Director Of Store Operations

Are you seeking meaningful work? JOIN US! We bring handcrafted, artisan-made goods to the US market from around the world in a way that centers the maker and the planet. We’re a nonprofit retailer redefining how goods are bought and sold. We’re shaking things up: through up-front payments - ensuring artisans are paid fairly and work in safe conditions. We’ve been at it for 76 years, and now, we need you to broaden our reach and increase our impact.  Learn more at: www.tenthousandvillages.com/about-us.  

Position Summary:

The Director of Store Operations leads the strategy and execution of Ten Thousand Villages’ retail store experiences. The ideal candidate must be people-oriented, a great communicator and have a vision for how to create engaging experiences for customers through our stores, while amplifying the impact of our mission.

We have two branded store channels:

• Board Stores - independent nonprofit organizations who operate stores under a brand and license agreement with Ten Thousand Villages
• Company Stores - locations managed directly by Ten Thousand Villages

This position supports and contributes to the Ten Thousand Villages mission by:

directing in-store experiences which bring our mission to life and increasing sales and margin growth so that we can increase purchases from our global artisan partners.

Position Duties/Responsibilities:

Organizational Leadership

• With the Leadership Team, participate in strategic planning to establish and carry out organizational goals, policies, and procedures.
• Attend and actively contribute to all Leadership Team meetings.
• Adopt and exemplify Ten Thousand Villages values; encourage and recognize these values in colleagues throughout the organization.
• Participate in annual budget process and decision making related to the organization’s strategic goals and priorities.

Retail Store Leadership

• Partner with Ten Thousand Villages’ Marketing and Merchandising departments to develop sales plan for the store channel and develop creative solutions to overcome challenges. Lead the implementation these sales plans and measure results, ensuring consistency of execution in stores.
• Understand customer needs at retail stores and build and execute strategies to ensure we are meeting customer needs.
• Evaluate the viability of current Ten Thousand Villages’ brick-and-mortar locations and propose changes to strengthen the sales channel.
• Partner with Marketing on décor and visual merchandising, and with Merchandising on location-based Merchandising plans.
• In conjunction with the IT Director, drive continuous improvement in technology to support the store channels, including reporting and point-of-sale technology.

Team Supervision

• Work with store channel leaders to manage expenses while maximizing sales opportunities which meet or exceed budgeted sales and gross margin targets.
• Set and implement performance standards and metrics for store channel leaders; while developing viable solutions to market changes, hold them accountable to channel performance and organizational values.
• Hold Board Stores and Ten Thousand Villages accountable to the Brand Licensing Agreement. Proactively communicate Ten Thousand Villages strategy and vision, maintain healthy relationships, and resolve concerns with Agreement terms.
• Ensure that qualitative data (store experiences and hypotheses) are being shared and considered alongside quantitative data in driving merchandising and planning decisions and strategies.
• Ensure effective and adequate support structures for the store channels.
• Perform additional duties/responsibilities as requested which contribute to the position’s success and the organizational mission.
• Hire, train, coach, develop, motivate and lead a small number of direct reports and hold them accountable for achieving results.
• Meet regularly with the Board Store Council to understand their concerns, keep them aware of Ten Thousand Villages initiatives, and improve Board Store health.

Preferred Experience/Knowledge/Education/Skills/Abilities:

• Minimum of 8 years of direct and current experience in brick-and-mortar retail at a senior level, including in a multi-unit and/or franchise retail management environment required.
• Demonstrated ability to lead a team in achieving business goals and taking ownership of sales planning and budgets, performance metrics, and reporting.
• Demonstrated ability to manage, mentor, and empower a successful team. 
• Results driven with ability to multitask and prioritize a workload for self and team as well as develop and meet deadlines. 
• Excellent communication, motivational, networking, prioritizing, creative problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Proficiency in technology relevant to retailing and business management.
• Experience working with or participating in non-profit, volunteer-based or grassroots-supported organizations; international experience and/or global understanding a plus.
• Proven past performance achieving and exceeding sales and gross margin goals.
• Bachelors’ degree related to business administration and/or marketing or equivalent experience.
• Proven ability to work well with colleagues and diverse groups of stakeholders to build partnerships with the goal of uniting in support of organizational goals.
• Ability to champion a culture of selling within the sales department.