Senior Store Manager – Food | Retail | M&S Food Jobs in Dubai, UAE

Job Overview

The Senior Store Manager – Food will lead the commercial, operational, and people performance of a high-volume food retail store in Dubai. The role is responsible for delivering strong sales and profitability while maintaining excellent customer service, operational standards, food safety, product availability, and compliance.

Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!

The position involves leading a large, cross-functional team and working closely with regional operations, supply chain, planning, and commercial teams to achieve business objectives and support future growth.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial Performance & Business Growth

• Develop and execute store-level commercial plans to achieve sales, profitability, and operational targets.
• Analyse trading performance and implement action plans to improve revenue, customer conversion, and profitability.
• Lead promotional activities, seasonal campaigns, and commercial initiatives.
• Monitor key KPIs including sales, gross margin, inventory, waste, shrinkage, labour productivity, and customer satisfaction.
• Identify opportunities to improve store performance and operational efficiency.
• Balance inventory investment with product availability and waste reduction.

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead department managers and store colleagues to deliver strong commercial and operational performance.
• Build a culture of accountability, teamwork, customer focus, and continuous improvement.
• Coach and mentor managers and future leaders.
• Support recruitment, talent development, succession planning, and performance management.
• Drive colleague engagement, inclusion, wellbeing, and learning initiatives.
• Ensure workforce planning supports store requirements and business priorities.

Customer Experience

• Promote a customer-first culture across all store departments.
• Maintain high standards of customer service and ensure a consistent premium shopping experience.
• Review customer feedback and implement service improvement initiatives.
• Manage escalated customer concerns professionally and effectively.
• Support initiatives that strengthen customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Store Operations

• Oversee daily store operations across all Food departments.
• Ensure company policies, procedures, and operational standards are consistently followed.
• Improve productivity across replenishment, merchandising, inventory management, and store processes.
• Ensure the store is prepared for daily trading and seasonal requirements.
• Lead initiatives that improve operational efficiency and service delivery.

Food Safety, Health & Compliance

• Ensure compliance with applicable food safety standards, HACCP requirements, municipality regulations, and health and safety requirements.
• Maintain high standards of food quality, freshness, hygiene, and safety.
• Prepare the store for food safety and compliance audits.
• Ensure corrective actions are implemented following audits or inspections.
• Promote a strong health, safety, and risk-management culture throughout the store.

Inventory & Supply Chain

• Optimise inventory levels while maintaining strong product availability.
• Work with planning and supply chain teams to improve forecasting and stock flow.
• Ensure effective replenishment processes and on-shelf availability.
• Monitor inventory accuracy, stock loss, waste, and shrinkage.
• Identify opportunities to improve supply chain and stock management efficiency.

Visual Merchandising & Brand Standards

• Maintain high visual merchandising and store presentation standards.
• Ensure store presentation reflects applicable brand guidelines.
• Support seasonal campaigns, promotional launches, and commercial activities.
• Conduct regular store reviews and implement improvements where required.

Financial Management

• Take responsibility for store financial performance and achievement of agreed targets.
• Manage labour budgets, operating expenses, and controllable costs.
• Review financial and commercial reports to identify opportunities and risks.
• Implement actions to improve profitability and cost efficiency.
• Communicate store performance, risks, opportunities, and improvement plans to senior management.
• Support strategic initiatives that contribute to sustainable business growth.

Required Skills & Competencies

• Strong commercial and financial understanding.
• Retail leadership and people management skills.
• Strong coaching, mentoring, and talent development capabilities.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Strong knowledge of food retail operations.
• Understanding of inventory management, replenishment, and supply chain processes.
• Ability to analyse business data and translate insights into action.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.
• Excellent planning, organisation, and problem-solving abilities.
• Ability to manage large teams in a fast-paced retail environment.
• Strong focus on customer experience and operational excellence.
• Continuous improvement and results-oriented mindset.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Management, Retail Management, Hospitality, Supply Chain, or a related discipline.
• 10+ years of experience in food retail, supermarket, hypermarket, or grocery retail.
• At least 5 years of experience managing large-format or flagship retail stores.
• Proven experience delivering sales growth, profitability, and operational improvements.
• Experience leading large, cross-functional retail teams.
• Knowledge of food safety, HACCP, municipality requirements, and retail compliance.
• Experience managing P&L, labour budgets, inventory, and commercial KPIs.
• Strong leadership, coaching, and succession planning experience.
• Experience with retail management systems, SAP, Microsoft Office, and business reporting tools.

Key Competencies

Commercial Leadership

• Commercial Acumen
• Business Strategy
• Financial Management
• P&L Management

People Leadership

• Inspirational Leadership
• Coaching & Talent Development
• Succession Planning
• Stakeholder Management

Operational Excellence

• Food Retail Operations
• Inventory Management
• Food Safety & Compliance
• Supply Chain Coordination
• Continuous Improvement

Customer Excellence

• Customer Experience
• Service Excellence
• Brand Standards

Personal Effectiveness

• Strategic Thinking
• Decision Making
• Problem Solving
• Communication & Influencing
• Planning & Organisation
• Accountability