Head of Location Planning

About the role

Lead and inspire the location planning team to deliver exceptional customer and team experiences across South Africa and international markets. Develop and execute pre‑season and in‑season planning for individual locations, ensuring the right stock reaches the right store at the right time to meet operational and financial KPIs.

Key responsibilities

• Gain a detailed understanding of customers and translate insights into catalogue and format plans.
• Analyse market share, competitor formats and retail environments to identify trading opportunities and inform financial budgets.
• Develop and maintain a competitor database that supports the overall location strategy.
• Translate product strategies into catalogue principles, considering sales, margin, profit contribution, trading space and customer profile.
• Set location applications of marketing, financial viability and product shifts to maximise opportunities and minimise risk.
• Collaborate with group leadership to deliver balanced location strategies aligned with buying‑group KPIs.
• Manage location plans for new stores, renovations, extensions, conversions and closures.
• Conduct financial analysis to identify risks and opportunities, providing recommendations to buying groups and other stakeholders.
• Execute in‑season financial re‑projections, optimise inventory levels and reduce markdowns.

Required profile

• Proven leadership experience in retail location planning or a related strategic function.
• Strong analytical mindset with the ability to translate customer, market and financial data into actionable plans.
• Deep understanding of retail environments, competitor dynamics and product strategies.
• Experience influencing cross‑functional stakeholders such as product, selling, finance and space management.
• Track record of delivering location strategies that meet financial and operational KPIs.

Required skills