Area Manager

HOURGLASS COSMETICS – AREA MANAGER - North West UK

Connected by creativity and driven by purpose. Hourglass Cosmetics is a vegan and cruelty-free beauty brand, redefining luxury cosmetics with high-performance products, innovative formulas, and award-winning franchises. Recognized by Forbes, Fast Company and Time Magazine as one of the most inventive beauty companies, Hourglass leads the industry with its breakthrough products and its commitment to animal welfare. Founded in 2004, Hourglass is globally available in 32 markets and 4,600 doors including Sephora, Ulta, Neiman Marcus, Selfridges, Space NK and more. Hourglass became part of the Unilever Prestige division in 2017. Discover more about the Hourglass brand story and mission on our website

About the Role
We are seeking a dynamic and motivated Area Manager to oversee and elevate the performance of our regional stores across the North of England, Scotland and Ireland. This pivotal role requires a passionate leader with a proven track record in people management and hands-on sales leadership. You will play a key role in coaching teams ensuring our premium customer experience is delivered in our regional stores.

As the Area Manager for our Regional stores in the North of England, Scotland and Ireland, you will be responsible for driving sales, KPIs, services, and eventing in our regional retailers: Selfridges, Arnotts, Brown Thomas, Harvey Nichols, John Lewis and Fenwicks. You will lead and inspire a network of Hourglass Manager's and their teams ensuring they are equipped with the knowledge, passion and tools to deliver exceptional customer experiences and exceed commercial targets.

This role requires a strategic leader who can balance commercial acumen with strong coaching and training abilities. You will work closely with key stakeholders, including retail partners and internal teams, to ensure consistent brand messaging, impactful education programs, and strong retail execution. This field-based role is pivotal in nurturing strong relationships with retail partners and leading commercial initiatives to ensure exceptional retail results and customer experience. You will be responsible for delivering sales growth through coaching, and commercial excellence. This role requires weekly store visits to all stores within your area and working closely with the teams in store.   

Key Responsibilities: 

Sales & Business Development

• Own and drive retail performance across our North England, Scotland and Ireland, Regional stores, ensuring sales targets and KPIs are achieved.
• Analyze business performance and identify opportunities to maximize sell-through, ranking and brand positioning.
• Develop and implement sales strategies that align with overall brand objectives and retail partner goals.
• Collaborate with internal teams (marketing, merchandising, operations) to ensure seamless execution of brand initiatives and NPD launches.
• Work closely with Managers and store leadership to drive engagement and results.
• Manage time effectively between regular visits to stores and ensuring you spend quality time with the entire sales team on the shop floor.
• Responsible for setting and managing the regional stores' sales targets & KPIs to maximise sales and rankings in all doors.
• Lead by example in planning and organising the business for success.
• Ensure a detailed understanding of retail context and category performance in the region to help assess risk and identify opportunities and devise by retail strategy by door
• Coach and inspire the Managers to be sales and customer focused with Hourglass.
• Oversee all VM operations relating to the stores and teams, working closely with the VM and Store Design team to ensure smooth installations for all door openings and new launches.
• Reviews stock holding levels consistently and works with the Operations Director to resolve any issues and ensure all processes are followed correctly.
• Support and drive additional eventing and activity plans to effectively build brand awareness as well secure additional opportunities to build and grow the business.

Education

• To work closely with the Education team to ensure your team are set up for success by attending regular training sessions.
• Work closely with the Education Execs to drive artistry, product knowledge, and service excellence through tailored training sessions, masterclasses, and in-store coaching.
• Ensure Hourglass values are reflected in all customer interactions across our regional stores.

Team Leadership & Brand Advocacy

• To effectively lead and manage our Retail team, being able to confidently celebrate success and challenge business opportunity areas, in a fair and consistent manner.
• Lead and inspire through leaders, ensuring our teams feel empowered and engaged with the brand.
• Recruit and manage your area vacancies, acting with pace to ensure the right people are recruited in the right roles within the business.
• Act as the key liaison between the brand and retail partners, fostering strong relationships to drive advocacy and long-term success.
• Be a brand ambassador at key retail and industry events, representing the brand's vision and values.
• Be proactive and reactive to ensure the business can consistently perform, setting clear and consistent targets to continue to build the business.
• Follow company budget parameters and careful use of company resources to achieve end goals.
• Upkeep payroll documents for your area, ensuring commission and overtime are accurately logged.
• Approve team Rota's and review time & attendance sheets.
• Support in HR matters, including but not limited to: hearing investigations / disciplinaries, oversee performance management processes and employee engagement initiatives.
• Responsible for upholding the Unilever Code of Conduct.

WHAT YOU'LL GAIN

• A wealth of experience in a dynamic and fast-paced role within Hourglass.
• The opportunity to make a real impact in shaping brand presence and performance across key retail partners.
• In-depth understanding of how to efficiently build and manage a strong retail team
• Exposure and experience working with the Senior Leadership Team in both UK & LA
• Become part of a fast growing and passionate luxury makeup brand
• Build strong relationships with retailers and customers

YOU'LL LOVE THIS JOB IF:

• Action-oriented: You are self-motivated and can motivate your team to achieve their targets and goals
• Organized: Continuously planning for success with your team with a good, organized approach
• Inspirational people manager: You always lead by example, inspire your team with an ability to remotely manage a diverse team of people
• Strong communicator and collaborator: You communicate effectively with your sales teams, internal teams and retail partners and encourage strong collaborative relationships
• Purpose driven: You have a genuine interest and personal passion for Hourglass and its purpose.
• You are PASSIONATE about beauty & retail: You are eager to learn and absorb all things related to beauty.

QUALIFICATIONS

• 6+ years beauty management industry experience working with luxury specialty retailers
• Positive energy and passion for makeup, skincare and service
• Superior training and motivational abilities
• Highly organized and structured management approach
• Strong analytical skills to review sales results, sales forecasts and promotional impact
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Advanced makeup artistry skills
• Strong eye for merchandising and detail of a luxury environment
• Thrives working in a fast-paced agile environment and manage multiple priorities
• Exhibit effective communication skills with customers, peers and management
• Experience in working with MS Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
• Ability to travel and manage remotely