Our partner, an international retail company, is looking for a Head of International Expansion to lead the development and execution of the company’s global retail expansion strategy.
The company operates over 1 600 stores across 3 European countries with a team of 15,000 employees and has ambitious growth plans, aiming to open 400+ new stores annually and enter at least one new European market each year as part of its international expansion strategy.
The Head of International Expansion will be responsible for developing a unified expansion and format strategy across all markets, ensuring consistent standards for store openings, customer experience, and retail operations.
This role combines strategic leadership with hands-on project management, covering the rollout of new store formats, improvement of the retail spaces, and coordination of international expansion.
- Manage the full store opening process across multiple countries, from site identification and lease negotiation to launch and performance analysis.
- Develop market entry strategies for new countries.
- Implement a structured network development system, including location management and performance evaluation.
- Test new retail formats and make decisions regarding their scaling.
- Lead the development, implementation, and monitoring of financial performance indicators for new formats.
- Oversee store design, construction, and opening processes while ensuring compliance with budget and timelines.
- Establish maintenance and technical standards for stores across all countries.
- Lead an international store development team.
- Cooperate with finance, operations, commercial, and logistics teams to align expansion plans with business objectives.
- At least 5 years of experience in retail network development within an international company.
- Experience managing large-scale store opening programs.
- Understanding of retail location economics and investment analysis.
- Experience managing international teams in a fast-growing network environment.
- Strong analytical and negotiation skills.
- Experience launching and developing different store formats.
- Fluency in English is required.
- A leadership role in one of the most dynamic retail networks in Eastern Europe with influence on the company’s international development.
- Opportunity to build an effective store development system.
- Competitive compensation package – we are ready to discuss your expectations!