About the Role:
To act as a strategic finance partner to retail store operations, driving commercial performance through insightful analysis and proactive support on sales and payroll. This role ensures stores are optimising revenue, managing labour effectively, and delivering against financial targets while maintaining operational excellence.
Responsibilities:
1. Sales Performance & Commercial Insight
* Partner with regional and store managers to drive sales performance against budget and forecast
* Provide clear, actionable insight on sales trends, like-for-like performance, and product/category results
* Identify risks and opportunities, supporting corrective actions where required
* Challenge assumptions and support target setting and forecasting
* Translate financial data into clear, operational actions for store teams
2. Payroll & Labour Cost Management
* Own and support delivery of payroll budgets across the store estate
* Analyse labour metrics including labour % to sales, hours vs demand, and productivity
* Partner with operations to optimise scheduling and rotas
* Balance service levels with cost control
* Provide guidance on labour planning aligned to sales demand
* Highlight risks such as overspend or under-resourcing
3. Budgeting & Forecasting
* Lead store-level input into annual budgets and rolling forecasts
* Ensure alignment between sales plans and payroll investment
* Build realistic, data-driven assumptions
* Support scenario planning, including peak trading, promotions, and cost pressures
4. Performance Reporting & Governance
* Deliver clear, concise reporting for store performance reviews and regional leadership meetings
* Establish consistent KPIs and performance dashboards
* Ensure financial discipline across the store estate
* Support governance processes with accurate and timely data
5. Stakeholder Partnership
* Build strong relationships with store managers, area/regional managers, and retail operations teams
* Act as a trusted advisor, not just a reporter of performance
* Coach non-finance stakeholders to improve financial understanding
* Influence decision-making through data-driven insight
6. Continuous Improvement
* Identify opportunities to improve reporting, labour planning, and sales performance tracking
* Simplify financial information for operational use
* Support implementation of tools and systems that enhance store performance
Person Specification:
Key Measures of Success
* Sales targets delivered across the store estate
* Payroll controlled within budget while maintaining service levels
* Improved labour productivity
* High-quality, actionable financial insight
* Positive stakeholder engagement
* Accurate forecasting versus actuals
Key Skills & Experience
* Strong commercial finance background (retail or multi-site preferred)
* Sound understanding of sales drivers and labour economics
* Ability to convert data into actionable insight
* Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills
* Experience partnering with operational teams
* Strong Excel and data analysis skills (BI tools beneficial)
Key Behaviours
* Commercially curious and proactive
* Constructively challenges assumptions
* Simplifies complexity for operational teams
* Balances cost control with customer and sales impact
* Builds trust with frontline stakeholders
What we offer:
* Competitive salary
* Pension
* Long service awards
* Employee discount
* Cycle to work scheme
Position:
Permanent, Full-time
Hours:
Monday - Friday, 08:45am - 17:30pm.
Location:
Plymouth, Devon/Remote
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