Zouk - Area Business Manager

Area Business Manager

Description:

Location: Chembur East, Mumbai

Experience: 2 to 4 years

Reporting To: Director Offline Revenue

About Zouk:

Zouk is a proudly Indian and 100% PETA-approved vegan lifestyle brand. We blend traditional Indian craftsmanship with modern design to offer stylish, functional, and cruelty-free bags, wallets, and footwear. As we rapidly expand our offline retail presence across India, we are looking for passionate professionals to join our team and help shape a truly Indian brand for the world.

What is the role:

ZOUK is looking for a seasoned National Retail Operations Head to lead and scale its Exclusive Brand Outlet (EBO) network across India. This role will own end-to-end offline retail operations, build scalable systems and teams, and drive strong commercial performance as the brand expands aggressively across Tier 1, 2, and 3 cities.

Key Responsibilities:

Retail Operations:

- Own day-to-day operations of all ZOUK Exclusive Brand Outlets (EBOs) across India

- Drive sales productivity, conversion, ATV, UPT, and store performance metrics

- Ensure SOP adherence across VM, customer experience, inventory, and cash controls

- Lead store audits, compliance, shrinkage control, and loss prevention

Expansion & Scalability:

- Build scalable retail SOPs and operating frameworks

- Partner with Expansion, Projects, and Business Development teams for new store launches

- Ensure operational readiness and smooth handover for new stores

- Develop store grading, benchmarking, and performance review systems

People Management & Leadership:

- Build and manage a multi-layer retail operations structure (Regional, Area & Store Managers)

- Drive hiring, onboarding, training, and succession planning for retail leadership roles

- Create a performance-driven culture with KRAs, reviews, and incentive alignment

- Reduce attrition through career pathing and capability-building initiatives

Customer Experience & Brand Execution:

- Ensure consistent brand experience across all stores

- Drive improvements in customer satisfaction, NPS, and mystery audit scores

- Coordinate with Marketing and VM teams for campaign execution at store level

Commercial & Financial Management:

- Own store-level P&L performance including Store EBITDA and rent-to-revenue ratios

- Drive Like-for-Like (LFL) growth and cost optimization

- Partner with Finance and Supply Chain to improve inventory turns and stock availability

- Monitor store-level markdowns and productivity metrics

Data, Systems & Reporting:

- Drive adoption of POS, ERP, dashboards, and retail analytics tools

- Analyze store performance data and implement corrective action plans

- Establish structured reporting cadence for leadership reviews

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

- Work closely with Expansion, Supply Chain, HR, Finance, Marketing, and VM teams

- Act as the single point of accountability for translating strategy into store execution

KPIs:

- Same Store Sales Growth (LFL)

- Store EBITDA & profitability improvement

- Sales per Sq. Ft., Conversion, ATV, UPT

- Store audit & mystery audit scores

- Retail team attrition levels

- New store stabilization timelines

Candidate Profile:

- Proven experience managing 30+ stores at a national level

- Background in high-growth D2C, lifestyle, fashion, apparel, or accessories brands preferred

- Experience scaling retail operations in fast-paced environments

- Minimum 1+ year experience as a Management Trainee and at least 1 year of hands-on Retail Operations experience

Education:

- MBA from a reputed pedigree or Tier-1/Tier-2 business school preferred

Skills:

- Strong leadership and people management skills

- Excellent understanding of retail unit economics

- Data-driven and commercially oriented

- Hands-on, execution-focused with strategic thinking

- High ownership mindset and ability to work with ambiguity

Why join ZOUK?:

- Opportunity to build and scale a pan-India offline retail network

- High visibility role with direct impact on growth and profitability

- Work with a fast-growing, purpose-led consumer brand

- Strong long-term career progression into offline business leadership