Requirements: English
Company: Rochester Executive Advisory
Region: Milan , Lombardy
The Client:
Our Client is a private retail group , backed by two leading international Private Equity.
Headquartered in Italy, they are market leader in their own channel within the dynamic retail sector.
The group has completed a first growth cycle under the leadership of new management and the guidance of a Private Equity; they are now at the beginning of the second growth cycle that is designed with further strong ambitions along with the financial power to expand further and become an international player.
Their engagement so far has been focused on Italy where they have reached a sizeable dimension with over ... sales point; they will continue to grow in Italy with additional organic fire power, as well as MA, and additional channels on top of retail.
International growth will be the next frontier to look at, across Europe.
This will require the onboarding of a Business Development Officer (BDO) , to help design and sustain the new ambitions.
Position - The context:
The group is undergoing a significant transformation, evolving from the original framework (multiple entrepreneurial single-companies) into a newly designed one-company, with dynamic growth plans and progressive managerial
Position The role:
The role of BDO is brand new, is designed to report to Group CEO and will be at the forefront of two main growth directions:
- Italy leverage on existing experience, build a rationale for further growth across: 1) retail channel, with additional sales points either owned or in franchise; 2) wholesale channel, to be expanded further; 3) inorganic growth: supporting acquisitions
- International build a pilot around the first country that has just been opened; understand analogies and differences with respect to other countries, assess market data and trends, provide insightful proposals to the leadership team to build a solid pipeline and roll-out plan.
This will be realized by shaping a centralised Operating Model to provide comprehensive view of the entire organisation, and help as PMO, equipping the organisation with people and tools to support sustainable growth
A high-impact role that demands strategic foresight, the ability to navigate multiple projects requiring a diverse mix of levers and relationships across the organisation, while leading a team.
Position Specific responsibilities:
The Business Development Officer will collaborate closely with executive leadership and internal stakeholders to execute the companys long-term strategy around concrete streams and goals and deliver sustainable value creation.
ORGANIC GROWTH:
Local expansion - This activity requires hands-on attitude, result focus and effectiveness
- Liase with the development team and leverage the existing knowledge to identify and assess new retail opportunities (target: +50 in the course of 2025); negotiate the deal, address operations, finalise the opening.
- Conduct in-depth market research and competitive analysis to identify new retail locations on the basis of emerging trends, geographical consumer flows dynamics, geo-marketing analytics, potential risks
- Prioritize options and target new ones with a business-driven-approach both in Italy and abroad
- Expand further the wholesale channel, in Italy
International expansion This activity requires strategic approach, the definition of milestones plans, and consistent execution streams
- Connect with Country Head abroad, to assess strategy feasibility in the country.
- Establish key necessary relationships / strategic partnerships in each country to accelerate market entry strategy /
- Create a repeatable growth model around the first pilot, address market / consumer differences to Marketing Sales to generate insights
- Support local leadership building organisational capabilities on the ground to sustain all operational needs
- Develop data-driven business cases and strategic recommendations to support high-level decision-making, in connection with Finance.
- Monitor industry dynamics and trends, to inform strategic priorities.
INORGANIC GROWTH:
- Support the Leadership Team on MA processes: the MA end to end is directly managed by the Leadership Team, yet it remains included in the scope with respect to any proactive initiative for the identification of potential business opportunities
- Detect inorganic targets to amplify sales and accelerate business growth
- Collaborate cross-functionally with all relevant functions (legal, finance, and operational teams) to support post merger activities.
FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE:
- Work with Finance to perform financial analysis and simulations; this will include