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OPERATIONS MANAGER

About Us:

Shedfield Country Stores Limited is a new retailer launch Spring 2025 comprising Raw Pet Food Pantry Limited, an established leader in pet retail, and Shedfield Equestrian Tack Shop, an equine, animal feeds, and country store. Shedfield Country Stores brings together these two successful retail businesses to create a destination country store in Shedfield, Southampton
This is a new role created to support the forecasted growth and development of the business.

The successful candidate will play a pivotal role in our ongoing growth and success, focusing on driving sales, managing the business’ product offering across all departments, and enhancing profitability.

Raw Pet Food Pantry is a leading retailer in premium raw pet nutrition with two stores in Shedfield and Lee on Solent. It is committed to delivering top-quality products to pet owners who value health and vitality for their pets. Shedfield Equestrian Tack Shop offers a comprehensive range of equestrian products from leading brands, catering to riders, horse owners of all levels, and those with interests in country pursuits.

You will work across both brands under the Shedfield Country Stores banner, supporting both the equestrian and pet care sectors, ensuring a seamless and exceptional experience for our customers.

Whilst working with us, you can also enjoy a staff discount on store products from day one, for both you and your pets!

The role & key responsibilities:

We are looking for a proactive and detail-oriented individual to join our team. In this role, you will be responsible for sourcing and selecting products for retail, conducting thorough market research, analysing sales data, and building strong relationships with suppliers, and creating sales incentives to benefit both the customers and staff through sales targets. Key responsibilities include:

• Product sourcing & market analysis: Source and select products, identifying market gaps, anticipating buying trends, and sourcing new goods from manufacturers. Create appealing assortment bundles to drive sales.
• Supplier relationships & negotiations: Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with suppliers, negotiating rates to secure optimal margins for profitability.
• Inventory management: Ensure inventory accuracy by leveraging our EPOS system (Lightspeed), regularly reporting on supplier status and potential risk factors to ensure optimal store performance.
• Team leadership: Oversee the daily operations of two store managers, providing support and guidance to help them achieve targets through their teams and meet store objectives. Identify skills gaps and empower team members through delegation and goal-setting.
• Stock & pricing management: Identify stock gaps, manage inventory levels, and ensure pricing strategies align with profitability goals.
• Product lifecycle management: Manage alternative product requests for small volume lines and review, research, and manage substitutes for obsolete items. Analyse SLOB (Slow Moving and Obsolete) item reports to ensure our product range stays current.
• Customer engagement: Create a customer-centric environment by interacting with customers as needed, ensuring high-quality service and satisfaction.
• Sustainability focus: Work with sustainability objectives in mind, identifying opportunities for improvement within all product categories.

Skills and Experience

To succeed in this role, our ideal candidate will have:

• Experience in a retail management and/or buyer role, ideally with client management experience.
• Knowledge of EPOS systems, strong supplier negotiation skills, and the ability to manage stock levels effectively.
• Trustworthy, proactive, and adept at both big-picture strategy and operational details.
• Ability to efficiently manage both shop floor operations and administrative duties
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong commercial awareness with a strategic mindset
• Confident, positive, and proactive, contributing your own ideas to drive business growth
• Genuine passion for animals and their well-being
• Product knowledge around raw pet food and feeding practices is desirable

Systems and programmes we use:

Experience in these or similar systems is desirable but not essential to be successful as training will be provided.

• Lightspeed (EPOS)
• WooCommerce (website back office)
• Canva (presentations)
• Google Drive (for networking files)

Location: You will be based mainly at our new store in Shedfield but you will be required to visit our Raw Pet Food Pantry store in Lee on Solent regularly. Mileage will be paid from between Shedfield and Lee on Solent, and any other journeys made on behalf of the business.
Hours: Full-time, 35 hours per week – Monday - Friday
Salary: £30,000-£35,000 per annum
Benefits: Pension, uniform, staff discount on store products

If you're passionate about retail, have strong analytical skills, and are ready to lead a team in an exciting and fast-paced environment, we’d love to hear from you!

REF-(Apply online only)