Fragrance & Beauty Director Travel Retail UK-Ireland & South Africa

Fragrance & Beauty Director Travel Retail UK-Ireland & South Africa

Location: CHANEL Head office, London

Reports to: Fragrance & Beauty Director, UK Region
Contract: Permanent, Full-Time

CHANEL is an independent company that believes in the freedom of creation, cultivates human potential, and acts to have a positive impact in the world.

“In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different” stated company founder, Gabrielle Chanel. At CHANEL, we strive to identify what is unique in each person and support them through their journey with the brand.

Our mission at CHANEL Beauty is to underline what is most unique in every person and give our clients the confidence to become the true expression of themselves through exceptional fragrance, make up and skincare creations.

Your role @CHANEL:

The Travel Retail Director is responsible for defining and delivering the Travel Retail strategy across UK & Ireland, while developing South Africa business across both Local Market and Travel retail channels.

In a volatile geopolitical and economic context, this role will continuously future proof the operating models of each business area, to develop agile, resilient and effective strategies, while strengthening the foundations for long-term growth opportunities.

Working closely with Global teams, local stakeholders, operators and distributor partners, you will unlock growth opportunities, build strong partnerships, and elevate CHANEL’s brand equity and leadership.

As a key member of the UK Region Fragrance & Beauty Leadership Team, you will contribute to shaping the broader business strategy and long-term success of the region.

What impact you can create at Chanel:

Key responsibilities:

1. Strategy & Transformation

• Define and implement growth strategies across UK & Ireland Travel Retail and South Africa, aligned with CHANEL’s long-term ambitions and UK Region F&B strategy.
• Lead the evolution of the operating model across Travel Retail and South Africa to build agility, resilience and effectiveness in a VUCA environment.
• Translate geopolitical, economic and market shifts into actionable strategies that protect business continuity, unlock future growth and strengthen CHANEL’s long-term brand and business foundations.
• Set mid-term and yearly plans, budgets and KPIs, using performance data, market insight and traveller behaviour to course-correct and maximise selective growth.

2. Commercial Partnerships & Growth Development

• Build senior, trust-based relationships with Travel Retail operators, airport stakeholders and distributor partners to strengthen CHANEL’s position and long-term opportunities.
• Lead strategic negotiations, securing the right locations, visibility, terms, operating models and supply chain conditions in line with CHANEL’s ambitions.
• Shape South Africa’s development roadmap to increase brand desirability, strengthen distributor capabilities and support sustainable growth.

3. Brand Desirability, Client Experience & Operational Excellence

• Elevate CHANEL’s luxury image across all touchpoints, ensuring exceptional retail execution, service standards, visual merchandising and client journeys.
• Ensure flawless execution of campaigns, launches and activations across Travel Retail and South Africa, partnering with Marketing, Learning, Visual Merchandising, CRM and Digital teams to enhance the client experience.
• Oversee operations through teams and partners, ensuring strong execution across retail standards, staffing, stock, logistics, merchandising and efficiency.
• Manage distributor planning, inventory and operational performance in South Africa while supporting CHANEL’s sustainability ambitions through responsible supply and waste reduction choices.

4. People Leadership & Cross-Functional Influence

• Build and develop a high-performing organisation capable of delivering growth, operational excellence and transformation in a complex environment.
• Set clear objectives and KPIs, creating accountability while empowering teams to lead with agility, ownership and collaboration.
• Lead through influence across Global and local teams, operators and partners to ensure alignment and a coherent CHANEL experience.

What you will bring to the role:

Experience and knowledge

• Significant experience in Travel Retail, duty-free, distributor-managed markets, commercial leadership or Fragrance & Beauty key account management, ideally within luxury, beauty, premium retail or a comparable consumer environment.
• Proven P&L ownership, with strong capability in strategic planning, budgeting, forecasting, performance management and complex negotiations.
• Strong understanding of Travel Retail operators, distributor models, retail operations and luxury brand building, balancing commercial performance with desirability and long-term brand equity.

Leadership skills

• Strategic vision and strong business acumen, with the ability to translate data, insight and ambition into actionable plans.
• Transformational mindset, with the ability to challenge the status quo, navigate VUCA conditions and build agile, resilient and effective business models.
• Inspirational leadership and influencing skills, with the ability to motivate teams and collaborate effectively across senior stakeholders, operators and global partners.
• Integrity, ethics and strong judgement in all relationships with operators, partners, vendors and internal stakeholders.

You are energised by

• Driving strategic transformation in a complex Travel Retail and distributor environment, shaping the future of CHANEL Fragrance & Beauty across the UK, Ireland, South Africa.
• Building strong partnerships while protecting CHANEL’s long-term brand equity, desirability and excellence of execution.
• Leading and developing people, creating clarity and engagement in complexity, and contributing to one of the world’s most iconic luxury Houses.

• Contributing in the on-going and companywide version of sustainability. Sustainability is one of CHANEL’s key performance drivers, embedded into our ways of working we require continued collective action from all employees to deliver on CHANEL’s House Sustainability Ambitions across our four key areas:
  • Restoring Nature and Climate
  • Investing in Circularity
  • Advancing dignity and prosperity
  • Promoting the autonomy of women

What you will gain from this experience:

• A strategic leadership role with significant impact on the future of CHANEL Fragrance & Beauty across the UK, Ireland and South Africa
• The opportunity to develop a rare dual expertise combining commercial performance, brand desirability, operator partnership and client experience
• Become a key contributor to the UK Region F&B leadership ecosystem, partnering closely with senior stakeholders and cross-functional teams
• Exposure to senior leadership and global stakeholders across the CHANEL organisation
• The opportunity to contribute to one of the world's most iconic luxury Houses, recognised for its heritage, creativity and commitment to excellence

Benefits at CHANEL  

Our employee benefits have been created to support you across your professional and personal life by offering you:  

• Physical Wellbeing: Private Medical Insurance covering pre-existing medical conditions and ability to add family members, Online GP App with 24/7 appointments available within 24 hours and Cycle Scheme participation for a tax-exempt bike and/or accessories  
• Financial Wellbeing: Pension, Life Assurance and Retail Discounts across multiple retailers including Supermarkets, Gyms, Days Out and 100’s more  
• Mental Wellbeing: Employee Assistance Programmes and Other Support Lines  
• Platforms: Multiple Platforms to support across Wellbeing   
• Lifestyle: Arts & Culture Ticket Discounts across major London attractions, CHANEL Product Discounts and Employee Only Sales  
• Employee Recognition: Service Awards Programme offering CHANEL Products, Retail Vouchers and Additional Holidays across milestones  

 *Benefits are eligibility dependant and subject to change at any time   

At Chanel, we are focused on creating an inclusive culture that nurtures personal growth, contributing to collective progress. We believe the uniqueness of each individual increases the diversity, complementarity and effectiveness of our teams. We strongly encourage your application, as we value the perspective, experience and potential you could bring to CHANEL.