District Manager - Central-South

About West Marine The Central-South District is composed of 20 stores covering Alabama, Florida (Panhandle), Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, & Texas.

This district role has an up to 80% travel requirement, which will require overnight travel weekly with consecutive days.

On average this role will require between 2-3 overnight trips a week, with both air and automobile travel required.

Candidates can live anywhere within their district, and this role is ideally based in Houston, Texas or Pensacola, Florida, however we are open to candidates near major airports such as Dallas, Texas or New Orleans, LA.

All candidates should have at least 5 years of retail multi-unit experience, either in big-box, specialty, or c-store. Experience managing stores in multiple states and time zones is preferred.

Candidates should have passion for boating, fishing and the lifestyle of helping people boat more.

Job Summary : The District Manager (DM) is responsible for driving sales and profitability of the stores in their assigned area by exceeding customer and team expectations.

The DM partners with their marine center teams to drive sales growth and profitability by approaching the business strategically, seeking opportunities within the local market, and working to develop / implement long-range plans that drive business objectives.

The DM is responsible for recruiting, training and coaching the leadership talent throughout the district and developing a bench of future leaders.

The DM empowers Marine Center Managers to lead the businesses and manage operations autonomously within the stores. District Managers are expected to have all marine centers in a state of sales and customer readiness at all times and ensure that all company programs and expectations are executed on time and within budget.

DM’s are expected to visit their Marine Centers on a daily basis and visit their entire district within a thirty day period.

Primary Responsibilities : Key Responsibility #1 : Talent Management & Development

Identify, retain and attract a diverse and talented workforce creating a cohesive and high performing Team. This Team works together to solve problems, share best practices, develop talent and achieve company financial goals.

Backfill and succession planning are critical to this process.

Collaborates cross functionally as an advocate for teams to ensure all issues / concerns are communicated, escalated and addressed in a timely manner.

This includes, but is not limited to, partnerships with HR, AP, merchandising, facilities, RE and Store Operations.

• On a regular basis, recognize and acknowledge outstanding performance during store visits and remotely.
• Provide consistent and regular feedback to Marine Center Managers on developmental opportunities, including Internal Development Plan (IDP) follow up.
• All open action items / feedback delivered to Marine Center Managers are followed up on either in person or remotely.
• Provide training, coaching and corrective action as needed Key Responsibility #2 : Delivering Financial Results
• Achieve all company sales and profit results through consistent execution of strategic initiatives.
• Total district P&L assessment and management.
• Establishes key district priorities and communicates those priorities to Marine Center Managers, ensuring the alignment of the district with overall company strategy.
• Drives the execution of all company programs and results within the marine centers. Holds the marine center management team accountable for executing the behaviors designed to achieve company results.
• Effectively manage expenses in all stores creatively and proactively looking for opportunities for improvements both locally and globally.
• Reviews marine center staffing / payroll and other controllable expenses reports (e.g., sales / payroll weekly reports, FT / PT ratio reports, controllable expense reports) and takes action on areas not meeting company standards.
• Actively looks for new ways to improve staffing productivity.
• Comply with and uphold all current company policies and procedures (including but not limited to SOP’s and training guides).
• Flexibility to adapt to changes in business operations Key Responsibility #3 : Customer Experience
• Makes frequent and regular visits to Marine Centers within the District to complete standardized store visits. Validate that company standards are maintained, coach the team through identified opportunities, and create action plans to address any observed deficiencies.
• Verify that stores within the district meet or exceed customer service expectations; champions and embraces company resources and uses them to create an exceptional customer experience.
• Ensure that all marine centers fully represent the brand with a consistent customer experience.
• Act as a brand ambassador representing the company in all interactions inside and outside of business hours.
• Ensuring that the stores under their supervision adhere to company and industry regulations.
• Ensuring that all stores meet safety and cleanliness standards.
• Ensuring that marketing efforts are consistent across each store. Minimum education required / preferred, area of study :
• Minimum High School or GED
• College Degree in Business or related field and / or U.S. Military Service preferred

Minimum years of relevant experience required :

5+ years experience in a multi-unit retail environment

Additional skills / knowledge required include :

• Understanding of retail store operations, P&L, inventory, presentation standards, customer service and financial reporting
• Strong organizational, interpersonal and problem solving skills
• Strong people development skills recruiting, training, coaching, etc.
• Knowledge of boating, fishing and / or watersports preferred
• Ability to operate company vehicles, maintaining a valid drivers license
30+ days ago