Deputy Chief Marketing Officer (Store Development)

Hі! We are talanovyti agency — a recruitment agency by FRACTAL. 

Our team supports a fast-growing value retailer of Ukrainian origin, scaling across multiple European markets, in the search for a Deputy CMO. You will be accountable for the full lifecycle of company's global physical store network — from site identification and lease negotiation through to store opening, and from format concept development through to operational standards.

The company operates 1,800+ stores in Ukraine and 65+ stores in Romania, offering a broad assortment of household, personal care, and lifestyle products at compelling price points.

Hard Skills:
- Minimum 5 years of experience in retail store development, real estate, or network expansion within an international retail chain.
- Proven track record managing large-scale store rollout programmes — ideally 100+ store openings annually across multiple markets.
- Experience working at senior or director level, managing cross-functional teams and multi-country operations.
- Strong expertise in retail site economics, including: atchment analysis, footfall modelling, rent-to-sales benchmarking, investment appraisal.
- IRR / NPV modelling.
- Experience developing and scaling retail store formats, including: small format stores (100–200 sqm), medium format stores (400–600 sqm).
- Experience building or managing pipeline management systems with clear stage gates and conversion metrics.
- Proven ability to lead teams in fast-growing, entrepreneurial retail environments.

Preferred Background:
- Experience within European value retail or variety retail sectors, such as: Action, TEDi, Pepco, Mr.DIY, Normal, Primark, JYSK, or international mass-market retailers like IKEA, H&M, or Decathlon.
- Experience leading HQ-level functions, including setting global standards and rolling them out across multiple markets.
- Experience working across CEE or Eastern European markets.
- Track record of building or transforming store development functions from scratch.
- Knowledge of the Romanian or Bulgarian retail real estate market, including retail parks and regulatory environment.
- Experience working with Retail Park development, including landlord/developer relations, anchor tenant positioning, and tenant mix strategy.

Education:
- Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Real Estate, Urban Planning, Architecture, Economics, or a related field.
- MBA or postgraduate degree is considered an advantage but is not mandatory.

Languages:
- English: minimum B2, ideally C1 — mandatory. Regular communication with the international leadership team.

- Romanian: a strong advantage for the Bucharest-based role, but not mandatory.

Key Responsibilities:

- Lead the global store development strategy across company's markets.
- Oversee the full store development lifecycle: site sourcing, feasibility analysis, lease negotiation, store design, construction coordination, and store opening.
- Manage large-scale store rollout programmes across multiple countries.
- Develop and scale store format strategies, including pilot testing and implementation of different formats.
- Ensure strong retail site economics, including catchment analysis, footfall modelling, rent-to-sales benchmarking, and investment evaluation.
- Implement structured pipeline management systems for store expansion (CRM or structured tracking with stage gates and conversion metrics).
- Collaborate cross-functionally with real estate, operations, finance, and marketing teams.
- Build and lead high-performing teams responsible for store development and network expansion.
- Establish and implement global standards and methodologies for store development across all markets.

What company offers:

- A pivotal senior leadership role with direct access to the CMO and strategic influence across company's global growth agenda.
- The mandate and resources to lead a large, globally-scoped Store Development function across multiple markets.
- Competitive compensation with performance-based incentives tied to expansion milestones, format performance, and pipeline KPIs.
- A dynamic, entrepreneurial environment with fast decision-making and flat leadership culture.
- The opportunity to shape the physical retail footprint of one of Europe's fastest-growing value retailers.
- Exposure to a multi-country retail group with operations across Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, and growing European markets.

Interested in taking on this challenge? We look forward to your application!