Assistant Store Manager

Full Job Description

Assistant Store Manager
Reporting To: Store Manager

Who are Bird & Blend Tea Company?
Bird & Blend was set up and is run by Krisi and Mike, who met whilst studying Politics (of all things!) at university. Starting off packing tea in their bedroom and attending markets, building Bird & Blend from scratch while staying true to our ethos and values has been Krisi and Mike’s passion. Now with an awesome team, multiple retail stores & a thriving international online store, Bird & Blend is leading the way in tea innovation in the UK. You can read heaps more information about us and our mission here:

The Business Context & Purpose
- Currently ~ 160 employees over our warehouse , 14 retail locations across the UK, and support centre functions. In the next couple of years we intend to expand the retail network to include a total of 24 stores.
- Over next 3 years our purpose is to To be known & loved as a great place to work, that empowers our people to:
1. Deliver awesome experiences that make our customers smile
2. Build a community of ambassadors to tell the story and spread the word
3. Develop trailblazing products & experiences in our magical world of tea

Why We Need You
Alongside the store manager the role Assistant Manager will be to lead the store team in creating fun, interactive and exceptional customer experiences in our Bird & Blend stores! Maintaining a commercial, safe and ethical environment for our store teams and customers alike. You will be responsible for Ensuring every single person that walks through the door gets an exceptional Bird & Blend experience, provided by an empowered, passionate + happy team.

Core Responsibilities
● Driving the commercial aspect of the store to achieve it’s KPI’s
● Ensuring the store and its team members are always maximising every opportunity to spread the Bird & Blend word to as many people as possible, including those who may not be inside the store!
● Supporting the Store Manager in setting team objectives and supporting your team in delivering them through feedback and training
● Understanding and analysing KPI performance, identifying areas of opportunity and creating new strategy with the Store Manager to deliver this performance
● In the absence of the Store Manager, stepping into their role to be fully responsible for their stores performance and deputising until the Store Manager is back in situ

● Supporting with People Management for the store team including recruitment, training, development, team meetings, payroll etc.
● Responsible for ordering and management of stock to ensure the store is efficiently but sufficiently stocked and that traceability, rotation and batch dating are up to date.
● Delivery of new products and seasonal campaign activity including team training, visual merchandising and drinks creation.
● Supporting with and delivering in store events such as workshops and external events in the community.
● Supporting the store manager with security, H&S, food hygiene, cleanliness and safety at work requirements for your store.
● Being aware of cost control including wages, purchases and expenses
● Spreading best practice across areas of the business to always be improving processes and activity when it comes to our retail stores.Engage with our chariTEA of the month, communicating messaging to the staff
● You are empowered to advocate for issues that are important to the local community of your store
● Engage the community surrounding your store, making connections with other independent businesses
● As part of your role as a manager you will be responsible for helping us reach our social and environmental goals.
● You are required to ensure that our sustainability strategy and targets are communicated to your team.
● Help us reach our zero waste goals by ensuring that all store waste is disposed of correctly and encourage staff and customers to use re-fill options.
● Encourage efficient use of energy in your store
● You are required to adhere to the environmental purchasing policy and consider the environment before purchasing anything for your store.
● Engage with our chariTEA of the month, communicating messaging to the staff
● You are empowered to advocate for issues that are important to the local community of your store
● Engage the community surrounding your store, making connections with other independent businesses

Skills, Experience & Attributes:
● Highly organised with the ability to plan ahead
● Excellent communication skills
● A leader in delivering exceptional experiences to customers, candidates and colleagues
● Analytical with the ability to drive KPIs through experiences
● Basic HR & performance management skills
● Intermediate Visual merchandising skills
● Basic knowledge of profit and loss and aware of own ability to impact this KPI
● Basic skills in recruitment
● Basic knowledge of employment law
● Basic knowledge of H&S in the workplace
● Basic knowledge in IT

We are committed to equality of opportunity for all, applications from individuals are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support you throughout the application or interview process please let us know.