Deputy Communication & Interior Design Manager

IKEA

Valid Till: N/A

Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

Company Description

Established in the 1930s as a trading business, Al-Futtaim Group today is one of the most diversified and progressive, privately held regional businesses headquartered in Dubai, United A”rab Emirates. Structured into five operating divisions; automotive, financial services, real estate, retail and healthcare; employing more than 35,000 employees across more than 20 countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, Al-Futtaim Group partners with over 200 of the world’s most admired and innovative brands. Al-Futtaim Group’s entrepreneurship and relentless customer focus enables the organisation to continue to grow and expand; responding to the changing needs of our customers within the societies in which we operate. 

Job Description

Leading, developing and inspiring the Communication& Interior Design (Com&In) Team and other functions in the store in increasing the home furnishing interest of the many people and creating demand for home furnishing solutions and know how in the local market.

Securing the operation of the function by aligning the department action plan with the rest of the store to secure vitality and inspiration to provide an inspiring shopping journey for the visitors and Maximize sales.

Active member of Store Management team for the IKEA Small Store

Responsibilities:

  • Lead and inspire the store Com&In team to use knowledge of IKEA home furnishing and people’s life at home to grow the business by initiating and facilitating workshops to generate creative directions
  • Secure vitality and seasonality in the store by creating and implementing a store commercial calendar together with the store management team
  • Lead the store Com&In team in securing relevant and inspiring range presentation solutions, an optimal store layout and effective and efficient store communication that builds the IKEA Brand and distances IKEA retailers from the competition
  • Ensure the store commercial team has the right understanding of store layout, range presentation and store communication thereby contributing to the work method for range presentation
  • Assist the Store Manager in identifying current and future business needs in order to recruit, develop and retain a high performing and passionate store Com&In team. Lead and challenge the Com&In team to constantly take actions that exploit commercial opportunities both in the short- and long term
  • Lead the work method of the IKEA way to present the range process together with the Sales Managers and Logistics Manager
  • Supervise the daily and weekly operational work done by the specialist co-workers in the Com&In department
  • Follow up, and review the planning, preparation, and implementation process of planned changes with the ID, VM, GD and Activity function
  • Assist the Store Manager in maintaining the store budget for the department
  • Co-ordinate with the planned marketing activity of the commercial calendar to ensure required changes are done to highlight the new products or the activity related articles & to be displayed in a manner that catches the customer’s imagination
  • Align the Com&In action plan considering business commercial calendar, rebuilds of room settings, homes, specialty shops, and compacts
  • Ensure continuous alignment with the different works between the different functions to eliminate overlapping of the agenda with carpentry, graphic, assembly, electrician, and IT requests

Qualifications & Experience:

  • Extensive experience of working in a design-orientated role (interior design, graphic design, visual merchandising and/or store planning).
  • Interior design/visual merchandising supervisory experience in or outside IKEA
  • Project management experience
  • Store layout planning experience
  • Deep interest in and highly developed knowledge of home furnishings and the way people live