies and/or travel retail environments would be a plus;

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED

Technical skills:

  1. Fluent English mandatory
  2. Fluent Albanian is a plus
  3. Microsoft Office (Excel & PowerPoint)
  4. Driving license

Behavioural skills:

  1. Challenge-taker, hands-on, adaptive, proactive and solution-oriented
  2. Business thinking and analytic skills to challenge performance
  3. Strategic thinking and effective implementation of strategies in relation to role
  4. Change and project management
  5. Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills
  6. Strong managerial skills and taste for making teams grow
  7. Commitment to upholding company values and fostering a positive company culture

Our client offers equal opportunity for everyone, and no person shall be discriminated against on the grounds of age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, ethnic background, race, skin colour, religion or ideology, political persuasion, social background or marital status.


Or refer someone