Why Join MEC
At MEC, our purpose is to equip people for a lifetime of great outdoor experiences and adventure. Our home is on the trail, and everything we do is grounded in a deep belief in the power of the outdoors to build confidence, connection, and community.
What sets MEC apart is our deep expertise, thoughtful product curation, and strong community connection, all focused on serving our members. Our teams bring lived outdoor experience and product knowledge to every interaction, helping members find the right gear and guidance for wherever they are going next.
We curate products with intention, prioritizing quality, performance, and sustainability so members can trust what they buy and how it is made. We also show up in our communities through local partnerships, events, and shared outdoor experiences that extend far beyond our store walls.
We are a people first organization, grounded in our values of respect, integrity, inclusivity, collaboration, and accountability. Our leaders bring these values to life by building strong teams, leading with care and clarity, and ensuring our decisions support meaningful experiences for our members, our staff, and the places we love to explore.
The Opportunity
Our Vancouver store is MEC’s flagship and one of Canada’s most recognized outdoor retail environments. Located in a city shaped by mountains, ocean, and a deeply connected outdoor community, this is where MEC’s purpose, expertise, and member experience come to life at their fullest scale.
As General Manager, Vancouver Flagship, you will lead the overall performance, culture, and evolution of this highly visible location. You will set a clear direction for the store, build capability across a large and diverse leadership team, and create exceptional experiences for our members, staff, and outdoor community.
This is a leadership role built around delivering results through others. You will develop and empower leaders, establish clear expectations, and create the conditions for teams to perform at their best. You will also ensure the Vancouver Flagship serves as a showcase for MEC’s brand, outdoor expertise, and commitment to its members.
The scale, complexity, and visibility of this role make it comparable to a district or multi site leadership position within many retail organizations. Success requires a leader who can think strategically, translate priorities into action, and deliver strong business and people outcomes through multiple levels of leadership.
Who We’re Looking For
This opportunity is ideally suited to an experienced retail leader who has successfully led leaders in a complex, high volume environment. You may currently be a General Manager, Regional Manager, District Manager, Area Manager, or multi unit retail leader responsible for developing leadership teams and driving performance across multiple locations.
You are energized by building strong teams, developing future leaders, and creating exceptional member experiences through others. You combine strong commercial and financial acumen with thoughtful people leadership, and you understand how to balance business performance, operational excellence, employee engagement, and community connection.
You are comfortable leading in a highly visible environment where expectations are high, priorities can shift quickly, and your leadership directly influences MEC’s culture, brand, and member experience.
Above all, you are a leader of leaders. You bring clarity, accountability, and care to your work, and you know how to turn a shared vision into consistent execution.
What You’ll Be Responsible For
Business Performance and Results
- Own the overall performance of the store, including sales, margin, profitability, labour, and inventory outcomes.
- Set a clear business direction and translate organizational priorities into focused plans for the store.
- Analyze financial results and operational performance to identify trends, risks, and opportunities.
- Establish clear expectations and hold leaders accountable for key business and service outcomes.
- Make informed decisions that balance member experience, employee engagement, operational needs, and financial sustainability.
- Identify opportunities to strengthen performance, improve efficiency, and support long term growth.
Leadership and Organizational Capability
- Lead, coach, and develop an experienced team of retail leaders, strengthening both individual and collective leadership capability.
- Build a strong leadership pipeline through meaningful development, succession planning, and career growth opportunities.
- Establish clear priorities and ensure the leadership team executes with consistency and accountability.
- Create a culture of collaboration, innovation, continuous improvement, and shared ownership.
- Lead change with clarity and purpose, helping leaders and teams understand what is changing, why it matters, and how success will be measured.
- Partner across MEC to support the evolution of our retail strategy and operating practices.
People, Engagement, and Culture
- Build and sustain an inclusive, respectful, and high performing store culture that reflects MEC’s values.
- Create an environment where staff feel respected, supported, and empowered to contribute their best.
- Set clear expectations for leadership behaviour, communication, performance, and accountability.
- Ensure people practices are applied fairly, consistently, and in alignment with employment standards and MEC policies.
- Use engagement insights, feedback, and observation to identify opportunities and strengthen the staff experience.
- Partner with People and regional leadership on workforce priorities, organizational needs, and complex employee matters.
Member Experience
- Champion an exceptional end to end member experience that reflects MEC’s service standards, expertise, and community connection.
