The New Craftsmen: Managing Director (maternity cover)

THE NEW CRAFTSMEN
MANAGING DIRECTOR (MATERNITY COVER)

• Location: Split between WFH or the showroom (34 North Row, London)
• Type: Up to 12 months (full-time/4-days a week)
• Salary: Competitive
• Hours: As required
• Proposed start date: Early June 2022

JOB DESCRIPTION

The New Craftsmen is a small but ambitious business looking for a dynamic and practically-minded Managing Director (maternity cover) to lead the company during its 10th anniver-sary year and into 2023. This individual will be taking the reins of strategy already in place; building on strong foundations to lead the team and deliver the objectives of the business and brand.

Since 2012 The New Craftsmen has defined a strong product and service proposition for both trade (interior designers, hospitality and architects) and private clients, significantly growing our collections and maker network to be an inspiring, creative and practical re-source for these audiences. Through our e-commerce platform (including a Trade-specific portal) and Mayfair showroom, we engage with these audiences - enabling them to buy, order, customise and commission unique and distinctive craft for their interiors.

Whilst rooted in the UK’s craft eco-system, our ambition is global. The brand’s reputation, and authority on craft is internationally admired and renowned with growth following in key markets including UK, Europe and USA.

The acting Managing Director will be responsible for ensuring the company maintains its current growth momentum and achieves all financial targets for 2022 (including revenue, margin, cost control) and will lay strategic plans to continue this ambitious trajectory into 2023.

The candidate will ensure the smooth day-to-day running of the business; enabling a cohesive and connected working culture between multiple teams, suppliers and partners, as well as various projects, all in order to deliver the shared goals of the business.

The candidate will also meet with the Board on a bi-monthly basis providing updates on the strategic and commercial performance of the business.

Working closely with the Creative Director, you will act as a vital and practical partner in the delivery of key campaign projects that showcase and celebrate the imagination of our brand and our makers; overseeing the product, sales and marketing direction to ensure that these campaigns deliver against brand and commercial objectives.

Most importantly, you’ll be leading a highly talented team of fantastic and hardworking individuals who will be looking to you for guidance, sound judgement and direction on all as-pects of the business; encouraging and enabling their high performance across Marketing, Sales and Product.

You will be hungry to put into practice leadership experience for one of the most dynamic brands in this field. You will be confident and decisive in your communication; ensuring that there is a singular focus on the collective vision and direction of the business from both team and makers.

The company operates from a showroom in Mayfair and a distribution centre in Sydenham; and is developing an effective WFH culture. The position will report to the Chairman and co-founder, Mark Henderson.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Execute the strategies of the company to ensure the ambitious commercial goals are attained; supporting and enabling all teams in their delivery
• Implement comprehensive plans for 2022 ensuring cost effective operations and marketing activities
• Help to shape and prepare plans for 2023; positioning the business to maximise revenue opportunity across all channels, markets and audiences; ensuring the timely plan-ning of longer-term projects and bringing in the necessary stakeholders (internally and externally) to define and implement
• Maintaining The New Craftsmen’s OKR framework across all levels of the business; rooting the company’s working practice and culture in this methodology
• Analyse and address issues and challenges; defining solutions to ensure the company’s continued trajectory and growth

• Developing a clear understanding of the company’s culture and strategy (with feedback from 2021 survey)
• Ensuring the team are kept up to date – with monthly company meetings
• Initiating the company-wide annual review process and conducting direct reviews with your immediate reports; defining a clear development plan for each
• Read all team members’ reviews; providing suggestions and guidance to Line Managers where necessary
• Conducting all-team surveys on an annual basis; digesting the feedback and insights, and defining necessary actions with the management team
• Leading on any recruitment activities; bringing in the necessary talent to support and enable the team; and seeking those with the values and passion we look for in a team member
• Onboarding new joiners into The New Craftsmen’s culture, as well as adding them to the relevant systems relating to operations, HR and finance

• Overseeing the company’s financial performance with firm cost control and margin optimisation
• Working with heads of department and relevant line managers to track all budgets across Marketing, Online, Sales and Product; continually assessing potential ROI against cost control requirements
• Signing off on all budget spends with external partners and suppliers; thoroughly re-viewing contracts and T&Cs to ensure TNC’s interests are protected and optimised
• Working with our accounting partners to prepare monthly Management Accounts, shared at Board level, as well as stewarding the month-end financial administrative process
• Overseeing the effectiveness and management of the warehouse; working with the Warehouse Manager to implement efficiencies and ensuring pace of orders dispatch and careful product handling
• Ensuring the major projects and exhibitions are seamlessly planned for

• Meeting weekly with the Chairman to discuss the business and team
  Attending bi-monthly board meetings; providing updates on commercial and channel performance, marketing activities and personnel
• Working with relevant Line Managers to prepare ‘deep dive’ presentation on specific business activities (Sales, Marketing & Online, Product) to share with the Board; in-cluding a review of a department’s performance and future plans

• Working with the Creative Director and the Marketing Manager to shape and define brand and marketing activities; ensuring they deliver against the commercial needs of the business whilst balanced against the ethos of the brand
• Attending weekly Marcomms meetings, inputting into the critical path management and planning

• Proven experience as a Managing Director or senior commercial manager or /director operating in a luxury or similar business
• Proven experience in implementing commercial strategy and business plans
• Strong numeracy and data confidence, able to draw conclusions from quantitative analysis, input into building forecasts, and managing the P&L
• Confident but empathetic management style; working laterally with a team to bring out the best in individuals and steer all towards common goals
• Strong communicator; articulate and precise in your communication, confident in your ability to share ideas, vision, strategy and company policy succinctly and clearly to a variety of audiences (makers, shareholders, and team members)
• Real interest in and empathy with the market, aims and ambitions of the company
• Able to embody The New Craftsmen’s values - Humanity, Integrity and Imagination
• Demonstrate real understanding and interest in the market itself; as well as an aware-ness of the intricacies of working with creative individuals and the incredible oppor-tunity it represents
• A sensitivity to how a luxury, unique and characterful brand should be handled, pro-tected and nurtured; and a deep appreciation for how the brand manifests and is communicated across all our touch-points

The New Craftsmen curates, commissions and sells unique contemporary objects that are rooted in craftsmanship and narrative. Spanning furniture, lighting, textiles, gifts, ceramics and decorative accessories, our range is made by a network of over 100 makers across the British Isles.

We collaborate with our makers to refine and redefine the value of craft. We do this by developing exclusive collections that are available through our Mayfair space and online, by inviting leading talent of the craft world to develop bodies of work for shows and exhibitions, and by overseeing bespoke commissions.

Our ambition is to meet the growing appetite for contemporary craft and design, and in doing so to create an internationally recognised brand.

TO APPLY

Please send a copy of your CV and a single page covering letter to Fenella Henderson [email protected] expressing your interest, why you might be suitable for the position and expectations around salary.

The application closing date is Monday 28th February.

You can also read this job description at thenewcraftsmen.com