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Join to apply for the Retail Area Manager role at Save the Children UK

This range is provided by Save the Children UK. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

Base pay range

Are you an experienced multi-site Retail Manager ready to make a meaningful impact?

Join Save the Children UK as a Retail Area Manager and play a key role in shaping the future of our dynamic, retail network – all while helping to create a better world for children.

About Us

As a Retail team, we offer supporters a way to engage with our brand, raise income, and connect with our campaigns through our high street shops and online platforms.

Save the Children shops are vibrant community hubs with children at their heart.

They are welcoming spaces where communities come together – to share, connect, and create homes for loved products. We tell children's stories, listen to their voices, and act in their spirit – with generosity, creativity and kindness.

Every decision you make in this role helps unlock a child's potential. Together, shoppers, donors, and volunteers help build a brighter future.

About the Role

As Retail Area Manager, you'll be responsible for leading and supporting a portfolio of approximately 10–15 charity shops across your region. Currently, there are 9 shops in this area – located in Cockermouth, Doncaster, Hexham, Matlock, Penrith, South Shields, Ulverston, Wetherby, and Whitby – though this may change as our retail network evolves.

While our long-term vision is to have paid Shop Managers in all our shops, approximately 80% in this area are currently run by volunteers and do not have a paid Manager. You'll work closely with and through volunteer teams (150–200 people) to drive income growth, meet key commercial targets, and deliver an exceptional experience for customers and donors alike.

You'll lead with purpose – inspiring, coaching, and empowering teams while ensuring operational excellence and championing our mission on the high street.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a passionate and collaborative team, supported by strong systems, values-led leadership, and a shared commitment to making a difference.

This is a home-based role with regular travel across your region and occasional overnight stays. You will be expected to spend an average of four days per week in the shops and reside within the area served by one of the region's shops.

In this role, you will:

• Act as an ambassador for our brand and retail strategy, motivating and inspiring your teams.
• Line manage Shop Managers, supporting with recruitment, development and performance.
• Lead commercial performance by analysing shop data, identifying opportunities, and making sound commercial decisions.
• Work closely with Business Managers during shop launches/relaunches to ensure successful handovers.
• Support volunteer recruitment, engagement and training with the support of our volunteering team.
• Manage operational and risk-related shop issues, escalating where necessary.

About You

You're an experienced and commercially minded retail leader with a proven track record in managing multi-site operations, ideally in a charity or high-street retail environment. You lead with strength and kindness, combining strategic thinking with a hands-on, supportive approach.

You'll bring:

• Extensive multi-site retail management experience – essential for overseeing a large, dispersed region.
• A strong commercial background, with a focus on delivering results through data-driven decision-making and KPIs.
• Experience leading and motivating diverse, remote teams, including volunteer-led shops – 7 out of 9 stores in this region currently operate without paid Shop Managers.
• Exceptional leadership and communication skills, with the ability to inspire others, lead by example, listen actively, and offer clear, timely feedback.
• A deep understanding of volunteer engagement, with the ability to attract, retain, and motivate volunteer teams.
• A collaborative, non-judgemental approach, fostering an inclusive and supportive culture.
• A full UK driving licence and the flexibility to travel regularly across the region, with occasional overnight stays.
• Residency within or near one of the listed shop locations: Cockermouth, Doncaster, Hexham, Matlock, Penrith, South Shields, Ulverston, Wetherby, or Whitby.

If you're passionate about community engagement, thrive in a volunteer-led environment, and want to make a real impact – we'd love to hear from you.

What We Offer You

Working for Save the Children means helping create a better world for children – and doing meaningful work every day. We also offer:

• A flexible and inclusive working environment
• A wide range of employee benefits and wellbeing initiatives
• Car allowance / company car as part of this role

You can read more about our benefits on our careers site.

This is a fantastic opportunity for a passionate, driven retail leader to join a values-led organisation making a tangible difference in children's lives.

Please note: To avoid disappointment, you are advised to submit your application as soon as possible as we reserve the right to close the vacancy early if a high volume of applications are received. This is to ensure that we can manage application levels whilst maintaining a positive candidate experience. Unfortunately once a vacancy has closed, we are unable to consider further applications.

Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion:

Save the Children UK believes in a world that is fair, inclusive and equitable where all children have the opportunity to change their world. We apply this to our workforce and we are committed to developing and supporting a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organisation where all employees have a sense of belonging and feel that they can be "Free to Be Me". We are not looking for just one type of person - we want to recruit people who can add fresh perspectives, innovative ideas or challenge that disrupts the risk of group think.

We are especially interested in people whose childhood experiences - of life on a low income, of migration, of being in a racialised community, of the care system, of being LGBT+ or in an LGBT+ family or living with (or with someone with) a disability - help us to see things we might otherwise miss. Whatever your story is we want to hear it because we know that different voices, ideas, perspectives and knowledge, working together will enable us to better the lives of children around the world. This is the reason why we are all here.

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