Area Leader

Since its launch in 1993 with a collection of six essential handbags, Kate Spade New York has always stood for optimistic femininity. Today, the brand is a global life and style house with handbags, ready-to-wear, jewelry, footwear, gifts, home décor and more. Polished ease, thoughtful details and a modern, sophisticated use of color—Kate Spade New York’s founding principles define a unique style synonymous with joy. Under the vision of creative director Nicola Glass, the brand continues to celebrate confident women with a youthful spirit.

Kate Spade New York is part of the Tapestry portfolio – a global house of brands powered by optimism, innovation, and inclusivity.

Primary Purpose:

The Area Leader will oversee several store locations in the area while based out of their home location. The Area Leader will be responsible for the strategic development of the business and the achievement of the stores’ financial goals in partnership with the District Leader.

The successful individual will leverage their proficiency in Store Management to...

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

• Meet and/or exceed store/area sales plans, control expenses and improve metrics for multi-store districts through leadership, training and development, coaching and personal example.
• Oversee sales development of the area by partnering with store leaders on business driving initiatives as well as store specific business plans.
• Communicate and achieve store productivity targets including sales per hour, adt, upt, and capture rate.
• Ensure members of management are effectively utilizing the divisions of responsibilities program to take ownership of the business in their respective areas.
• Conduct store visits  to ensure standards are maintained, expectations are being achieved and action plans are developed in order to move the business forward.
• Coaching on all customer service issues in order to exceed customer expectations.
• Model and supervise the selling environment, provide consistent coaching on sales training process in order to ensure the highest level of client service and sales.
• Ensure visual merchandising directives are implemented efficiently as per direction and visual standards are maintained in your area at all times.
• Act as a liaison between stores, corporate partners, buyers and visual director to ensure that merchandise assortments reflect the brand strategy and stock levels are appropriate to meet the needs of the business.

Leadership Presence/Steward of Talent

• Understand and able to communicate the kate spade new york brand aesthetic, brand philosophy and lifestyle to the sales team and client.
• Responsible for the recruiting, interviewing and hiring of store team. Develop a leadership talent pool to achieve succession planning goals for reporting location and district stores.
• Assist store leaders in training, coaching and development, customer service standards, standard operating procedures, impeccable visual standards and employee relations compliance.
• Ensure that all store training and development programs are implemented and monitored for success such as new hire on-boarding, clientele standards, and sales training.
• Touch base with each store leader on a weekly basis to gain an understanding of all aspects of their business including merchandising, staffing, operations, etc. provide consistent follow-up and feedback.
• Perform annual performance evaluations for direct reports while overseeing the process at the store level by providing feedback on all leadership and associate reviews.
• Network and create positive relationships in the community that result in business generation, awareness of kate spade new york brand and builds a bench strength of qualified candidates to fill key open positions.

Operational Excellence

• Oversee and control payroll budget and weekly hours within area to ensure appropriate sales floor coverage by reviewing stores schedule and adjusting as necessary to meet the needs of the business.
• Analyze and react to business trends regarding assortment, communicating sell-through, stock levels, opportunities to increase sales.
• Ensure area adheres to all company policies and procedures with integrity.
• Directly responsible for coordinating and facilitating all aspects for new store openings and store renovations (hiring of team, opening process, orientation for new team members, training, etc.).
• Oversee maintenance and movement of inventory to ensure inventory shrinkage is less than 1%.

The accomplished individual will possess...

• Passion and desire for excellence by exceeding goals successfully and consistently
• Proven ability to develop and retain top talent
• Proven ability to better business results year over year
• Exceptional client service skills
• Proven leadership and organizational skills
• Strong business acumen; including retail math and P&L responsibility
• Proven ability to work with retail operating systems
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Strong work ethic; ability to problem solve

Physical Requirements

• Standing for extended periods of time
• Able to safely lift boxes up to 40 pounds
• Comfortable climbing ladders

An outstanding professional will have...

• Bachelor’s degree in related field preferred
• 5+ years management experience in luxury goods or a comparable retail environment with a focus on clienteling