Director, Retail Operations-Omni

kate spade new york•New York, NY

About The Position

The Director of Retail Operations Strategy leads the implementation, training, and continuous improvement of operational strategies, tools, and technical initiatives across retail stores and omni operations. This role drives operational excellence by simplifying execution, improving productivity, and enabling exceptional customer experiences across the store fleet. Serving as a strategic bridge between field teams and cross-functional partners, the Director ensures stores can consistently execute brand priorities with speed, discipline, and efficiency.

Requirements

8+ years of progressive retail leadership experience in Store Operations, Field Leadership, Retail Strategy, or a related function.
Proven ability to lead enterprise-wide operational initiatives across a multi-unit retail organization.
Strong knowledge of retail systems, infrastructure, technology processes, and systems interfaces.
Strong financial, analytical, planning, organizational, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate data into action.
Excellent communication, interpersonal, project management, and change management skills.
Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional partnerships, influence without direct authority, and prioritize complex projects.
Experience implementing operational technologies, productivity solutions, and process improvements.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office, including advanced Excel aptitude.
Ability to manage multiple priorities with minimal supervision while consistently demonstrating diplomacy and poise.

Nice To Haves

Strategic thinker with a bias for action.
Customer-obsessed decision maker.
Operational excellence mindset with the ability to simplify complexity.
Builds high-performing teams and drives accountability.
Influences effectively across functions and leads change with agility.
Uses data to make decisions and continuously improve how work gets done.
Courage: Doesn’t hold back anything that needs to be said; provides current, direct, complete, and “actionable” positive and corrective feedback to others; lets people know where they stand; faces up to people problems on any person or situation (not including direct reports) quickly and directly; is not afraid to take negative action when necessary.
Creativity: Comes up with a lot of new and unique ideas; easily makes connections among previously unrelated notions; tends to be seen as original and value-added in brainstorming settings.
Customer Focus: Is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers; gets first-hand customer information and uses it for improvements in products and services; acts with customers in mind; establishes and maintains effective relationships with customers and gains their trust and respect.
Dealing with Ambiguity: Can effectively cope with change; can shift gears comfortably; can decide and act without having the total picture; isn’t upset when things are up in the air; doesn’t have to finish things before moving on; can comfortably handle risk and uncertainty.
Drive for Results: Can be counted on to exceed goals successfully; is constantly and consistently one of the top performers; very bottom-line oriented; steadfastly pushes self and others for results.
Interpersonal Savvy: Relates well to all kinds of people, up, down, and sideways, inside and outside the organization; builds appropriate rapport; builds constructive and effective relationships; uses diplomacy and tact; can diffuse even high-tension situations comfortably.
Learning on the Fly: Learns quickly when facing new problems; a relentless and versatile learner; open to change; analyzes both successes and failures for clues to improvement; experiments and will try anything to find solutions; enjoys the challenge of unfamiliar tasks; quickly grasps the essence and the underlying structure of anything.
Strategic Agility: Sees ahead clearly; can anticipate future consequences and trends accurately; has broad knowledge and perspective; is future oriented; can articulately paint credible pictures and visions of possibilities and likelihoods; can create competitive and breakthrough strategies and plans.
Developing Direct Reports and Others: Provides challenging and stretching tasks and assignments; holds frequent development discussions; is aware of each person's career goals; constructs compelling development plans and executes them; pushes people to accept developmental moves; will take on those who need help and further development; cooperates with the developmental system in the organization; is a people builder.
Building Effective Teams: Blends people into teams when needed; creates strong morale and spirit in their team; shares wins and successes; fosters open dialogue; lets people finish and be responsible for their work; defines success in terms of the whole team; creates a feeling of belonging in the team.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute the store operations strategy in alignment with company objectives, brand priorities, and business needs.
Lead operational planning and execution for key initiatives, ensuring stores receive clear, streamlined, and actionable direction.
Implement, train, and maintain the integrity of technical impact projects, including point-of-sale systems and other store-facing tools.
Drive adoption of new tools, technologies, and operating models that improve store execution and enhance the customer experience.
Partner with Store Leadership, Merchandising, Visual Merchandising, Asset Protection, HR, Finance, IT, Supply Chain, and Marketing to support seamless store execution.
Own operational communications, calendars, policies, procedures, and governance to ensure alignment across the business.
Analyze operational and financial performance to improve labor productivity, expense management, and store efficiency.
Lead workforce productivity initiatives, including labor optimization, scheduling, and operational standards.
Anticipate operational challenges, identify root causes, and proactively recommend practical solutions.
Lead crisis management and business continuity planning for store operations.
Build, develop, and lead a high-performing Store Operations team that fosters accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.