Vice President, Fine Time Piece Division - USA, Latin America, & Canada

The Team:

The Fine Timepiece Division supports all sales activities of timepieces and After Sales service to Hermès retail boutiques, external network, department stores and .com point of sales. The team supports retail boutiques through their partnership with the sales teams on inventory management and analysis and manage both internal marketing and external public relations.

The Opportunity:

As the Vice President, Fine Time Piece Division, you will demonstrate an acute understanding of the Americas region (USA, Latin America, & Canada) and a close connection with its markets, including stores, competitors, multi-brand locations, and clients. You will be responsible for driving sales at Hermès retail boutiques and developing the Hermès Horloger globally, ensuring that the métier, or product category, development is aligned with Hermès Group direction. You will ensure a close coordination with the Hermès local teams and Hermès Horloger teams in Switzerland.

You will successfully lead the development of the Fine Timepiece métier by leading a team of :9 direct reports, including Sales, Marketing & Communications, Admin & Logistics, After-Sales Service.

About the Role:

• Drive boutique sales to ensure goals and sales targets are achieved for Hermès Horloger
• Partner closely with retail stores, analyzing and driving sales, with the knowledge that each location’s performance is a crucial metric to the overall success of the metièr
• Monitor the performance of novelty products, providing feedback on growth and long-term expectations to the Swiss supply chain team
• Continuously analyze & identify growth opportunities at both the boutique level, as well as by market and country
• Focus on internal stock levels and months of supply with an eye toward achieving model stock in core, novelties and exceptional product
• Develop initiatives to maximize promotional activities in each location through partnership with both the country marketing team and the boutiques at a local level
• Ensure that new boutique openings are managed to maximize the success of the metièr
• Animate in-store experience, and implement Training & Development strategy for Hermès Horloger
• Establish partnerships and participate frequently at the store-level to motivate the sales team to reach their objectives
• Formulate animation plans, gain buy-in from both local and international teams, and ensure perfect execution
• Ensure strong launches for all novelty collections in each local market
• Act as a liaison on a consistent basis with retail management, reviewing watch sales performance with an emphasis on working together for continuous enhancements
• Communication with Visual Merchandising in coordination with launches to ensure appropriate presentation in boutiques
• Evaluate the knowledge and know-how pertaining to Watches amongst our retail groups, identify needs & develop a strong training development plan to improve sales and service
• Evaluate the efficiency of our After Sales program, building an efficient after sales service network
• Provide solid merchandising expertise
• Demonstrate strong product knowledge of Hermès Horloger
• Identify opportunities and trends in the market; know our competitors and their product strategy
• In partnership with the retail teams, formulate and implement merchandising strategy, including assortment and product development
• Continuous analysis of each products’ sales performance, including retail stock levels, sell-through, replenishments, etc.
• Act as an advisor to retail stores buying at the Podium, influence merchandise buys based on product performances and overall merchandising strategy
• Manage inventories in a pro-active way to increase sales and maintain a healthy stock level both within the subsidiary and each store location
• Build a strong relationship with retail teams and our clients
• Establish a strong partnership and trusting relationship with the local Hermès teams, from retail Sales Specialists to Senior Management
• Be fully integrated, actively engaged, and proactively involved with Hermès local teams, to drive growth of both the Hermès Horloger and the Hermès Group growth
• Establish partnerships with external retailers within the market, ensuring a small, but quality external network, in addition to Hermès stores and in line with Hermès Horloger commercial development strategy
• Maximize sales and the client experience during local Hermès events
• Marketing & Communication Management
• In partnership with the local and international communication teams, create local and national communication plans and ensure perfect execution
• Maintain strong relationships with press and media
• Maximize press editorials and animations to appropriately convey Hermès Horloger image
• Ensure Hermès Horloger is integrated within all Hermès communication events
• Reports and manage budget
• Continuously analyze YTD performance against budget and last year figures, creating action plans to develop business
• Review sales performances monthly with retail management, providing assessments and action plans
• Monitor and report on the performances and promotional activities of our competitive landscape
• Prepare business plan B+2 annually
• Create and adhere to the annual P&L, keeping track of all sales and expenses
• Achieve net profitability in line within the agreed budget
• Build up a strong & efficient team
• Lead, develop and inspire the Americas Watch Division team, consisting of 9 people
• Ensure each team member is performing, with a high-level of accountability and high standards for results
• Recruit exceptional talent for any open roles
• All other duties as assigned by the Commercial Director
  
  

Supervisory Responsibility:

• YES
  
  

Budget Responsibility:

• YES
  
  

Decision Making Responsibility:

• YES
  
  

About You:

• A minimum of 10 years applicable business development experience, in particular successful experience in leading and developing a complex business
• Demonstrated success in growing a luxury business, with Fine Timepiece experience highly preferred
• Proactive to seize opportunities and bring new ideas while leading people, teams, projects and initiatives
• Level-headed and composed when facing adversity and challenges, with the demonstrated ability to preserve, offering creative initiatives and strong innovative solutions
• Ability to develop and maintain collaborative relationships and foster teamwork across multiple levels, departments, and countries.
• Retail oriented and exceptionally service-minded
• Excellent organizational and analytical skills, with expertise in retail math
• Deep knowledge of watches a plus, exceptional taste-level and fashion sensibility is required
• Proficiency in French is a plus, but not required
• Proficient to Expert in Microsoft Office is required
• Ability to travel 40-50% of time, domestically and internationally
• Bachelor’s degree preferably in Business or another related field
  
  

The range for this position is $162,000 - $300,000. Actual rates are determined based on the job, location, and individual experience.

We are looking for a candidate that has a combination of the above attributes and can perform the key functions of the role with or without reasonable accommodations.