Location: Based in our London office E1, with frequent travel to our stores across London and to our warehouse in Canning Town. Some homeworking available in line with Crisis’ Hybrid Working Policy.
Crisis is the national charity for people experiencing homelessness. We have embarked on our 10-year strategy for ending homelessness. We know it is not inevitable. We know together we can end it.
About the role
As Director of Retail, you will provide bold strategic leadership to grow and strengthen the organisation’s retail operation, creating an innovative and inspiring pre-loved retail experience across both shops and online. Working collaboratively with the Executive Director of Commerce & Enterprise and wider teams, you will drive sustainable income growth, expand the retail portfolio, and integrate e-commerce to deliver a seamless omnichannel offer. With an impactful focus on achieving ambitious revenue targets and building strategic partnerships, you will use retail as a powerful platform to engage communities and supporters in Crisis’s mission to end homelessness.
You will lead and develop a high-performing team of staff and volunteers, fostering an equitable and inclusive culture where everyone feels valued and empowered to succeed. Through inspiring leadership and clear direction, you will ensure operational excellence, innovation, and outstanding customer experience across the retail estate. Combining commercial acumen with purpose-driven leadership, this role will ensure Crisis’s retail growth is not only financially strong but also socially impactful, helping to create lasting change for people experiencing homelessness.
About you
We are looking for an experienced and strategic retail leader with a proven record of growing and transforming retail operations, ideally within the charity or high street sector. You will bring strong people leadership and financial acumen, a passion for charity retail, an understanding of e-commerce, and the ability to turn strategic vision into clear operational delivery. With experience leading large and dispersed teams, you will be an inspirational and collaborative leader who empowers others to perform at their best while fostering a culture of innovation and accountability.
You will have the skills to drive income growth and customer engagement across both physical and digital channels, underpinned by a passion for delivering exceptional customer experiences. With sound knowledge of health, safety, and safeguarding, you’ll ensure Crisis’s retail spaces are safe, inclusive, and welcoming for all. Above all, you’ll share our commitment to ending homelessness and live our values — being Bold in your ambition, Impactful in your leadership, Collaborative in your approach, and Equitable in how you support staff, volunteers, and communities.
We realise that long lists of criteria can be daunting, and you may not want to apply for a role unless you feel 100% qualified. However, if you feel you have relevant examples to answer the screening questions, we encourage you to apply.
We believe diversity is a strength, and our aim is to make sure that Crisis truly reflects the communities we serve. We are actively working towards our organisation being a place where everyone can thrive and make their best contribution to our mission of ending homelessness for good. We know that the more perspectives, voices, and experiences we can bring to this work, the better. We particularly welcome applications from people who have lived experience of homelessness, and people from all marginalised groups, communities, and backgrounds.
Our values, Bold, Impactful, Collaborative and Equitable, are at the heart of everything we do as we continue in our mission to end homelessness.
Our staff, members and volunteers are vital to getting the right government policies in place, providing breakthrough services, and building a supportive community. We’ll lead by example to nurture a positive and ambitious workplace guided by ending homelessness.
Benefits
As a member of the team, you will have access to a wide range of employee benefits including:
* A competitive salary. Please note our salaries are fixed to counter inequity and we do not negotiate at offer stage.
* Interest free loans for travel season ticket, cycle to work, and deposit to secure a tenancy.
* Pension scheme with an employer contribution of 8.5%
* 28 days’ annual leave (pro rata) which increases with service to 31 days and the option to purchase up to 10 additional days leave.
* Enhanced maternity, paternity, shared parental, and adoption pay.
* Flexible working around the core hours 10am-4pm
* Wellbeing Leave to be used flexibly
* And more! (Full list of benefits available on website)
Alongside our excellent staff benefits, we will support your ongoing development to build your skills, experience, and career.
When you join us, you will have the opportunity to join our staff diversity networks, which aim to champion issues across the organisation, enable staff to be their authentic and best selves and contribute to making Crisis a truly diverse organisation.
Please click on the 'Apply for Job' button below. Our shortlisting process is anonymised as part of our commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion. We do not ask for CVs, instead we ask you complete the work history section and answer the screening questions for us to be able to assess you fairly and objectively. At least two members of staff score all applications.
Interview format
The stakeholder panel will take place on Wednesday 27 April 2026 at one of our London shops. This will involve meeting with a panel of key stakeholders for an informal conversation where you can learn more about the role, organisation and ask questions.
The main panel interview will take place on Wednesday 29 April 2026 at our London office, E1. The interview will be a range of competency, values and hypothetical questions and there will be a presentation.
AI in Job Applications
We understand some candidates use AI tools when applying. Whilst we welcome the use of technology to support clear communication and structure, we want to learn more about you, so please ensure that your application reflects your own skills, knowledge and experiences.
Accessibility
We want our recruitment process to be as accessible as possible. If you need us to make an adjustment or provide additional support as you apply for a role, please email jobs@crisis.org.uk and our Talent Acquisition team will contact you to discuss how we can help.
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