Job Role:
We are seeking an experienced and commercially driven National Retail Operations Manager to lead our retail merchandising and sales teams across multiple retail stores nationally.
The ideal candidate is strategic, hands-on, and confident managing large field teams in fast-paced retail environments. This role is responsible for driving in-store sales performance, merchandising excellence, operational compliance, payroll governance, and labour legislation adherence across a national footprint.
Job Description :
Key Responsibilities:
National Retail Team Leadership
Lead and manage national retail merchandising and sales teams (250+ employees).
Drive consistent in-store execution standards across all retail chains.
Implement route planning and store clustering models to improve coverage and efficiency.
Build a high-performance, sales-driven culture across regions.
Sales & Merchandising Performance
Drive in-store sales growth through effective field execution.
Monitor sell-in vs sell-out performance trends.
Ensure strong merchandising standards, visibility, and brand representation in-store.
Drive planogram compliance and promotional execution.
Identify distribution gaps and resolve out-of-stock risks.
Align field incentives to sales and execution performance.
Staff Performance & Development
Manage team performance through structured KPIs and improvement plans.
Oversee onboarding, training, and capability development.
Develop regional leaders and supervisors.
Payroll Governance & Workforce Compliance
Ensure payroll accuracy across merchandising and sales teams.
Validate commission, incentive, and SPIV calculations.
Oversee attendance, overtime, leave, and time management systems.
Ensure correct application of all leave, attendance, overtime etc.
Maintain payroll integrity and reduce compliance risk.
Labour Legislation & Industrial Relations
Ensure compliance with South African labour legislation.
Oversee disciplinary processes.
Maintain compliant employment contracts and policies.
Retailer & Stakeholder Management
Build and manage senior relationships with key retail groups.
Align merchandising and sales execution with retailer compliance standards.
Resolve store-level escalations efficiently.
Ensure strict adherence to retailer protocols.
Financial & Operational Oversight
Manage national operational budgets (labour, travel, tools, activations).
Analyse manpower ROI and sales per representative.
Control labour cost-to-revenue ratios.
Drive cost efficiencies without compromising execution standards.
Systems, Reporting & Data Governance
Oversee field reporting systems (e.g., Repsly).
Ensure accurate sales and execution reporting.
Implement audit controls and compliance checks across regions.
Qualifications:
8+ years experience in retail operations, merchandising, or field sales leadership.
Proven experience managing 150+ retail or field staff nationally.
Strong understanding of retail sales, merchandising standards, and execution models.
Solid payroll governance and labour legislation knowledge.
Experience working across multiple retail chains essential.
Strong leadership, analytical, and stakeholder management skills.