Director, Labor Strategy

The Guitar Center Company•Westlake Village, CA

9d•$164,457 - $200,000

About The Position

The Director, Labor Strategy defines and leads the enterprise labor strategy for Guitar Center’s store fleet, ensuring labor investment aligns with customer demand, service expectations, productivity goals, and profitable growth. Reporting to the Vice President, Retail Operations, this role owns the labor operating model, workforce planning frameworks, labor governance, commission governance, scheduling standards, and labor performance analytics across retail. This leader partners cross-functionally to ensure store labor plans support business priorities, maintain compensation accuracy, and deliver a consistent, productive, and customer-centered store experience while evolving labor models, tools, and analytics to support changing traffic patterns, omni-channel demand, and future store formats.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience; Business, Finance, Economics, or related field preferred
7+ years of experience in multi-unit retail operations, labor strategy, workforce planning, compensation analytics, financial planning, or related analytical roles supporting retail organizations
Experience developing labor models, staffing frameworks, and productivity standards in multi-unit retail environments, including oversight of commission-based compensation programs
Strong financial and analytical acumen, including forecasting, productivity modeling, and payroll impact analysis
Experience partnering cross-functionally with Finance, HR, IT, and Retail Operations to implement operational or systems-related initiatives
Advanced analytical, communication, and project management skills, with the ability to translate complex data into actionable insights for senior leaders
Proficiency with retail POS systems and Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook); experience with Omni Analytics or similar platforms preferred
Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, high-change environment

Responsibilities

Own the enterprise store labor strategy, including labor models, staffing frameworks, scheduling principles, role deployment, productivity standards, and labor guardrails across the store fleet
Develop labor strategies that flex with traffic, peak seasons, and omni-channel demand
Establish service-level targets and productivity benchmarks across sales, service, and support roles in partnership with Retail Operations
Own governance of monthly sales associate commission methodology, controls, and validation processes to ensure accurate, timely, and transparent compensation outcomes
Partner with Finance, Payroll, and IT to ensure commissions are calculated, validated, and paid accurately and on time
Identify and resolve commission discrepancies and implement controls that ensure transparency and audit readiness
Own labor-related performance analytics, dashboards, scorecards, and executive reporting across productivity, payroll, staffing effectiveness, service throughput
Translate complex data into actionable insights that help field leadership and senior executives identifying risks, trends, and opportunities to improve labor productivity, service, store execution, and customer outcomes.
Partner cross-functionally with Finance, Merchandising, and Retail Operations to ensure consistent metrics, definitions, and performance reporting
Ad hoc analyses as required
Lead downstream labor and commission testing when POS, sales attribution logic, or compensation-impacting system changes occur
Partner with IT and Retail Operations to ensure testing scenarios validate commission accuracy, sales crediting, and payroll impact prior to release
Establish regression testing standards, issue resolution protocols, and post-launch monitoring processes for labor- and compensation-related system changes
Own labor budgeting frameworks, forecasting methodologies, and performance tracking to ensure alignment with financial targets while preserving service effectiveness and associate experience.
Monitor labor performance against plan and deploy corrective strategies to improve productivity and labor
Partner with IT and HR to optimize workforce management, scheduling, timekeeping systems, and POS systems that impact labor planning and commission accuracy
Lead testing and validation for system changes affecting sales, labor planning, or compensation Establish monitoring and governance processes to ensure system integrity and payroll accuracy.
Analyze labor productivity, conversion, service throughput, and cost metrics to identify opportunities to improve staffing effectiveness and store execution
Develop labor playbooks, field guidance, and best practices to drive consistent execution of labor standards.
Lead pilots and strategic initiatives tied to new labor models, service expansion, workload changes, and productivity improvement opportunities.
Build and lead a high-performing labor strategy and analytics team while fostering a disciplined, data-driven culture
Partner with Finance, HR, Retail Operations, Repairs & Rentals, Merchandising, and IT to ensure labor and commission strategy supports enterprise objectives
Provide tools, communication, and guidance to field leadership that clarify labor expectations and compensation mechanics