1. Business Strategy & Commercial Growth Develop and execute short- and long-term business strategies that support revenue growth, profitability, and market expansion objectives. Identify and evaluate new business opportunities, including brands, concepts, product categories, and store expansion initiatives to maximize business potential. Lead annual business planning, budgeting, forecasting, and performance management processes, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities. Analyze market trends, customer preferences, competitive activity, and commercial performance to drive strategic decision making and business growth. Formulate territory, regional, and store-level strategies to improve market penetration, productivity, and financial performance. Drive profitability through effective management of sales, expenses, inventory investments, and operational costs. 2. Retail Operations & Business Excellence Direct and oversee all aspects of retail operations, ensuring achievement of business objectives, operational efficiency, and service excellence. Monitor store productivity, sales performance, inventory management, and operational standards, implementing corrective actions where required. Ensure stores consistently deliver a premium customer experience aligned with brand standards and company expectations. Conduct regular business reviews and store visits to assess operational effectiveness, compliance, and execution quality. Lead turnaround initiatives for underperforming brands or stores, implementing sustainable improvement plans and performance recovery strategies. Ensure robust stock control, loss prevention measures, and operational governance to protect business assets and profitability. 3. Principal, Stakeholder & Market Management Build and maintain strong partnerships with brand principals, ensuring alignment with brand vision, operational standards, and commercial objectives. Act as the key business representative in principal engagements, negotiations, performance reviews, and strategic discussions. Ensure timely and accurate communication of business performance, market developments, and growth opportunities to key stakeholders. Establish and maintain a strong external network across landlords, business partners, industry stakeholders, and relevant market influencers. Support store development initiatives by evaluating locations, business cases, and market opportunities to optimize brand positioning and expansion plans. 4. People Leadership & Organizational Development Provide strategic leadership and direction to retail, commercial, and support teams to foster a high-performance culture. Develop workforce plans in partnership with Human Capital to ensure organizational capability aligns with business requirements. Drive employee engagement, talent development, succession planning, and performance management initiatives across the business. Coach and develop leadership teams, ensuring strong capability building and retention of high-potential talent. Lead organizational change initiatives, ensuring effective communication, stakeholder alignment, and seamless implementation. Qualifications & Skills Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Retail Management, Marketing, or a related field. 8+ years of progressive experience in retail, commercial, or business leadership roles. Proven track record of driving revenue growth, profitability, and operational excellence within a retail environment. Strong understanding of P&L management, budgeting, forecasting, and commercial planning. Experience managing multi-store retail operations and leading cross-functional teams. Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to build and maintain relationships with brand principals and business partners. Excellent strategic thinking, analytical, and decision-making capabilities. Effective leadership, people management, and talent development skills. Strong communication, negotiation, and influencing abilities.

Apparel Group is a multi-award-winning global fashion and lifestyle retail conglomerate based in Dubai, UAE, with operations across the GCC. Today, Apparel Group caters to millions of eager shoppers through its 2,300+ retail stores and 85+ brands on all platforms while employing over 27,000 multicultural staff.
Apparel Group is set to cross new barriers and create fresh benchmarks in the retail industry to become the topmost global retailer. The company has achieved mercurial growth in the last 26 years by introducing world-class labels from around the globe, including Nine West, Tommy Hilfiger, ALDO, Charles & Keith, Jamie’s Italian and Tim Hortons, to name a few.