Job Purpose
As the strategy manager, you will own the definition of how our products, services and solutions solve customer needs in a credible and distinctive way. You'll play a key role in enabling competitive differentiation and growth in profitability.
We are looking for a forward-thinking expert in Retail motoring, cycling or Garage services markets. You will identify industry trends over a 1-3 year horizon and translate them into tangible proposition solutions for our product and service categories, to be delivered by themselves or by relevant category/ go-to-market owners.
The nature of the role is to think ahead and agitate our teams to deliver longer term financial health for our business and our shareholders. Actively identifying and responding to longer term threats and opportunities that can be capitalised on for our business.
This role will also look to identify major initiatives happening per category across the retail/garages function and seek to align and position them as necessary- always considering that our customers will shop with the brand and the total offering, not the category.
Key accountabilities
1. In collaboration with the Head of Proposition + Category Strategy, shape and deliver a strategic plan that identifies and responds to scaled opportunities and threats for Halfords over the next three years.
2. Deliver end to end business cases for opportunities identified, as well as supply assumptions for finance/analysts to build robust models.
3. Critically evaluate strategic opportunities/ideas presented by key stakeholders in the business, as well as implement and unlock consistency of propositions/category launches across the retail/garages function.
4. Design solutions that enable scale and quickest route to markets, identifying synergies and cross over with other initiatives owned by our category and transformation teams.
5. Present strategic opportunities and business cases; communicate simply and succinctly to all levels in the business, including exec and other senior stakeholders.
6. Keep abreast of internal initiatives and challenges or guides as necessary to line in with a holistic and lined up plan across commercial and customer.
7. Own and regularly review a 3-year rolling strategic plan for Halfords Retail / Garages, and support pitching for investment to deliver this.
8. Work closely with our Proposition Managers to ensure successful delivery of initiatives scope. May also be involved in owning the delivery of propositions as the business requires.
Skills & Experience
9. Background in strategic design and commercial business case development.
10. Proven problem solving capability with experience working in Retail / Service industries.
11. Able to cut through noise and complexity, to get to the heart of the matter, with little input and coaching from line manager.
12. Proactive and keen to find solutions, or knows how to find solutions via others, without needing to be prompted.
13. Confident preparation of visually engaging content, that is simple and cuts through, for executive and senior level stakeholders.
14. Able to influence at all levels within an organisation and has a successful track record of doing so.
15. A creative and innovative mind, strategic thinker & futuristic and broad as a thought leader/visionary.
16. Ability to ‘join the dots’ between individual and group wide strategy & proposition development for the betterment of area of responsibility.