Head of Retail Operations

Job Overview We are seeking an accomplished professional to lead our Retail and Food & Beverage operations at a strategic level. This role involves overseeing the development of new business opportunities, managing existing retail units and F&B concessions, budgeting, reporting, and supervising leasing and concession agreements.The successful candidate will be responsible for ensuring the achievement of annual revenue targets for retail and F&B concessions, identifying trends in passenger demographics and preferences, and developing strategies to optimize revenues and enhance customer satisfaction.Main Responsibilities: Create and communicate sectional objectives and plans aligned with divisional and departmental strategic objectives and operational plans.Develop strategic direction and direct activities to identify trends in passenger demographics and preferences, and optimize revenues and enhance customer satisfaction.Manage income projections, space planning, operator selection, product promotions, rent structuring, and concession pricing policy.Develop and lead ongoing forecasting, budgeting, and management of all concessions and concession-related activities, including annual budgets, monthly forecasts, analysis of passenger statistics, market and financial data, and provision of business updates and achievement of key performance indicators (KPIs).Negotiate and manage retail concession agreements, including food and beverage and duty-free concessions, and amendments thereto.Lead negotiations to fully understand general retail development and retail opportunities at Abu Dhabi Airports.Manage and maintain a pipeline of prospective partners, assessing them against the existing retail mix and financial benchmarking.Establish policies and procedures for effective management of F&B concessions, including relationships between Abu Dhabi Airports and other agencies, such as the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority, and their impact on third-party concession partners.Develop, integrate, lead, monitor, and maintain the development of the Retail tenancy mix, casual leasing program, and F&B concessions within Abu Dhabi Airports.Lead negotiations for completion of new license/lease terms for all retailers within the designated portfolio.Oversee/review performance trends of retail, duty-free, and F&B concessionaires to meet key categories in terms of space design and ensure alignment to commercial strategy, qualitative, and quantitative targets; measure performance against targets, improve performance, and agree on remedial action plans as necessary with underperforming retail partners.Develop revenue strategies and marketing plans for the retail-duty-free and F&B businesses to maximize revenue and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA).Manage all Retail & Duty Free + F&B concessions agreements and work closely with each concessionaire toward continuous improvement of services in terms of performance and client satisfaction within Abu Dhabi Airports.Attract new concessionaires as per individual and divisional KPIs to increase visibility of the airport from a commercial standpoint.Manage the commercial marketing budget in relation to retail and F&B concessions.Oversee project management for retail and F&B opportunities with benchmarking against comparable commercial spaces and leveraging existing ones based on best practices; identify emerging brands.Maintain financial analysis review of Retail performance within the portfolio.Identify and define technology-related needs of the section to drive automation and cost optimization.Perform any other duties as requested by the reporting manager.Required Skills and Qualifications Bachelor's Degree in Retail Management or Business Administration or related field.Certification in Retail Sales Management Marketing is an added advantage.10 years of experience in Retail or F&B with minimum 5 years in a leadership role in a similar division.Key Features This role offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of aviation in the region, working with a team that prioritizes world-class operational safety and efficiency.