Senior Director, Head of China Retail Development
HybridShanghai, Shanghai, China
Job Summary
Lead China Retail Development by setting direction for footprint strategy, real estate, and retail design across 400+ stores and partner-operated networks. Define and deliver prioritized initiatives for owned and certified stores, translating market insights into actionable priorities that improve local relevance and commercial growth. Oversee end-to-end execution of new stores, remodels, and partner-store developments while managing the budget and ensuring alignment with global standards. Establish governance forums with global and local stakeholders to drive faster execution and track portfolio performance against strategic outcomes. Report directly to the VP of Global Retail Development and represent China priorities within the Global Retail Development Leadership Team.
Required Qualifications
- 20 years of relevant experience in retail development, real estate, retail design or related leadership roles within premium lifestyle, branded retail or experience-led consumer environments
- Significant experience operating in China, with a strong understanding of the retail real estate landscape, consumer trends, partner ecosystems and local market dynamics
- Significant experience working with licensed, franchise, dealership or partner-operated retail models
- Proven experience defining and delivering store format strategies, including developing, testing and scaling different retail formats across multiple functions, stakeholders and store operating models
- Strong people leadership experience, with a track record of leading senior specialists and multi-disciplinary teams through change, ambiguity and demanding delivery environments
- Excellent commercial acumen, with the ability to balance brand elevation, shopper experience, financial performance, operational feasibility and long-term portfolio health
- Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to work across global, regional and local teams and build trusted relationships with senior internal and external partners
- Strategic and execution-oriented mindset, with the ability to define direction, create governance, prioritize resources and deliver measurable impact at pace
- Entrepreneurial, resilient and collaborative leadership style, with the ability to drive transformation while creating clarity, trust and accountability
- Advanced English and Mandarin communication skills, both written and spoken
- Bachelor's or master's degree in architecture, design, business, real estate, engineering or another relevant field
Desired Qualifications
- Experience in both global headquarters and local market roles, or in roles requiring strong global-local translation
- Broader experience across Asia retail markets beyond China
- Experience with retail portfolio segmentation, flagship stores, premium mall environments or destination retail formats
- Familiarity with design, construction, project management or store maintenance operating models
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