General Manager - Retail

Lead with Impact. Grow with Purpose. Shape the Future of Retail.

At David Jones, we’ve been curating premium products and experiences for over 187 years. As Australia's most iconic department store, we continue to evolve—guided by heritage, inspired by innovation, and driven by people who are passionate about delivering exceptional service and results.

Reporting to our Chief Retail Officer, we’re seeking a General Manager – Retail to lead our stores network across Australia and New Zealand.  This is one of the key retail senior leadership roles in the ANZ market as you will be the driving force behind team performance, leading over 5000 team members.  You will champion operational store excellence and inspire our teams to deliver an elevated customer experience across our store network. 

In this role you will form an integral part of the David Jones Senior Leadership Team where you will partner with the Executive Leadership team and your peers to continue to develop and deliver the David Jones Strategy.

If you thrive in a fast-paced, premium retail environment and are ready to take the next step in your leadership journey and into a role where the opportunities to grow and develop your career well into the future exist, then this could be the role for you!

Your Role & Key responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership: Develop and deliver the David Jones Retail Strategy to maximise profitability and operational efficiency.
• People Leadership: Lead and inspire a large, diverse team of leaders and team members across multiple departments and stores.
• Visual Merchandising: Ensure effective visual merchandising that supports the merchandise strategy and promotional plan, driving commercial outcomes.
• Customer Experience: Champion customer service while ensuring operational excellence and compliance.
• Drive Performance: Drive store performance through achievement of sales goals, effective cost control, and team engagement.
• Commercial Outcomes: Translate business goals into tangible actions that grow revenue customer loyalty, and brand affiliation.
• Collaboration: Collaborate with regional leadership and cross-functional teams to bring the David Jones vision to life.

What You’ll Bring:

• Extensive Retail Experience – A proven track record as a senior leader in a similar role with a deep understanding of retail operations alongside a broader skillset (merchandising, ecommerce, marketing etc)
• Leadership Experience: Extensive experience leading high-performing teams in a large-format, big-box, or premium multi-site retail environment.
• Sales and Profitability: Demonstrated ability to drive sales and profitability in a $1.0bn+ business.
• Commercial Acumen: Strong commercial acumen, with the ability to interpret data and influence outcomes.
• Customer Service Passion: A passion for customer service, people development, and operational excellence.
• Strategic Leadership: A strategic, hands-on leadership style with a focus on results and culture.
• Change Management: Proven experience leading through change, ambiguity, and complexity.
• Retail Trends Awareness: Awareness of local and international retail trends and the ability to apply this knowledge when forming strategies appropriate for David Jones.
• Store Development: Previous experience in opening and refurbishing stores, with the ability to inform the best outcomes for business, brand, and customer.
• Networking Skills: Strong retail network and the ability to leverage it to inform your strategies.

Why work for us? 

Our purpose at David Jones is to ‘inspire like no other’, and culturally we aspire to be THRIVING.  In our thriving culture, our people will be at their best as individuals and as teams.  Our thriving cultural foundations are defined by the behaviours each and every one of us display.  It’s our commitment and responsibility to ensure that as individuals and as a collective, that we are living our cultural foundations.

• Unique opportunity to be part of a highly engaged, successful team, focused on the transformation of an iconic Australian brand
• A competitive remuneration package including performance-based incentives
• Hybrid working arrangements in office and from home that provide appropriate work/life balance
• Parental leave policy of 18-weeks paid leave for the primary carer, and 3-weeks paid leave for the supporting partner
• Generous employee discounts across David Jones and access to partner benefits
• An additional day of leave for your birthday along with time to support charitable work
• Opportunities to support community partnerships across our Corporate Social Responsibility program
• Be a member of a company committed to sustainable practices, driving change in the retail landscape
• Ongoing training and development to pursue individual ambitions

About Us

Since 1838, David Jones’ limitless quest for innovation and progress established the brand as Australia’s original influencer in fashion and lifestyle. Having revolutionised the way Australians shop, David Jones’ creation of a social centre inspired and created lasting memories for past, present and future generations. Today, our vision to inspire Like No Other drives us to continue this legacy in our ambitious purpose to be the destination that inspires, with experiences and services Like No Other.

Our Thriving cultural pillars inspire our people to deliver on our vision and purpose.  We are Customer Obsessed; curious to understand and dedicated to delighting them with seamless solutions as one team. We care for our people, customers, partners and community by creating Inclusive environments through belonging and respect. We Empower with implied trust to act with integrity, value our unique skills and be accountable for our decisions.  We constantly seek Innovative ways of improving, changing and exploring ways that we can inspire.

David Jones is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing a working environment that embraces and values diversity and inclusion. If you have any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at time of application to assist you through the recruitment process.

This is more than a job — it’s an opportunity to lead a legacy.