Retail

Role: Boutique Manager and three Sales Staff 

Client Requirements: A French luxury Jewellery Brand were looking to open a Flagship Store in Dubai Mall with a local holding group. They had tight deadlines to hire a Boutique Manager and three sales staff before the Boutique was due to open. 

Process: The client retained Michael Page Retail to create a headhunting project. After meeting with the client to fully understand the requirement of skill sets and personality fit for the brand, we began sourcing locally within the Dubai market. Due to this project being a new store opening, we understood the prospective Manager was the most important and critical position to hire, therefore we prioritised sourcing for this role first and once we shared the first shortlist, we began to source for the three sales roles. Given our market experience, we consulted the client to search for a strong Boutique Manager with the skills and initiative to design and implement new store strategies, KPIs and training programs. 

Outcome: Within 2 weeks, we had interviewed a large pool of suitable candidates and after our screening process, we then presented the initial shortlist to the client for the Boutique Manager position, all of whom progressed onto the interview stage. Within 3 weeks from the start of the process, the Boutique Manager was hired, and he then became a key decision maker for the hiring of the three sales staff who would report into her.

Over the next 2 weeks, we then shortlisted 7 jewellery sales specialists who were interviewed by our client. As a result, 3 were hired. All hiring was completed one week before the client’s initial deadline. Therefore, all candidates were able to attend training with the brand in Paris. A year later, the Boutique is well established in Dubai Mall and all hires are still employed with the brand, whilst Michael Page Retail continues to support the brand with their future talent growth. 

Role: VIC Manager 

Client Requirements: An Italian Fashion House were seeing a VIC Manager to look after and grow their client base in their flagship store in the UAE. This role was a newly created position for the Fashion House (the client had been sourcing directly for 18 months without success). The Fashion House then engaged Michael Page Retail to fill this position. 

Process: As many candidates had already been briefed and interviewed for the role within the market prior to us being engaged by the client, we had to think ‘outside the box’. We understood the success factors for this role was driven by personality, client base within the region and fit with the brand, as product knowledge could always be taught. We therefore opened the search to High Jewellery brands, as this job type was far more common within this segment. We met with 14 potential candidates to understand who their top clients were, their personality type, and if they could make the move from Jewellery to Fashion.

Outcome: After presenting 4 shortlisted candidates to the client, we progressed 2 to final stage and successfully hired 1 within 2 weeks of taking the initial job brief. 

Role: Head of Marketing - Middle East and Africa

Client Requirements: An International Jewellery brand were looking to hire a Head of Marketing – Middle East and Africa to develop the marketing strategy and manage all the activations within the MEA region. It was crucial that the incoming candidate have Trade Marketing experience within a Retail environment, as well as an understanding in how to grow the E-commerce presence for the brand. 

Process: Initially, we set up a meeting with the Client’s HR & Recruitment team and Managing Director to gain an understanding of the key needs and expectations from the business. It was clear this was a key leadership role within the Middle East, but also had a major interaction on marketing strategy with the European Head Office. The client signed an exclusive contract with Michael Page Retail which included an job advertisement package. After consulting with the MD, we focused our search to identify senior marketing professionals from medium/large multinationals, who had the experience of managing senior stakeholders globally. We set up a face to face meeting with the client to present them a shortlist of 5 CVs – this was an essential step as we had to give an overview of not just their marketing expertise, but how they had established themselves as a leader and if they would be a good cultural fit within the head office. 

Outcome: The client chose 3 candidates to interview initially and then 2 candidates were selected to present a case study to the MD and Key Business Partners from Europe. After 2 more interviews with Senior VPs based in Head Office, the chosen candidate was offered the job and then subsequently joined the business 4 weeks later.