Retail Manager London City Lionesses

About Us

London City Lionesses are part of the Kynisca group, setting a vision and building an infrastructure in which all the players and staff can thrive. Owned by Michele Kang, our vision for Kynisca is to become the most pre-eminent sports organisation in the world; have a high-performance culture of winning on and off the pitch; train women as women; and motivate and inspire the next generation of girls and women.

Our Values

• We Lead The Way
• We Dream Big
• We Get it Done
• We Innovate
• We Inspire our Community

Role Purpose

The Retail Manager is responsible for leading and developing the club’s retail operations across physical retail outlets, online and other associated merchandise channels. The role focuses on delivering excellent supporter experiences, driving commercial performance and ensuring everyone involved in retail and merchandise is aligned to the club’s brand and values.

The ideal candidate will have worked in a sports retail environment before and be looking to join a new area of the club’s operations where they can make immediate impact. This role needs someone who is able to get stuck in, from end-to-end to establish the club’s retail activities. This is a new position within the business, so the responsibilities are not set in stone. We need someone who can jump in, get things done and work with the senior leadership team to shape the future of the club.

Main Duties/ Responsibilities

• Establishing the retail product range
• Develop a commercially viable product range for our growing fanbase, developing relationships with key manufacturers and managing product buys
• Drive sales performance, revenue growth and profitability
• Lead day-to-day retail operations across all club retail outlets.
• Collaborate with marketing and commercial teams on campaigns and product development
• Manage retail budgets, forecasting and cost control
• Oversee stock management including ordering, inventory control and shrinkage
• Own the online ecommerce store
• Ensure end to end processes for supporters are optimised towards purchase / conversion
• Monitor and measure Key Performance indicators across website sessions, conversions and basket abandonments, put in place measures to improve KPIs
• Lead retail delivery on matchdays and major events
• Maintain high standards of visual merchandising and brand presentation
• Champion excellent customer service and supporter experience
• Recruit, train and develop retail staff once a need is established
• Lead on the fulfilment of all retail orders (online and offline)
• Build clear processes and look for areas to optimise fulfilment, creating efficiencies with 3rd parties such as delivery partners
• Analyse sales data, stock performance and supporter trends
• Collaborate with internal and external parties to analyse and capitalise on trends

Club Accountabilities

• To comply with all Club policies, procedures and practices and carry out your role diligently and in the best interests of the Club
• To lead with a proactive, high-performance mindset and actively contribute to a winning culture on and off the pitch
• To behave in a manner consistent with Club values and policies
• To ensure compliance with all relevant legal, regulatory, ethical and social requirements.
• To keep confidential any information gained regarding the Club and its personnel.

What we are looking for

Qualifications and Training

• Any specific qualifications or technical requirements listed here will be mandated by league and/or governing body rules

Essential

• Safeguarding
• Health and safety

Desirable

• Business management qualification

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Essential

• Hands on ecommerce management experience
• Proven retail experience in a similar environment
• Strong leadership and people management skills
• Commercially focused with experience driving sales and controlling costs
• Excellent communication and organisational skills
• Comfortable working evenings, weekends and matchdays

Characteristics

• Passionate about women’s football and broader women’s sport culture.
• Entrepreneurial spirit and ability to deal with matrix stakeholders & ambiguity.
• High standards of personal integrity and EQ.
• Comfortable and able to work on own initiative
• Has a learning mindset; is keen to continue their self-development and keep up to date with best practice and learning opportunities
• Continually seeks to improve efficiency and performance
• Seeks out and embraces new ways of thinking and working – not afraid to fail.

London City Lionesses is committed to safeguarding, health and safety, and equality, diversity, and inclusion. We prioritise the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, the well-being of all staff and visitors, and fostering an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and supported. These responsibilities are shared by all staff and volunteers, with safeguarding, safety, and inclusivity being collective priorities. All staff are required to adhere to the Club’s policies, complete relevant training, and actively contribute to maintaining a safe, inclusive, and welcoming environment. This includes timely reporting of concerns, compliance with health and safety regulations, and upholding the Club’s zero-tolerance approach to discrimination. For certain roles, additional checks, such as Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks or health assessments, may be required. Applications must include a fully completed application form; CVs alone will not be accepted. All candidates will be assessed on merit and their alignment with the Club’s values.