Assistant Director, Retail Strategy, Strategy & Business Design

Connect to your Industry

Join our market-leading Retail Strategy consulting team, widely recognised by our clients for original insight and deep sector expertise.

Create impactful strategies: our work is highly varied, advising on some of the most ambitious strategic programmes in the sector, including:

• Corporate and retail business unit strategy
• Customer and market strategy, including market entry, customer segmentation, customer loyalty
• Commercial strategy including category strategy, category management, supplier strategy and commercial analysis across price, promotions, range, space, product quality and innovation and product portfolio strategy
• New proposition design and development
• Strategic input to end-to-end enterprise transformaitons and value creation programmes
• Strategic operating model design
• Mergers and acquisitions

Work in a growing practice with leading clients: our team has a strong and growing client network across the retail industry.

Learn from world-class experts: As well as being strategy experts, bridging the gap between strategy and execution is at the heart of what we do. We work closely with Deloitte experts in Value Creation Services, Strategic Cost Optiimsation, M&A, Technology & Transformation, Digital and Marketing, constantly learning from each other to bring the best of Deloitte to our clients.

Build a brand: Everyone in our team brings unique skills and experience. We take time to help each other develop a domain of expertise, building what we are known for as individuals and in the market.

Connect to your career at Deloitte

Deloitte drives progress. Using our vast range of expertise, we help our clients' become leaders wherever they choose to compete. To do this, we invest in outstanding people. We build teams of future thinkers, with diverse talents and backgrounds, and empower them all to reach for and achieve more.

What brings us all together at Deloitte? It’s how we approach the thousands of decisions we make every day. How we behave, our beliefs and our attitudes. In other words: our values. Whatever we do, wherever we are in the world, we lead the way, serve with integrity, take care of each other, foster inclusion, and collaborate for measurable impact. These five shared values lead every decision we make and action we take, guiding us to deliver impact how and where it matters most.

Connect to your opportunity

As a Assistant Director in our Retail Strategy practice, you will be the leader on industry-specific strategy engagements with our clients. You will be highly motivated and have prior retail industry experience, and you will have a passion for addressing the challenges in the retail sector.

While no two projects are the same, you will typically direct teams across multiple projects and / or large-scale engagements, whilst acting as a trusted strategic advisor to clients. You will be compelling and creative in your advice to clients to bring their strategy to life and make it executable.

You’ll be recognised as a leader who can proactively develop and manage business development opportunities, leveraging your internal and external network in UK retail, as well as developing new propositions and driving innovation and eminence in your areas of expertise.

You will be a role-model for people-centred leadership, inspiring and coaching our teams by driving collaboration and creating a culture that draws strength from diversity, inclusion, wellbeing, and respect.

Commercial strategy is a strong focus area for us and we especially welcome interest from candidates who have a strong track record of driving commercial improvement projects (e.g. ranging, space, price, promotions) in retail.

The nature of the work we do includes:

• Working with executive level clients to understand and define strategic choices ahead of key investment decisions
• Traditional evidence-led analysis to identify market development opportunities to support client strategies
• Determining the optimum business or commercial model to effectively deliver client objectives
• Helping our clients configure effectively and develop their ability to deliver operational excellence in specific areas
• Identifying new ways of working that will stimulate innovation and growth, and lead to better decision-making

The team: The role sits within the Retail Strategy team. You will work with and learn from a group of experienced strategists and industry specialists from a diverse range of backgrounds. You’ll also benefit from being part of the wider Monitor Deloitte Strategy community in the UK and globally, with opportunities to learn best practice strategy techniques across industries. Beyond the Strategy team, you will build a network with retail experts across Deloitte, in digital, marketing, financial advisory, regulatory and operations.

Development: We offer a structured career path and invest in continuous development and learning, which matter greatly to us. Our growth in recent years has been strong and we have ambitious plans for the future: you will find that there is no lack of opportunity for you to develop your career, wherever you may choose to take it.

As an Assistant Director your responsibilities will include:

• Independently leading strategy and M&A engagements from scoping through delivery by managing engagement teams and working with Deloitte Partners and other internal teams to help clients solve their most significant strategic challenges
• Leading on developing, building and sustaining strong professional relationships with clients and internal stakeholders from across our Firm
• Proactively sourcing, developing and managing business development activities, effectively collaborating with others to support the building of client accounts and profitable engagements
• Leading execution of all aspects of client engagements, including scoping, analysis, evaluation, communications, financials, risk, quality etc.
• Mastery of strategy tools and frameworks to solve client problems, and sharing best practice within the team
• Leading and mentoring junior colleagues to ensure successful project delivery, helping them to build technical as well as soft skills and coaching them to achieve their career aspirations
• Taking leadership roles in the management of the practice with our teams and being a champion for our business
• Proactively developing your own skills, seeking feedback, building knowledge, and sharing your insight with colleagues

Connect to your skills and professional experience

We are looking for people who enjoy addressing complex problems in an analytical manner, with a proven record of delivery in a project environment and a strong background in UK retail.

Essential:

• Extensive experience of leading strategy development in one of the following environments: Management or strategy consultancy / Corporate strategy development within the retail industry
• Demonstrated ability to direct, lead and manage teams in a project-based or client-facing environment and managing senior stakeholder relationships
• Strong understanding of one or more retail sectors, including landscape, trends, opportunities / challenges, and drivers of change
• Highly analytical and financially and commercially astute; experienced in leading analytical teams
• Excellent understanding of how to construct and evidence strategic arguments, structure analysis and ability to understand market challenges and opportunities.
• Strong academic track record
• Flexibility to travel

Desirable:

• Postgraduate or professional qualification (e.g. MBA or equivalent)

Connect to your business - Strategy, Risk & Transactions Advisory

In an ever-evolving world, there are no certainties in business. Our teams help clients to navigate risks, process major transactions and deliver transformational change that will future-proof their business. Join us to make a positive difference.

Strategy and Business Design

The experts in our teams in Strategy and Business Design are trusted advisors to CEOs and their wider organisations. Whether that’s launching a new arm of a business, anticipating new and emerging risks or collaborating with other teams, we work on a huge range of varied projects.

Personal independence

Regulation and controls are standard practice in our industry and Deloitte is no exception. These controls provide important legal protection for both you and the firm. We are subject to a number of audit regulations, one of which requires that certain colleagues abide by specific personal independence constraints (e.g., in relation to any financial interests and employment relationships). This can mean that you and your "Immediate Family Members" are not permitted to hold certain financial interests (shares, funds, bonds etc.) with audit clients of the firm, and also prohibitions on certain employment relationships (e.g., you are not permitted to hold a secondary employment role with SEC audit clients of the firm whilst being employed by the firm). The recruitment team will provide further detail as you progress through the recruitment process or you can contact the Independence team upon request.

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