Regional Travel Retail Manager (Luxury Fragrance & Beauty)

We are representing a globally respected luxury house with a distinguished heritage and an exceptional portfolio spanning premium fragrance, beauty, and lifestyle categories. The organisation is entering a new phase of strategic expansion across key travel retail markets in the Middle East, and is seeking to appoint a Regional Manager to take ownership of this commercially critical channel.

This is a high-profile, commercially influential position responsible for shaping the brand's visibility, growth, and retail performance across airport, border, and specialist duty-free environments. The role combines strategic account leadership, retail excellence, and operational oversight, requiring an individual who understands both the art and science of luxury distribution in travel retail.

This appointment will play a pivotal role in strengthening the brand's presence across major regional hubs, working closely with key retail partners while ensuring the brand's image, positioning, and performance consistently reflect its global prestige.

Regular travel throughout the region will form an integral part of this role.

Position Purpose

The Regional Manager will serve as the primary commercial and operational leader for the travel retail channel across the Middle East region. This individual will be entrusted with building strong partnerships with travel retail operators, driving sustained commercial growth, and ensuring brand standards are flawlessly executed across all retail environments.

Beyond commercial delivery, this role carries responsibility for ensuring the brand's identity is represented with absolute consistency, reinforcing its luxury positioning while unlocking new opportunities for expansion, visibility, and market share growth.

This is both a strategic and hands-on leadership role, requiring a balance between long-term planning and day-to-day execution.

Core Responsibilities

Strategic Commercial Leadership

Develop and execute regional strategies to drive sustained revenue growth across travel retail accounts.

Act as the key commercial partner to travel retail operators, strengthening long-term relationships built on mutual trust and shared performance objectives.

Identify opportunities to expand brand presence through new listings, enhanced retail positioning, and strategic distribution development.

Lead business reviews with retail partners, evaluating performance, identifying growth opportunities, and implementing targeted action plans.

Drive commercial negotiations relating to product placement, space allocation, launches, and promotional participation.

Maintain a deep understanding of regional travel retail dynamics, competitor activity, and emerging consumer trends.

Retail Excellence and Brand Representation

Ensure flawless execution of brand standards across all retail locations, maintaining alignment with global visual merchandising and brand guidelines.

Conduct regular in-market visits to assess retail environments, monitor execution, and identify areas for optimisation.

Safeguard the brand's luxury positioning through meticulous attention to presentation, visual impact, and retail experience.

Oversee implementation of new product launches, ensuring strong visibility and optimal positioning within retail environments.

Maintain consistent brand storytelling and presence across all touchpoints.

Team Leadership and Field Performance Management

Provide leadership, guidance, and performance oversight for retail-based brand representatives within travel retail environments.

Establish clear performance expectations aligned with commercial targets and brand priorities.

Support recruitment, onboarding, and ongoing development of field teams in collaboration with retail partners.

Monitor individual and collective performance, implementing corrective actions where necessary to ensure consistent delivery of objectives.

Foster a culture of accountability, professionalism, and brand advocacy.

Market Intelligence and Performance Analysis

Monitor and analyse sell-out data, performance trends, and category evolution across key markets.

Identify risks, opportunities, and areas for growth based on commercial performance indicators.

Provide structured reporting and strategic recommendations to senior leadership.

Maintain accurate records relating to retail performance, brand positioning, and account development.

Stay closely attuned to competitor activity, product innovation, and retail trends.

Promotional Planning and Execution

Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to design and implement impactful promotional initiatives.

Secure and manage promotional participation within retail environments.

Ensure promotional activities are delivered seamlessly and generate measurable commercial impact.

Monitor effectiveness of campaigns and recommend improvements to optimise future performance.

Operational and Commercial Governance

Manage operational activities in alignment with approved budgets and business priorities.

Ensure effective coordination between commercial, marketing, and retail functions.

Maintain disciplined control over commercial and operational processes.

Support implementation of retail development initiatives including fixture enhancements, merchandising upgrades, and retail environment optimisation.

Candidate Profile

This role requires a highly credible luxury professional with strong commercial acumen and proven experience operating within travel retail or luxury retail distribution environments.

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

Proven experience managing travel retail or regional retail operations within luxury, beauty, fragrance, or premium consumer sectors.

Strong commercial instincts with the ability to drive growth through strategic account management.

Established experience working directly with major travel retail operators.

Exceptional relationship-building capabilities across multiple organisational levels.

Strong analytical capability, with the ability to interpret data and translate insights into action.

High level of personal credibility and professionalism.

Excellent organisational and operational discipline.

Strong communication and presentation skills.

Ability to operate independently while maintaining alignment with global business objectives.

A high level of personal motivation, ownership, and accountability.

Personal Attributes

This position requires an individual who combines commercial strength with refined brand sensitivity.

The ideal candidate will be:

Commercially driven yet brand-conscious.

Confident operating in high-profile, client-facing environments.

Detail-oriented and operationally precise.

Highly professional in both conduct and presentation.

Comfortable working across multicultural environments.

Resilient, adaptable, and performance-focused.

Passionate about luxury retail and brand excellence.