Overview

National Retail Manager - Independent Retail and Symbol Groups — Up to £80,000 plus great benefits, including a company car (Work Level 5). Field based role across England and Wales, with occasional visits to our offices in either Scunthorpe or Manchester. Find out more about our hybrid working policy at jobs.coop.co.uk/hybrid-working-policy.

We are looking for an independent retail/symbol group focused National Retail Manager to join our Co-op Wholesale team. We are entering our next exciting phase of growth, and there are new opportunities across Co-op Wholesale, including this one. In this role, you will take the lead in driving our ambitious retail strategy across England and Wales, with a strong focus on independent retail and partnerships. You will be responsible for growing sales by developing and managing key relationships with our independent retail partners, ensuring they thrive in a competitive market while fostering long-term sales growth. This role requires strong commercial acumen to understand and drive P&L performance, ensuring profitability and sustainability. You will play a key role in maximising relationships with our independent retailers, helping them succeed while securing lasting business growth. You will have the opportunity to lead a large team, support a rapidly expanding customer base, and shape the future of our retail presence. If you are commercially driven and ready to make a real impact, this is the role for you.

Responsibilities

• Regularly travel to applicable sites across country to meet customers, support team and attend business meetings
• Have the autonomy to lead, mentor, and support the development of a team of Retail Development Managers to deliver against the sales budget
• Build and develop meaningful relationships with new and existing retail partners to deliver our retail strategy and minimise partner exits
• Provide meaningful insight into partner performance, driving activity and actions to make improvements
• Plan and prioritise retailer partner account management activity in line with our business strategy
• Implement Co-op Wholesale's sales / trading strategy to drive partner growth and loyalty
• Manage any partner issues or complaints through to resolution
• Manage contractual relationships effectively to drive positive value

Qualifications

• Strong knowledge of wholesale sector and the independent retailing, with a focus on independent retailing and symbol groups
• A background in sales and retailer management, with excellent negotiation skills
• Outstanding communication and influencing skills, while maintaining a customer-focused approach
• Proven leadership experience, including mentoring and team development
• A talent for building strong relationships and solving problems with a strategic mindset

Why Co-op / Benefits

• 30% off Co-op branded products in our food stores (as well as other discounts on Co-op products and services)
• An annual bonus (based on personal and business performance)
• 28 days holiday (rising to 32 with service) plus bank holidays
• A pension with up to 10% employer contributions
• Coaching and training to support your career development
• Hybrid and flexible working options to support your work/life balance
• Wagestream app - giving you access to a percentage of your pay as you earn

Diversity and inclusion

We are actively building diverse teams and we welcome applications from everyone. If you have a disability, we can make reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process according to your needs. We are part of the Disability Confident scheme, meaning we will always offer an interview to disabled candidates who apply through the scheme if they meet the minimum criteria for a job. We will ask whether you’d like to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme when you apply. If we invite you to take part in the recruitment process for any of our jobs, we will ask if you need any reasonable adjustments to enable you to participate. You can find out more about our recruitment process at jobs.coop.co.uk/apply-process and about the Disability Confident scheme and our commitments to diversity and inclusion at colleagues.coop.co.uk/diversity-inclusion-and-wellbeing.

Please note that we may close applications for this role early. As part of your application, you'll need to complete an online assessment. This assessment typically takes up to 50 minutes.