General Manager

Company Description

Embassy of Beauty is a premier retail and treatment space located on Kensington Church Street, London. We have 3 main streams of revenue:

• Onsite location
• Ecommerce
• Distribution

Role Description

The General Manager will be a pivotal leader responsible for the holistic strategic and operational oversight of Embassy of Beauty's diverse business units: the retail clinic, the e-commerce platform, and the distribution arm. This role requires a dynamic, commercially astute, and hands-on leader capable of driving growth, optimizing performance, fostering a culture of excellence, and ensuring seamless integration across all channels. The General Manager will be instrumental in translating strategic vision into operational reality, maximizing profitability, enhancing brand reputation, and delivering unparalleled customer and client satisfaction. All team members work in the Kensington office 5 days a week.

1. Strategic Leadership & Business Growth: * Collaborate with the directors to define and execute the overall business strategy, identifying new growth opportunities across all revenue streams (clinic, e-commerce, distribution). * Develop and implement comprehensive business plans, budgets, and sales targets for each division, ensuring alignment with company-wide objectives. * Monitor market trends, competitor activities, and consumer insights to identify opportunities for innovation, service enhancement, and product diversification. * Drive profitability through effective cost control, revenue optimisation, and efficiency improvements across all operations.

2. Multi-Channel Operations Management: * Retail Clinic: Oversee clinic operations to ensure exceptional client experience, clinical excellence, compliance with UK regulations, and optimal scheduling/utilisation of practitioners and rooms. * E-commerce: Supervise the e-commerce strategy, including website functionality, user experience, digital marketing, inventory management for online sales, and order fulfilment. Drive online sales and conversion rates. * Distribution: Manage the supply chain, warehousing, logistics, and order fulfilment for B2B distribution. Optimise inventory levels, negotiate supplier contracts, and ensure efficient product delivery to partners. * Cross-Functional Integration: Ensure seamless integration and consistent brand messaging across all channels, optimising the customer journey from clinic visit to online purchase to wholesale client support.

3. Financial Performance & Reporting: * Full P&L responsibility across all business units. * Develop and manage budgets, forecasts, and financial models. * Analyse financial performance, identify variances, and implement corrective actions to achieve financial targets. * Prepare regular, insightful reports for the Board on key performance indicators (KPIs), sales, profitability, and operational efficiency.

4. Team Leadership & Development: * Lead, motivate, and develop a high-performing multi-disciplinary team, including direct reports and their respective teams (Clinic, E-commerce, Distribution, Marketing, Finance). * Foster a positive, collaborative, and results-oriented work environment. * Conduct regular performance reviews, set clear objectives, and identify training and development needs. * Drive recruitment, onboarding, and retention strategies for key talent.

5. Brand & Marketing Management: * Work closely with the marketing team to develop and execute integrated marketing strategies that promote the clinic, e-commerce, and distribution brands. * Ensure consistent brand voice, visual identity, and messaging across all touchpoints. * Oversee customer relationship management (CRM) initiatives to enhance loyalty and retention.

Candidate Profile:Experience:

• Minimum of 8-10 years of progressive leadership experience, with at least 3-5 years in a senior General Manager or Operations Director role or similar.
• Essential: Proven experience managing diverse business units, ideally spanning retail/clinic operations, e-commerce, and/or distribution.
• Highly Desirable: Experience within the beauty, wellness, or luxury retail sectors.
• Demonstrable track record of driving significant revenue growth and improving profitability.
• Experience managing P&L and complex budgets.

Skills & Knowledge:

• Strong Commercial Acumen: Deep understanding of sales drivers, profit levers, and market dynamics across multi-channel retail.
• Operational Excellence: Highly skilled in optimising operational workflows, supply chain management, and inventory control.
• Digital Fluency: Strong understanding of e-commerce platforms, digital marketing, SEO/SEM, and online customer journey optimisation.
• Leadership & People Management: Exceptional ability to lead, inspire, and develop diverse teams.
• Strategic Thinking: Ability to translate vision into actionable plans and adapt to changing market conditions.
• Financial Literacy: Proficient in financial analysis, budgeting, and forecasting.
• Problem-Solving & Decision Making: Sound judgment and ability to make effective decisions under pressure.
• Communication & Interpersonal Skills: Excellent verbal and written communication, with the ability to influence and build relationships at all levels (internal and external).
• Regulatory Knowledge: Familiarity with UK retail, beauty, and distribution regulations