- Ensure member service expectations are clearly communicated, consistently trained, and delivered across every department.
- Maintain a visible leadership presence on the sales floor, connecting with members and reinforcing member first behaviours.
- Use member feedback, store observations, and performance insights to identify gaps and drive targeted coaching through leaders.
- Strengthen the member experience by building product knowledge, outdoor expertise, and confidence across the store team.
- Ensure members receive trusted advice and thoughtful support regardless of where or how they engage with the store.
Learning, Expertise, and Talent
- Build a culture where learning, coaching, and outdoor expertise are central to the staff and member experience.
- Own recruitment, onboarding, and development outcomes for the store’s senior leadership team.
- Set expectations and hold leaders accountable for the quality of frontline hiring, onboarding, training, and development.
- Ensure training programs translate into observable skills, stronger service, and improved business performance.
- Build succession plans and develop the leadership bench required to support the store’s current and future needs.
- Create meaningful opportunities for staff to deepen their product, technical, and outdoor knowledge.
Operational Excellence and Continuous Improvement
- Ensure consistent execution of inventory, merchandising, visual presentation, technical service, and back of house standards.
- Establish scalable, efficient operating practices that support both the member experience and business performance.
- Hold senior leaders and Department Managers accountable for operational results, safety, compliance, and follow through.
- Identify opportunities to simplify processes, remove barriers, and improve how work gets done.
- Oversee loss prevention, health and safety, facilities, and compliance outcomes, ensuring risks are identified and addressed.
- Partner with Support Office teams to strengthen systems, product flow, store operations, and execution.
- Use the Vancouver Flagship environment to test, refine, and improve practices that may benefit the broader organization.
Workforce Planning
- Ensure workforce planning, scheduling, and coverage decisions align with member needs, business priorities, and employment requirements.
- Hold leaders accountable for building effective schedules and placing the right skills in the right areas at the right times.
- Monitor workforce trends and adjust plans proactively based on business needs and seasonal demands.
- Balance service, capability, staff experience, and labour efficiency when making workforce decisions.
Community and Brand Leadership
- Lead the store’s community engagement strategy and ensure it reflects MEC’s purpose and local outdoor community.
- Build relationships with local organizations, partners, and community leaders who share MEC’s commitment to outdoor participation.
- Ensure events, partnerships, and outreach strengthen community connection, member loyalty, and brand trust.
- Represent MEC’s values, purpose, and expertise within the Vancouver community.
- Act as a visible ambassador for MEC and help position the Vancouver Flagship as a hub for outdoor knowledge, connection, and experience.
What You Bring
- 10+ years of progressive retail leadership experience, ideally within a flagship, large format, multi unit, district, regional, or similarly complex customer facing environment.
- Significant experience leading leaders and delivering results through multiple levels of management.
- Proven success building high performing leadership teams and developing strong succession pipelines.
- Experience leading large, diverse, and cross functional teams in a fast paced operating environment.
- Strong commercial and financial acumen, including experience interpreting financial statements, business results, and operational performance measures.
- Demonstrated accountability for member or customer experience, operational excellence, workforce planning, compliance, health and safety, and loss prevention.
- A track record of leading change, improving processes, and strengthening organizational capability.
- Strong judgment and the ability to make thoughtful decisions while balancing people, member, operational, and financial considerations.
- Excellent coaching, communication, relationship building, and stakeholder management skills.
- The ability to establish a clear direction, create accountability, and maintain momentum across competing priorities.
- A genuine connection to the outdoor lifestyle and alignment with MEC’s purpose and values.
- Flexibility to work a retail leadership schedule, including evenings, weekends, and holidays when required.
Work Environment
This is an active, hands on leadership role requiring regular presence on the sales floor and in operational areas. The role involves standing, walking, navigating different store environments, and occasionally lifting up to 50 pounds while leading teams and overseeing store operations.
Our Commitment to Inclusion
MEC is an equal opportunity employer committed to building an inclusive, respectful, and barrier free workplace. We value different identities, experiences, and perspectives, and we believe our teams are stronger when everyone feels safe, supported, and able to be themselves at work.
We welcome applications from candidates with diverse backgrounds and experiences. Accommodations are available throughout the recruitment process.
Compensation
The salary range for this role is $110,000 to $145,000, reflecting the scope of the position as well as the successful candidate’s experience, expertise, and qualifications.
MEC also offers a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your life both on and off the trail.
