Position: Head of Retail
Location: Hybrid, with 2-3 days a week in office (in Mt Pleasant, Vancouver)
Salary: $100,000 - $120,000 based on experience, + bonus
Extras: Extended health benefits after probation, 3 weeks paid vacation prorated to your start date, 36 hour work week with half day Fridays year round!
About Makers:
At Shop Makers, we’re redefining retail by offering a curated experience of the finest locally crafted, handmade goods. With 27 locations across BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario, and our first US location in Seattle, we are proud to be Canada’s largest retailer of handmade & local products. Our mission is simple yet bold: empower local artisans by giving them a platform to grow. We believe in nurturing community, sustainability, and creativity, and that starts with our people.
Why this Role Matters
As the Head of Retail, you will own the overall strategy and performance of Shop Makers' retail operations across Canada and the United States. All Regional Managers in the organization report directly into this role. You will be accountable for ensuring the retail business scales in a standardized, high-performing way as Shop Makers continues to grow.
This is a senior leadership position that bridges store-level execution and executive strategy, translating corporate vision into a retail organization capable of sustained, multi-country growth. The Head of Retail is responsible for unifying standards, systems, and leadership development across every region, ensuring the Shop Makers stores deliver a consistent brand experience, team excellence, and strong financial performance regardless of market. Just as important as the numbers, the Head of Retail is responsible for the quality of leadership across the field. Our Regional Managers and Area Managers should become measurably better leaders under this person, and the stores they run should feel that difference.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership
- Set the overall strategic direction for Shop Makers' retail organization across Canada and the US, translating corporate goals into a coherent operating plan.
- Partner directly with executive leadership on long-term retail strategy: growth trajectory, market prioritization, and organizational structure.
- Own the retail org chart and structure in partnership with P&C, defining how regions, districts, and roles are organized as the company scales.
Leadership Development (Regional & Area Managers)
- Act as the primary coach to every Regional Manager, with regular one-on-ones focused on how they lead, not only what their region delivered.
- Hold Regional Managers accountable for developing their Area Managers, and make people development a formal part of every RM's goals and performance review.
- Spend meaningful field time coaching RMs and AMs in their own stores and districts: observing how they run their teams, giving direct feedback, and modelling the leadership standard expected at Shop Makers.
- Define what great leadership looks like at each level (Store Manager, Area Manager, Regional Manager) and build the development plans, training, and career paths that get people there.
- Identify high-potential leaders early and give them stretch assignments, mentorship, and visibility to executive leadership.
- Own succession planning for every RM and AM role so the business is never dependent on a single person or forced to hire externally by default.
- Design and oversee training standards that apply across the entire retail organization, ensuring consistent execution from the store floor through regional leadership.
- Address leadership problems directly and fairly. A manager who hits targets but drives turnover or burns out their team is not meeting the standard.
- Build and protect a leadership culture grounded in trust, accountability, and care for people, with direct accountability for retention and engagement of leaders across retail.
Regional Manager Oversight & Performance
- Directly manage all Regional Managers across Canada and the US, setting clear expectations for both business results and leadership, and holding them accountable to each.
- Set the national framework for how sales targets and KPIs are established and cascaded at the regional level.
- Review regional performance data - sales, staffing, budget, compliance - and intervene where a region is underperforming.
- Ensure performance conversations with RMs balance sales and operational results with the health, capability, and retention of their teams.
Standardization & Operational Excellence
- Build and maintain standardized policies, procedures, and brand standards that apply consistently across every Shop Makers store, regardless of region or country.
- Establish the audit and compliance framework Regional Managers use to hold their districts accountable.
- Lead execution of major corporate initiatives (new store roll-outs, refurbishments, systems changes) at a national, cross-border level.
Budgeting, P&L & Financial Oversight
- Own the retail organization's overall budget across Canada and the US: payroll, expenses, loss prevention/shrink, and profitability.
- Approve major regional expenditures and capital investment - refurbishments, systems - within delegated authority.
- Partner with Finance on forecasting, cross-border cost considerations (currency, differing labor costs), and company-wide cost efficiencies.
Growth & Expansion Strategy
- Advise on store closures across both countries.
- Identify and evaluate growth opportunities - new regions, new formats - and bring recommendations to executive leadership.
Cross-Border & Compliance Considerations
- Navigate the operational, legal, and regulatory differences between operating in Canada and the US ( logistics/operations), and ensure Regional Managers are equipped to operate compliantly in their country.
- Serve as the point of coordination between Canadian and US retail operations, ensuring neither market is built or run in isolation from company-wide standards.
Escalation, Risk & Executive Reporting
- Serve as the final escalation point for issues that exceed Regional Manager authority; significant HR matters, legal/compliance risk, safety incidents, and major customer or reputational issues.
- Provide regular reporting to executive leadership on retail performance, risk, and strategic progress across the full portfolio of regions.
- Represent the retail organization in executive leadership discussions, cascading decisions back down through Regional Managers to the field.
How Success Is Measured
- Sales, margin, and payroll performance against plan across all regions.
- Retention of Regional, Area, and Store Managers.
- Internal promotion rate into AM and RM roles, and bench readiness for each.
- Leadership and engagement scores from store and field teams.
- Consistency of brand and operational standards across regions.
Qualifications
- Significant senior retail leadership experience; either a junior Vice President-level retail role, or multiple years as a high-performing Regional Manager overseeing large, multi-district regions.
- Experience operating across both Canada and the US preferred, with an understanding of the operational and regulatory differences between the two markets.
- Demonstrated success building or standardizing processes, policies, or training programs across a multi-unit retail organization.
- Strong track record managing and developing other people-leaders - leading leaders, not just store teams directly.A clear track record of developing leaders, with specific examples of managers you coached who were promoted or significantly improved under your leadership. You lead leaders, not just stores.
- Proven ability to own a large P&L and make sound, data-driven financial and strategic decisions.
- Excellent executive communication skills, with experience reporting to and influencing senior leadership.
- Strategic thinker who can balance company-wide standardization with the realities of individual regions and markets.
- Willingness and ability to travel extensively across Canada and the US.
Working Conditions
- This role is based in Vancouver, B.C and is a hybrid position, with 2 days in office per week.
- Travel will be required between different regions.
- The Head of Retail may be required to work outside of regular business hours to address urgent issues or during peak business periods.
Sound Like You? Apply Now!
When applying, please include a cover letter with your resume (or email it to careeers@shopmakers.ca).
While related experience is important, we have built a strong and supportive culture at Makers, and want to ensure all our team members share the same vision and goals. Tell us a bit about yourself; what you enjoy doing for fun, your passions, and what excites you about joining Shop Makers. We’d love to hear why shopping local and empowering artisans matters to you, and what supporting the handmade community means in your life.
To get inspired, check us out at shopmakers.ca or on Instagram @shopmakers.ca.
We sincerely thank everyone who applies to join Makers. While we may not be able to respond to each applicant due to capacity, please know we truly value the time and interest you put into connecting with us. Our hiring decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and business needs, and we are committed to developing, retaining, and celebrating our teammates.
At Makers, we foster a culture of inclusion and respect and are dedicated to providing accessible employment practices in compliance with the AODA. Requests for accommodation can be made at any stage of the recruitment process; applicants are asked to make their needs known.
