The Role
The Country Operations Director leads retail operations in Korea, enhancing operational efficiency, customer experience, and compliance while developing scalable frameworks and team leadership.
Summary Generated by Built In
The Country Operations Director will lead the development and execution of scalable retail operations for a fast-growing F&B business in Korea. This role requires a leader with strong large-scale F&B brand experience, commercial acumen, operational planning capability, and the maturity to build trust with store teams, cross-functional partners, and senior leadership. The ideal candidate will be able to translate brand standards into practical store execution while driving operational efficiency, customer experience, and sustainable business growth.
Responsibilities
• Country Retail Operations Leadership: Lead overall retail operations in Korea, ensuring consistent, efficient, and high-quality day-to-day store operations across all locations.
• Scalable Operations Framework: Build and continuously improve scalable store operation frameworks, including SOPs, store routines, service standards, labor productivity, and operational efficiency models to support rapid business expansion.
• Store Performance & Business Impact: Monitor and analyze store performance metrics, including sales, customer experience, labor productivity, category performance, and operational KPIs, and translate insights into practical improvement actions.
• Customer Experience Excellence: Ensure a consistent and premium store experience by strengthening service standards, brand execution, customer journey, and in-store operational discipline.
• Operational Efficiency & Cost Management: Identify opportunities to improve productivity, cost-effectiveness, store execution speed, and resource allocation while maintaining service quality and brand standards.
• Team Leadership & Capability Building: Lead, coach, and develop the Operations team and store leadership, building a strong field leadership pipeline that is ready to support hyper-growth.
• Inventory & Vendor Management: Ensure effective inventory control, stock optimization, waste reduction, and vendor/service provider management to support smooth store operations.
• Compliance & Risk Management: Ensure retail operations comply with local regulations, company policies, industry standards, and internal operating procedures. Develop practical crisis management plans to ensure business continuity.
• Budget & Reporting: Develop and manage the country’s retail operations budget, and provide clear reporting on store performance, operational issues, improvement plans, and strategic recommendations to the Country General Manager and SEA Operations Director.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Work closely with Marketing, HR, Finance, SCM, QA, Construction, and other relevant functions to align business priorities and ensure effective execution at store level.
• Stakeholder Trust & Leadership: Build strong trust with the existing Operations Team, Store Partners, Korea Leadership Team, and regional stakeholders through mature leadership, clear communication, and practical problem-solving.
Qualifications
• Extensive experience in retail operations management, preferably within large-scale F&B, café, beverage, QSR, or multi-store retail environments.
• Strong understanding of store operations, premium customer experience, brand execution, service standards, and operational discipline.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to translate business goals into practical operations priorities and field execution plans.
• Excellent operations planning and analytical skills, including store performance, labor productivity, operational efficiency, and sales improvement analysis.
• Proven ability to build scalable operational frameworks, SOPs, store routines, reporting mechanisms, and field execution models.
• Ideally 5+ years of field operations, area management, operations planning, or operations excellence experience.
• Mature leadership style with the ability to earn trust from store teams, existing Operations members, cross-functional leaders, and senior management.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, problem-solving, and decision-making skills in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.
• Knowledge of local regulations, compliance requirements, and retail operating standards.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams and external partners.
Skills Required
- Extensive experience in retail operations management, preferably within large-scale F&B, cafe, beverage, or QSR environments.
- Strong understanding of store operations, premium customer experience, brand execution, service standards, and operational discipline.
- Strong business acumen to translate business goals into operations priorities and execution plans.
- Excellent operations planning and analytical skills including performance, productivity, and sales analysis.
- Proven ability to build scalable operational frameworks, SOPs, and reporting mechanisms.
- At least 5+ years of field operations, area management, or operations excellence experience.
- Mature leadership style with the ability to earn trust from teams and leaders.
- Excellent communication, stakeholder management, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
- Knowledge of local regulations, compliance requirements, and retail standards.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and collaborate with cross-functional teams.
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The Company
What We Do
CHAGEE is a leading international tea beverage company guided by the vision to connect everyone through a good cup of tea. The brand first started in 2017 in the hometown of tea, Yunnan, China, and has since expanded to over 6,000+ stores globally. As we embrace innovation and introduce a modern twist to traditional tea culture, we remain committed in preserving the true tea taste and only use fresh dairy and real tea leaves in all our beverages. Our teas also contain 0 creamer and 0 trans-fatty acids.
