Wella Company
Director, Premium Retail (UK/Ireland)
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Director, Premium Retail (UK/Ireland)
Location
London, Wimbledon (Hybrid)
Reports to
General Manager UK & Ireland
Scope
Premium Retail Pro-Brands
ABOUT THE WELLA COMPANY
Together, WE enable individuals to look, feel, and be their true selves.
Wella Company is one of the world’s leading beauty companies, comprised of a family of iconic brands such as Wella Professionals, Clairol, OPI, Nioxin, and ghd. With 6,000 employees globally, presence in over 100 countries, Wella Company and its brands enable consumers to look, feel, and be their true selves. As innovators in the hair and nail industry, Wella Company empowers its people to delight consumers, inspire beauty professionals, engage communities, and deliver sustainable growth to its stakeholders. For additional information about the Wella Company please visit www.wellacompany.com.
THE ROLE
The Director, Premium Retail Channel is responsible for leading and accelerating profitable growth within premium beauty retail accounts while strengthening brand equity and consumer engagement. This role owns the channel strategy, customer partnerships, commercial performance, and execution excellence across premium retail partners such as Sephora, Boots Premium Beauty, Selfridges, Fenwicks, John Lewis department stores, specialty beauty retailers, and emerging premium channels.
The role sits on the UK leadership team, reporting to the General Manager Northern Europe. The role combines strategic leadership, P&L ownership, customer negotiation, and cross-functional collaboration to drive sustainable growth, market share gains, and exceptional consumer experiences.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Commercial Leadership & P&L Ownership
- Own full channel P&L, delivering revenue, gross margin, profitability, and market share objectives
- Develop annual business plans and multi-year growth strategies for the Premium Retail channel.
- Lead forecasting, budgeting, and commercial planning processes.
- Monitor key performance metrics and drive actions to close performance gaps.
- Identify growth opportunities through distribution expansion, assortment optimization, and new business development.
Customer & Account Strategy
- Build and maintain executive-level relationships with key retail partners.
- Lead negotiations and Joint Business Plans with Premium Retail partners, ensuring customer strategies deliver mutual value and unlock strategic growth opportunities.
- Steer pricing, promo, and assortment governance across channels, safeguarding profitability, brand equity, and channel differentiation while balancing in-year growth.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Channel Strategy & Execution
- Develop and execute a differentiated Premium Retail strategy aligned to brand objectives.
- Define channel priorities across assortment, merchandising, innovation, and consumer activation.
- Identify white-space opportunities and emerging premium retail channels.
Omnichannel & Digital Growth
- Partner with eCommerce and Digital teams to create seamless omnichannel consumer experiences.
- Support growth across retailer.com platforms, marketplaces, and social commerce channels.
- Drive digital shelf excellence, content optimization, and retailer media activation.
Cross-functional collaboration & leadership
-
Collaborate closely with Marketing to deliver integrated brand plans.
-
Govern forecasting accuracy and collaborate closely with Supply/IBP to ensure availability, healthy inventory, service levels, and cost to serve optimization.
-
Build strong cross-functional partnerships with Marketing, Education, Finance, Digital/MarTech, and Global/Regional teams to land strategies, media, assets, and activation.
-
Champion talent development, capability building, and a high-trust culture grounded in Speed, Simplification, Accountability, and Intensity.
-
Act as a visible, values-led leader on the Country Leadership Team, providing strategic input beyond the channel/brand remit.
Key Skills Required
- 10+ years of commercial leadership experience within Beauty, FMCG, Luxury, or Consumer Goods.
- Significant experience managing premium retail channels.
- Proven track record of delivering sustainable sales growth and market share gains.
- Strong commercial negotiation and customer management expertise.
- Experience owning and managing a P&L.
- Successful track record in a Senior Sales position as well as P&L ownership and management.
- Experience in Consumer Sales in Professional or FMCG is required.
- Strong analytical, thinking, and problem-solving skills.
- Multi-market coordination experience; comfortable leading across markets without always having direct authority.
- Excellent communication and executive presence; comfortable influencing at leadership-team level.
Mindset
- A hunter, not a maintainer — builds from scratch, sees white space, and moves with urgency.
- Consumer-first and commercially sharp; a full business owner rather than a channel manager.
- Decide Fast and Decisively: Uses evidence, insights, and guardrails to make trade-offs between promo intensity, GM, equity protection, and customer needs.
- Communicate with Clarity: Simplifies complex strategies; provides concise updates to senior stakeholders; encourages open, inclusive dialogue.
- Leadership & Talent Development: Creates psychological safety, coaches for performance, and builds future-ready capabilities.
- Highly strategic & analytical with growth-mindset orientation.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
WHAT WE OFFER
- 25 days holiday + additional day off for your birthday (not including bank holidays)
- 3 days’ personal leave for your own significant life events
- 2 paid days off for volunteering/charity work
- Optional Wella Pension Scheme (8% employer contribution, 3% employee contribution)
- Optional Family Private Medical Insurance Cover
- Income Protection
- Life Insurance (8x base salary up to 2 million payable in the event of your death in service of Wella)
- Staff Discount (80% of all hair products, 40% OPI, 1 x 50% ghd)
- EAP (Employee Assistance Program)
- Enhanced maternity, paternity, and adoption leave
- Gym Benefits
- Eye Tests
- WOW Program (Bonus following exit from KKR, eligible after successful probation. For permanent employees only)
- Workplace/Nursery Benefits
- 4 weeks working remotely abroad
- Early Friday Finish during Summer
EEO OPPORTUNITIES
The Wella Company wants to meet the aims and commitments set out in its equality policy. This includes not discriminating under the Equality Act 2010 and building an accurate picture of the make-up of the workforce in encouraging equality and diversity.
We offer equal employment opportunity to qualified individuals without regard to race, religion or belief, color, national origin, age, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Wella Company with federal and state disability laws and makes reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact us at: https://www.wellacompany.com/consumer-affairs
We strongly believe that cultivating a diverse workplace gives a company strength. The combination of unique skills, abilities, experiences, and backgrounds creates an environment that produces extraordinary results. EOE Minorities/Females/Protected Veterans/Disabled.
English - Please click on this link to review the Notification of Equal Opportunity Rights poster: https://www.wellacompany.com/consumer-affairs
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills
Location