About KOOKAÏ
KOOKAÏ is an Australian-owned women’s fashion label known for its confident, feminine and modern aesthetic. Designed exclusively from the Melbourne Head Office, the brand specialises in high-quality, fashion-forward pieces at accessible price points, delivered through its global boutiques and online platforms. KOOKAÏ is committed to ethical production, empowering women through style, and operating with passion, innovation, integrity, evolution and teamwork at the core of everything it does.
The Role
Under the direction of the Head of Retail, the key responsibility of the Store Manager is to lead and drive an engaged and productive team towards the delivery of total customer satisfaction whilst ensuring the store is profitable through meeting and exceeding set KPI targets. As the Store Manager operating independently within a location, this role also includes full operational oversight, local leadership responsibility, and serving as the primary KOOKAÏ representative within the country. The Store Manager will independently, with guidance from the team, manage operational needs, compliance, reporting and communication to the Retail Support Office.
Key Responsibilities
* Lead and inspire teams by fostering a positive, inclusive, and high-performance culture aligned with KOOKAÏ values and leadership commitments.
* Deliver exceptional customer experiences by leading service standards, coaching teams, and ensuring consistent execution of the Sequence of Service.
* Drive commercial performance by achieving sales targets, optimising KPIs (conversion, ATV, UPT, wages), and analysing local market trends.
* Recruit, onboard, and develop talent, managing end-to-end recruitment, training, succession planning, and performance management.
* Act as the primary HR contact, ensuring compliance with local employment laws and company policies while escalating issues appropriately.
* Manage stock and inventory integrity, overseeing deliveries, cycle counts, stock availability, and collaboration with Head Office.
* Maintain visual merchandising standards, executing brand VM directives while adapting to local market needs within brand guidelines.
* Ensure store presentation and operations excellence, including cleanliness, maintenance, expense control, and adherence to opening/closing procedures.
* Lead loss prevention and OH&S compliance, ensuring staff training, incident reporting, risk management, and safe store environments.
* Communicate and report effectively, providing business insights, performance updates, competitor intelligence, and supporting local marketing initiatives.
Essential Skills & Requirements
* Proven experience as a successful Retail Store Manager (fashion retail required)
* Proven experience leading a team of 10 + employees
* Competent leadership skills with the ability to effectively drive and manage a team
* Competent leadership skills with the ability to effectively drive and manage a team
* Excellent communication, interpersonal and motivational skills
* Strong commercial acumen with ability
* Ability to independently manage local operations, logistics and compliance
* Sound knowledge of working with KPI’s, wage percentages and rostering tasks
* Product knowledge and demonstrated ability to follow visual merchandising principles
* Ability to prioritise tasks and work under timelines
* Highly organised