Industry: Designer toys and collectible pieces
Location: Canary Wharf, London
Job type: Full time Permanent
About POP MART
POP MART (09992.HK) is a leading global company in the trend culture and entertainment industry. Centered around IP, POP MART has built a comprehensive platform for creative incubation and IP operation, empowering global creators while delivering exciting products, services and immersive entertainment experiences to consumers.
POP MART identifies and nurtures emerging artists and designers worldwide, creating popular character IPs through a well-established development and operation system. Our portfolio includes iconic characters such as MOLLY, SKULLPANDA, DIMOO, THE MONSTERS and Hirono. POP MART operates over 500 physical stores and more than 2,300 Robo Shops across more than thirty countries and regions, and through multiple cross border e commerce platforms reaches audiences in over ninety countries and regions, bringing joy to young consumers around the world.
POP MART has developed a comprehensive IP commercialisation ecosystem that spans multiple industries, deepening emotional bonds between fans and IPs while exploring broader opportunities for value creation. Our ventures include the world’s first immersive intellectual property themed park in the art toy industry, the expansion of its IPs into global markets through licensing and co-branding with leading global brands, and the curation of art toy expos and intellectual property themed exhibitions internationally. In Europe, POP MART has built a strong presence in key markets including the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain, and is expanding into new high potential markets. Our expansion brings POP MART closer to European fans and offers new ways for them to connect with our IPs and stories.
For more information, please visit www.popmart.com and our LinkedIn Career page.
What to Expect
POP MART is a fast-paced company with a young and multicultural team where you can expect to:
- Lead the overall retail strategy and operational governance for POP MART’s physical retail network across Europe
- Oversee multiple regional retail teams and country Heads of Retail to ensure consistent execution and performance
- Strengthen POP MART’s retail presence through disciplined expansion, operational excellence, and strong customer experience
- Build scalable retail operating standards that support rapid European growth
- Work closely with regional leadership and headquarters teams to align on merchandising, supply chain, marketing, and brand standards
POP MART offers our employees
- Monthly appreciation gifts featuring our latest POP MART designs
- A structured bonus scheme linked to company and individual performance
- Access to a confidential Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) for counselling and wellbeing support
- Training and development programmes that build both professional skills and creative thinking
- Regular team events that bring our people together to share ideas and celebrate our work
The Role and Candidate
The Regional Retail Director, Europe is responsible for leading POP MART’s physical retail strategy and performance across all European markets.
Reporting to the Head of Europe, this role oversees the Heads of Retail across the region, ensuring consistent execution, strong commercial performance, and alignment with POP MART’s brand and operational standards.
Beyond store performance, the Regional Retail Director will also oversee Retail Operations Support across Europe, building scalable operational frameworks, standardised procedures, and operational infrastructure to support the company’s rapid store expansion across the region.
This position requires a senior retail leader with strong experience managing multi market retail networks, driving store productivity, and building operational discipline within fast growing retail organisations.
Responsibilities
Regional Retail Strategy and Network Expansion
- Define and execute the long term retail strategy for POP MART across Europe, ensuring sustainable growth and strong market positioning
- Oversee the regional retail expansion roadmap, including new store openings and Roboshop deployments across priority European markets
- Partner with the Europe leadership team to evaluate new market opportunities and retail entry strategies
- Ensure disciplined site selection, store rollout planning, and commercial viability for all retail expansion projects
- Provide strategic direction to country retail leaders while maintaining alignment with overall European growth priorities
Retail Operations Governance and Performance Management
- Oversee the performance of all physical retail channels across Europe, including stores and Roboshops
- Define regional retail KPIs and performance benchmarks covering sales productivity, footfall conversion, customer experience, and operational efficiency
- Review market level performance with country retail leaders and drive improvement plans where needed
- Ensure consistent retail execution and operational discipline across all markets
- Maintain strong alignment between retail teams and other regional functions including supply chain, real estate, HR, finance, and marketing
Merchandising and Retail Experience Alignment
- Work with merchandising team to ensure consistent merchandising strategies across European markets while allowing local adaptation where appropriate
- Work closely with headquarters and regional teams to optimise product allocation, stock planning, and inventory availability
- Maintain high standards in visual merchandising, store presentation, and in store brand experience across all markets
- Support the execution of regional campaigns, in store activations, and key product launches
- Provide market insights and consumer feedback to headquarters to support future product planning and development
Retail Operations Support and Standardisation
- Oversee the development of regional operational standards that support consistent store operations across Europe
- Build and maintain standard operating procedures covering store operations, Roboshop management, and retail execution
- Lead operations support teams to establish clear processes for store opening, operational audits, and retail compliance
- Drive operational improvements that increase store productivity while maintaining brand standards
- Ensure operational readiness as the European retail network continues to scale
Financial Performance and P&L Oversight
- Hold regional oversight of retail P&L performance across all European markets
- Review revenue growth, store productivity, and cost management across the retail network
- Work closely with finance teams on budgeting, Opex control, and investment planning for retail expansion
- Ensure disciplined financial evaluation for new store openings and retail initiatives
Leadership and Team Development
- Lead and develop a strong European retail leadership team
- Directly manage the Heads of Retail across multiple European regions
- Support the development of store leadership capabilities across the network
- Build a performance driven culture focused on accountability, operational excellence, and customer engagement
- Ensure strong communication and alignment between country retail teams and regional leadership
Required Qualifications
- 12+ years of senior retail leadership experience within international retail organisations, preferably in lifestyle, collectibles, designers retail, or fast fashion
- Proven experience operating at a regional leadership level, with prior reporting lines to a Regional Vice President or equivalent senior executive
- Demonstrated leadership of large scale retail networks, ideally overseeing operations across 100+ stores or equivalent multi market retail footprints
- Strong experience managing retail operations across multiple European markets, with exposure beyond the United Kingdom strongly preferred
- Solid track record in retail network expansion, new market entry, and scaling store operations in fast growing environments
- Strong commercial and financial acumen, including oversight of retail P&L performance, budgeting, and investment planning
- Extensive experience leading senior retail teams and developing multi country retail organisations
- Ability to operate effectively in fast paced and entrepreneurial organisations with evolving structures
- Strong cross cultural communication skills, with the ability to work effectively within a global organisation
- Fluent English required; additional European languages are advantageous
- Willingness to travel frequently across European markets and to headquarters
Desirable but Not Essential
- Experience in lifestyle retail, collectibles, luxury retail, or fast fashion sectors
- Interest in designer toys, pop culture, and collectible art
- Understanding of Chinese corporate culture and experience collaborating with China based headquarters teams is a strong advantage
- Mandarin language capability is an advantage
If you are excited to be part of POP MART’s journey and believe you have the skills and passion to contribute, click Apply Now and send us your CV.
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