Retail Area Manager

About us

Love, Bonito is a digital-first company on a mission to empower the everyday Asian woman and inspire self-confidence. We are the leading direct-to-consumer womenswear brand, headquartered in Singapore, with an omni-channel presence across Indonesia and Malaysia, a retail franchise in Cambodia, and are fast expanding into international markets namely Hong Kong SAR China and United States of America.

Founded in 2010, we are proudly female-founded with more than 70% female representation across our organisation, leadership and STEM roles (#girlpower!). We raised a US$50M Series C round in 2021 and know that we’re on the cusp of something great, where we’re working towards becoming the most thoughtful brand globally, for the Asian female consumer, especially when it comes to our products, community and experiences.

There’s a lot more work to be done with all of our exciting plans. So we’re looking to team up with people who are wildly passionate about making an impact and be part of a dynamic team, in a workplace with no corporate BS (yes, you read that right!).

The role

You will be our evangelist to kick off and develop our retail journey in the Philippines! You are responsible for operational and customer excellence, training and people development, financial profitability of our stores and retail expansion in the Philippines.

You will play a pivotal role in developing a positive culture in our retail team and a cohesive omni experience, working closely with HQ to identify opportunities and establish strategies to increase brand equity, best in class customer experience and store performances in the market. Reporting directly to the Regional Head, you will analyse, interpret and report operational business results to ensure that the overall success of our stores is attained.

You should have/be

• A genuine interest in all things female - you genuinely want to be part of a movement to inspire young girls and women in The Philippines to feel empowered and independent
• A track record of extreme ownership and delivering tangible results with a proactive, hands-on approach
• A team player, a self-starter, decision maker, performance-driven attitude, gap spotter, captain of the ship
• You are a strong leader with communication skills and a passion for people to coach, train, mentor a large retail team and to build trusting relationships with customers and external stakeholders
• Comprehensive understanding of all the omnichannel levers with the ability to interpret the insights and agility to drive commercial growth
• Technical knowledge in all operational aspects of the store, including but not limited to inventory management, sales and cash , roster building, staff training and coaching, stock taking, and recruitment.
• Lives and breathes our brand values: People Matter; Go Above & Beyond; Be Bold, Be Creative; Always Keep It Real; We’re Better Together; A Growth Mindset!!

Main responsibilities

People: Team Management & Leadership

• Meet company KPIs by leading, coaching, and mentoring stores team to create a strong and positive Love, Bonito team culture inline with our values and mission
• Develop a high performing, highly driven, positive and collaborative working environment and champion employee engagement by building internal career development, skills and capabilities
• Develop meaningful and relevant Incentives & commissions scheme for retail staff

Processes: Retail SOPs & Operations

• Build automated processes to increase productivity and ensure internal audits, procedures and efficiency in all store operations aspects
• Analyse all opportunities and recommend ways to optimise customer journey, improve our Retail SOPs: store conditions, layout, displays, merchandising, campaigns, launches, staff services, omnichannel features etc
• Support locally new stores opening process (site handover, POS system implementation)

Performances: Sales results

• Run and lead weekly performance reviews with the local to deep-dive into issues (must understand the why), develop next steps and ensure that business is on track with targets
• Monitor and optimise inventory; ensure tight inventory management and health with distribution channel strategy and processes for clearance
• Develop NPS score with a customer centric approach (reviews, collecting omnichannel insights)

Partnership: Cross functional internal collaboration and external strategic relationships

• Collaborate closely with HQ departments (Merchandising, Training, Retail Ops, VM) for the new store openings and stores operations
• Report to senior management on progress and issues by constantly evaluating performance using key metrics and address issues to improve it
• Build external strategic partnerships with 3rd party vendors (Global Contractors, Malls Landlords)

High Level KPIs

• Retail Sales/Revenue Growth/Productivity
• Customer Service Excellence/NPS
• Store Operations/Visual Merchandising Excellence
• Store staff retention rate

Qualifications & Experience

• 7+ years working in a fast-paced high growth consumer/retail company (fashion is a plus)
• Extremely customer-centric and genuinely enjoys serving and getting to know customers better
• Strong leadership and interpersonal skills, able to motivate and lead the retail team
• Analytical, numerate and proficient in Excel and other analytics tools
• Minimum of experience in managing a retail team(s) - both front and back of house

1. Flexible Work Arrangement

• Work from anywhere*!
• Hybrid work and adjustable hours - as long as present during our core working hours

2. Staff Wellness

• Comprehensive corporate insurance (Fully covered visits at our panel clinics, Dental coverage, Maternity reimbursement, Mental wellness support)
• Tailored coaching services for mental wellness

3. Learning and Career Development

• Learning and development (i.e. subscription plans to best-in-class resources, personal development fund etc)
• Dedicated leadership training for those of managerial responsibilities
• Friday pm off for learning

4. #TeamLB perks

• Generous staff discount off LB products
• Corporate partnerships with a variety of companies
• Welcome to #TeamLB swag and store gift cards (get your LB work outfit on us!)
• Employee driven peer-to-peer recognition platform to honour and celebrate everyday achievements
• Internal Referral programme