Head of Retail Deployment Capacity and Implementation

Kingfisher

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Step into a key role at the centre of our Retail Operations at B&Q. You will be the principal lead on planning our store capacity, store deployment and delivering operational excellence across 300+ stores. This role is for an experienced leader who can create a great environment for the subject matter experts in this team to flourish, whilst balancing the business needs to ensure our stores can operate and deliver effectively. You will spend time across both the planning as well as the execution. You will balance the detail of capacity planning and colleague deployment, whilst leading a field team to deliver effective implementation. You’ll work in close partnership with a large mix of cross functional teams and be influencing up director level. You will be experienced in the art of negotiation with senior stakeholders and making decisions which get the best outcome for the business whilst protecting volume of activity stores can deliver.

Requirements

Able to navigate complex conversations, negotiate effectively with senior stakeholders, and make balanced decisions that achieve the best business outcomes.
Experienced in simplifying, embedding, and sustaining change.
Capable of managing cross functional stakeholders and telling compelling stories that bring teams with you.
Highly skilled at collaborating across multiple functions, influencing at all levels, and championing the store voice in key initiatives (including digital and operational change). Experienced in doing this within a matrix office environment.
Sets clear measures of success, uses insights and analytics to drive prioritisation and decision making, and links operational improvements directly to commercial outcomes.
Inspirational Motivator: Energises and motivates large, diverse teams. Creates a highperforming environment with a strong culture of accountability, learning, and continuous improvement.
Brings strong hands-on understanding of store operations, rhythms, digital fulfilment, and end-to-end customer journeys.
Presents with impact, builds strong rapport quickly, and confidently facilitates sessions with senior stakeholders and cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

Lead end to end store capacity planning and oversee the central planning team to model workload volumes and ensure resources are deployed efficiently in stores.
Oversee the leadership of deployment modelling and store staff cost budgets to ensure effective resourcing and operational efficiency. Evolve deployment and work force management to be fit for the future.
Lead the end to end implementation of business as usual operations as well as business change.
Execute strategic plans, ensuring operational readiness, and coaching the implementation team (including field managers) to deliver consistent, effective change across the estate.
Set clear measures of success, use insights to prioritise actions, and link operational improvements to commercial outcomes.
Reduce colleague time spent on task to increase customer facing time to make every customer count.
Drive operational simplicity and reduce unnecessary complexity for stores.
Benchmark against industry leaders, bring in external expertise, and foster a culture of restless dissatisfaction. Always seeking better ways to serve customers and colleagues.
Act as the bridge between Stores and SSO. Partnering across regional, store and SSO teams to deliver consistent, scalable improvements, champion the store voice, and ensure business and operational changes land right first time while holding store teams to account.
Support the Director of Retail Operations with key information and decision making to support the restoration of normal business operations.
Take the lead in communicating effectively with the field teams within Central Retail.
Provide feedback on current reality and possible workarounds using intelligence from their field team and key retail contract partners.