Retail / Assistant Manager - High-Volume Convenience Retail - Westmead

Pay

Market related

Type

Permanent

Experience

3–5 years

Level

Mid-level

Sector

Hospitality & Catering

Closes

in 91 days

Recruiter

Hospitality Jobs Africa · All jobs at Hospitality Jobs Africa

About the role

Our client is seeking a strong, commercially minded Retail / Assistant Manager for a busy, high-volume convenience retail and food-service operation in Westmead, KwaZulu-Natal. This is a hands-on management position with primary responsibility for the day-to-day performance of the convenience store and café, while supporting the Site Manager with the broader operation. We are looking for a manager who understands that successful retail is about more than keeping shelves stocked. You must be able to drive sales, gross profit, stock control, merchandising, food-service standards, customer experience and team performance.

• Take day-to-day operational ownership of the convenience store and café
• Maintain excellent store presentation, cleanliness and merchandising
• Ensure shelves, fridges and promotional areas remain fully stocked
• Monitor product availability, pricing and promotional execution
• Identify fast- and slow-moving products and sales opportunities
• Drive store and café turnover and gross profit
• Maintain food, beverage and coffee quality and presentation
• Manage food cost, portion control and wastage
• Monitor departmental and category gross profit
• Investigate stock variances, damages, expiries and negative stock
• Oversee stocktakes, receiving procedures and supplier deliveries
• Maintain strong FIFO, shrinkage and stock-loss controls
• Monitor daily, weekly and monthly sales against targets
• Identify underperforming categories and implement corrective actions
• Drive upselling, cross-selling and average basket growth
• Manage cashiers, café staff and merchandising support
• Prepare rosters and monitor attendance, productivity and performance
• Train, coach and hold employees accountable
• Resolve customer complaints quickly and professionally
• Monitor queues, service times and overall customer experience
• Ensure cash-handling, till, refund, void, GRV and purchasing procedures are followed
• Maintain food safety, hygiene, health and safety and operational standards
• Support the Site Manager and take responsibility for the broader operation when required

The role requires particularly strong control of stock, margins and waste — the client specifically views sales without appropriate margin and stock control as insufficient retail performance.

What they're looking for

• 3–5 years' experience within convenience retail, supermarket, QSR, restaurant, café or a comparable high-volume operation
• Previous supervisory or management experience
• Strong practical understanding of stock control
• Experience managing staff and rosters
• Experience working with sales, margins and gross profit
• Good numerical and analytical ability
• Strong customer-service orientation
• Computer literate
• Comfortable using POS and retail management systems
• Reliable transport
• Able and willing to work shifts, weekends and public holidays
• Petrol station experience is advantageous but not compulsory. Candidates with strong convenience retail, food-service or QSR management experience are encouraged to apply.

The Person

We are looking for someone who is:

• Hands-on and highly operational
• Commercially minded
• Strong with people
• Firm but fair
• Highly organised
• Detail focused
• Proactive and solutions driven
• Comfortable being accountable for results
• Confident working in a fast-paced environment
• Passionate about retail standards and customer service
• Able to lead from the floor rather than from an office

Working Hours

• This is a 24/7 operation, and the position works according to a management roster based on a 45-hour working week.
• The successful candidate must be comfortable working a combination of early and later shifts, rotational weekends and public holidays and providing management coverage when required.
• This is specifically not a Monday-to-Friday office-hours management position. Strong floor visibility across different trading periods is an important part of the role.

Salary & Position

• Salary: Market Related
• Location: Westmead, KwaZulu-Natal
• Employment: Full-time / Permanent
• Start: As soon as possible