Director, Omnichannel Retail Consulting in City of London

London (Hybrid) | Permanent | Typically 15 plus years

Our client, a global tier-1 IT services and consulting firm, is building a new omnichannel consulting capability inside its retail strategic initiatives practice. This is a founding Director seat. You will not inherit a practice, you will help build one, with real ownership, senior visibility and access to global technology, engineering and AI scale behind you.

The role

You will work with some of the best-known retailers in the UK, Europe and beyond across the full omnichannel agenda. One engagement may be shaping a client's channel and operating model strategy, the next diagnosing where value leaks across a fulfilment network, the next scoping how agentic AI reshapes customer experience. You will operate in small, senior-led teams that span strategy through to execution and never hand off. At Director level, origination and practice P&L contribution sit alongside delivery as core parts of the seat.

What you will do

• Lead client engagements across the omnichannel agenda: channel strategy, channel economics, operating model, connected commerce, AI, supply chain and store
• Structure and solve ambiguous, board-level problems using hypothesis-led, structured problem-solving
• Own senior client relationships and become the go-to advisor for the accounts you lead
• Translate analysis into clear recommendations and executive-ready storytelling
• Originate and shape new work: proposals, diagnostics, workshops and buyable plays
• Contribute to practice P&L growth and manage engagement commercials
• Build reusable IP, frameworks and accelerators that let the practice scale
• Publish points of view and represent the practice at industry forums
• Coach and grow the team as it builds out

What you bring

• Proven management or strategy consulting experience at Director, Principal or Partner level, or equivalent seniority
• Retail or consumer sector depth, whether earned in consulting, in industry, or both
• Genuine command of channel economics, operating model design and the commercial pressures reshaping retail today
• Structured problem-solving and analytical rigour, including comfort interrogating data directly
• Origination track record: proposals won, whitespace opened, multi-year relationships built
• Executive-level communication and storytelling, credible in the boardroom
• Ability to define strategy and plans independently and traverse unfamiliar domains at pace
• Commercial acumen and a builder's instinct, someone who wants to create the practice rather than join a finished one
• Willingness to travel to client sites as business needs require
• Right to work in the UK; sponsorship is not available

Valuable but not essential

• Depth in one or more of: omnichannel and operating model, connected commerce (OMS, POS, CDP), AI and personalisation, supply chain and fulfilment, store reinvention, or change and capability
• Experience of AI or agentic commerce in a retail context
• Practice-building or new-capability track record
• EMEA or international retail market experience
• Published thought leadership or a recognised external profile

Who this role is NOT for

• Delivery, platform or implementation leaders without a strategy consulting motion
• Client Partner or account management profiles without hands-on engagement leadership
• Organisation design, change management or PMO specialists without commercial and channel depth
• Strategy generalists with no retail or consumer grounding
• Manager or Senior Manager level candidates seeking a step up into this seat
• Candidates requiring visa sponsorship or seeking fully remote work

Process note: selection includes a case study and a written exercise alongside interviews.