National Head of Digital | Retail | Marks & Spencer
Job description / Role
Employment: Full Time
About Al-Futtaim Group
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 organisation 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 Head of Digital will be accountable for the entire digital operations across all MENA regions to deliver sales and profit targets whilst providing market leading customer experience. The job holder is responsible for developing the current operation, landscape and spearheading growth whilst delivering service levels, meeting business objectives in line with budget and company business plan for the entire MENA region.The role holder is responsible for 7 external food third-party relationships across the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and KSA which operate in over 20 stores, the M&S app across UAE, QA (being developed) and KSA (being developed), our clothing & home third-party external partnerships in Egypt, KSA and the UAE and our website which trades across the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and KSA.
The job holder will be responsible for the entire operation from strategy to process flow, improvement, technology and operations; including, but not limited to the commercial calendar, financial profitability, outsourcing, vendor selection, legal and performance of the sites in collaboration with the Digital MD.The individual will form part of the M&S leadership team and operate across the brand to ensure consistency, economies of scale and performance in each territory.
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. This will be achieved through holding end to end P&L accountability and delivering best practice and experience.
The role is responsible for the stakeholder engagement with the principal, the M&S department function leads, the central retail & digital team. Markets covered are UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt, Kuwait, KSA with support to Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.
What you will do
Description of Accountability:
Strategy & Business Development- The role holder develops, builds and leads the brand's digital strategy and roadmap for business development.
- Focused on expanding the brand presence, running profitable operations and following the group priorities.
- Understanding the digital trends across each region, remain relevant and ready to adopt and grow.
- Constantly explore opportunities to drive customer experience, growth, loyalty and data.
- Ability to recognise new opportunities in a retail environment to drive sales.
- Build and develop the digital team and structure; ready to adapt & deliver at pace.
- Digital drive: 62M at 5% of sales.
- Trade all platforms in 7 countries across the MENA region (7 active markets, 20 stores active with digital presence with plans to cover entire estate - 49 stores by 2023).
- Ensure merchandising excellence.
- Deliver market specific solutions that drive locality and reward our customers.
- Ensure the promotional and marketing activity drive sales across each BU, building loyalty.
- Use the commercial calendar and BU strengths to ensure consistency, economies of scale and performance in each territory.
- Scope, build and deliver the AFG platform; launching in the UAE & KSA.
- Broaden our footprint through active participation with strategic partners: build on Deliveroo/Talabat, Instashop introduction: 19M sales stretch @11% foods business.
- Explore other third party opportunities for clothing and drive Amazon proposition to deliver 3M additional sales (Clothing & Home).
- M&S Food App in Abu Dhabi & Qatar.
- Digital first development: store openings, third parties, in-store process & experience.
- Drive engagement and awareness of digital channels and business development throughout our territories through training, development and continuous improvement.
- Drive customer engagement and feedback through NPS/VOC in each region.
- Manage stakeholders effectively with retail operations, merchandising & buying and group logistics to deliver KPIs in line with the sales plan and budgeted costs.
- Build and deliver annual budget in line with business plan.
- Budgets include:
- Flagship Clothing & Home website.
- AFG Clothing & Home website.
- Food App Qatar.
- Food App UAE.
- Third party foods.
- Third party clothing & home.
- Conduct feasibility study on new markets to understand requirements to achieve the margin.
- 2021 Projects:
- M&S Platform Migration.
- Qatar Food App.
- RFID.
- Egypt presence.
- Identify and deliver new initiatives.
- Work with HRBP to deliver targeted people solutions to create employee engagement, compliance to HR policies and local legislation.
- Set up succession plans to sustain continuity and development.
- Maintain a training and development program with HR to ensure the team have relevant training in place from induction to up-skilling training.
- Role model M&S and Al-Futtaim leadership competencies and way behaviours as a senior leader.
- Build, coach and develop the team across each region ensuring the talent pipeline.
- Ensure clear goals and accountabilities are set and communicated to the team.
- Drive a digital as usual mindset across the business.
- Promote brand and corporate values throughout the digital team and the ways of working with M&S, stores, operations and depending functions within Al-Futtaim.
- Ensure compliance with all relevant legislation, regulation and corporate governance practices.
- Work in partnership with M&S UK to develop best practices and maintain a good working relationship.
- Regularly and proactively communicate with M&S brand principal to establish and maintain a good working relationship and partnership.
- Work with M&S principal to resolve issues and deliver opportunities for driving availability at lower cost.
- Proven track record of success in managing end to end digital operations to budget and timeline.
- Strong working knowledge across digital ecosystems including back end business integration.
- Stakeholder management and engagement.
- Up-to-date knowledge of the latest trends and best practices in digital within the retail industry.
- Experience in managing and driving multiple teams in different locations.
- Motivated and can deliver financial budget and key performance indicators.
- Understanding of customer research and the ability to amend the range to reflect customer requirements and feedback.
- Strong leadership and people management skills.
- Excellent time management skills with the ability to multi-task.
- Fact based, assertive and respectful.
- Strong problem identification, resolution & conflict management skills.
- High level of motivation, enthusiasm and persistence.
- Ability to be a change agent within the organisation.
- Customer centricity and individual accountability.
- Continuous improvement.
- Competent in using MS Office tools, SAP or similar ERP package.
- Demonstrated experience in leading and executing complex supply chain operations in a multi-country environment.
- Strong presentation and communication skills to deliver information, results and coordination among different parties.
- Bachelor degree with similar background and 7-10 years work experience in multichannel retail environment.
- Experience managing all aspects of digital including trade, commercial, training and development, procedural creation and ownership and the daily management of the operations.
- Building roadmap & strategy.
- P&L accountability.
- Highly analytical person with great precision and attention to detail.
- Problem solving.
We're here to provide excellent service but a little help from you can ensure a five-star candidate experience from start to finish.
Before you click apply: please read the job description carefully to ensure you can confidently demonstrate why this opportunity is right for you and take the time to put together a well-crafted and personalised CV to further boost your visibility.Our global talent acquisition team members are all assigned to specific businesses to ensure that we make the best matches between talent and opportunities. We not only consider the requisite compatibility of skills and behaviours, but also how candidates align with our values of respect, integrity, collaboration, and excellence.
As part of our candidate experience promise, we also want to make ourselves available to you throughout the application process. We make every effort to review and respond to every application.
About the Company
Established in the 1930's, the Al-Futtaim Group initially operated as a trading enterprise. Rapid development throughout the 1940's and 50's saw it establish itself regionally as an integrated commercial, industrial and services organisation, positioning itself one of the leading business houses in the lower Gulf region.Today, it operates collectively over 40 companies bearing the Al-Futtaim name, dominates many market segments in the UAE, and has expanded its sphere of operation to include Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Egypt.
The Group comprises a diverse range of strategically positioned operating subsidiaries and associate companies, structured to give the Al-Futtaim Group the flexibility and versatility to keep ahead of local competition while keeping pace with the ever-evolving global business scenario.The Groups continued investment in world-class systems technology is clear evidence of its commitment to maintain leading edge performance and service delivery.
The success of the Al-Futtaim Group can be attributed to a business approach that combines the ability to change with the traditional values of integrity, service and social responsibility that define its core business philosophy. This, linked with the Groups belief in decentralisation, gives the heads of the operating companies a high degree of functional autonomy and authority, providing the Group with essential flexibility, and individual employees a clearly defined work culture and sense of responsibility.
Apply Now