FISHING REPUBLIC DEPARTMENT MANAGER

We're the only UK outdoor retailer to offer good, better and best choices from a £10 walking shoe to a £900 air tent. It's what our customers expect from an Aladdin's cave of outdoor gear and it's part of what makes us special. From experienced mountaineers to dog walkers and their dogs, everybody's welcome. We care more about those people than ticking boxes and we know it's what keeps them coming back.

Fishing Republic is among the largest of UK fishing tackle shops. Passionate about angling, we are committed to bringing you the best choice of fishing equipment and value across the whole sport. From coarse and carp fishing gear, to sea, fly, predator and specialist tackle for sale, we stock a huge range of products, including bite alarms and fishing reels from over 100 of your favourite brands.

We have a huge team of anglers within the company that specialise in every single aspect of fishing from carp, coarse, fly, predator and sea fishing.

Role Purpose:

To own and manage the Fishing Republic department within a GO Outdoors store.  To lead and motivate an engaged Store Colleague team to deliver GO’s mission and strategic pillars at Department level. Be a brand ambassador for FR and role model the company values to exceed the customers expectation. Ensure department sales are in line with or in excess of business requirements.

Accountabilities:

• Own the Fishing Department to lead and motivate a high performing, highly engaged team of fishing department colleagues
• Support in the creation of an exceptional customer service culture ensuring Store Colleagues delight our customers and exceed their expectations  
• Ensuring the store is safe and compliant operating environment for colleagues and customers
• Support the achievement of financial results in line with or in excess of company targets

Duties and Responsibilities:

• General
  • Recruit, coach and train a team of high performing fishing store colleagues who are focused on exceeding customer expectations.
  • Support driving a sales culture in store that empowers Store Colleagues to deliver excellent customer service that installs confidence in the customer to purchase brilliant products that are suitable for their needs
  • Conduct regular 121s and bi-annual performance reviews with Fishing Store Colleagues to provide constructive feedback and review performance
  • Communicate key business messages clearly and effectively to the Fishing Store Colleagues to drive performance and colleague engagement
  • Review and action customer feedback daily, celebrate successes and provide developmental feedback to the store team to enhance the customer experience
  • Review performance data, identify opportunities for growth and action areas of improvement to drive performance of the store
  • Action daily operational tasks to maintain the department to include but not limited to live bait handling
  • Ensure the store fully complies with statutory obligations and relevant H&S Policies to ensure the store is health safe and legal for customers, visitors, and colleagues at all times
  • Take ownership for escalated customer complaints by offering solutions to resolve the customer concerns to ensure we delight the customer and maintain customer satisfaction scores
  • Ensure all stock is displayed and maintain accurate stock records.
• Fishing Specific
  • Organise and facilitate in store events to promote and grow Fishing Republic’s brand in the local community through recommended partnerships in order to grow our reach
  • Building relationships or partnerships with local angling groups in the community.
  • Management of a Fishing Republic Facebook page and FR Instagram post.
  • Regular posting on social media platforms of new products, updates and general fishing related posts
  • Ordering and processing live bait orders.  Handling live bait through cleaning to presentation to sales and disposal.
  • Management of live bait ordering and customer reservations.

Skills, Knowledge & Experience:

We have a huge team of anglers within the company that specialise in every single aspect of fishing from carp, coarse, fly, predator and sea fishing.

Skills

• Great coaching, mentoring and teambuilding skills that drives performance
• Clear, confident and motivational communicator with excellent verbal, listening and written communication skills 
• Proficient and confident in the use of Microsoft Office products and retail business systems
• Good understanding of social media (Instagram and Facebook).

Knowledge & Experience

• Keen and experience angler with deep knowledge in at least Carp or Coarse fishing.
• Previous management experience in large format retail
• Experience of creating and leading high performing teams to include all aspects of recruitment, performance & talent management.
• Proven experience of effectively prioritising and delegating workload to achieve goals and objectives
• A proven record of successfully promoting and growing a retail brand in the local community
• A passion for customer service and a proven record of delivering excellence in this area.
• Be able to demonstrate the ability to improve store performance & standards through effective planning
• Experience of cascading business change initiatives clearly and concisely to teams and achieving successful outcomes
• A proven ability to not only deliver standards but to step back & challenge the accepted way of doing things to improve the customer experience
• Robust working knowledge of retail KPI’s and the proven ability to control costs, increase sales and improve the customer experience.
• Be able to demonstrate that you are a hands on manager on the sales floor
• Knowledge of local market trends, competitor activity and the ability to identify local community growth opportunities

Behaviours

• Be accountable, responsible, and committed
• A positive role model that champions GO’s values
• Show great humility, emotional intelligence and compassion at all times
• Have a learning mindset and be open to ideas
• Show great self awareness at all times and be conscientious of impact on others
• Be a pro-active problem solver
• Show resilience and have the tenacity to bounce back
• Be a “change agent”; open to and supportive of new ideas and initiatives
• Take responsibility for all results and ensuring the team always work together
• Maintain a high level of integrity at all times
• Be timely and punctual with all deadlines
• Deal with multiple issues whilst working under pressure