To lead, develop, and inspire the Service Office (SO) team, other SO functions, and the store Visual Merchandising/Activity Managers in improving the shopping experience and building knowledge of consumer buying behavior and the local market thereby contributing to positioning the IKEA retailer as the home furnishing specialist in every local market.

Key Assignments: 

• Lead and inspire the Visual Merchandising Co-workers and store Visual Merchandising/Activity Managers to develop their visual merchandising and range presentation competence to strengthen the uniqueness of the IKEA identity in the stores.
• Coordinate, plan, and implement Market Hall, Self-Serve, and SFM by developing an inspiring range of presentation solutions that reflect a wide variety of styles and price levels by using global tools and national directions throughout the expansion process; commercial planning, build-up, and opening phases.
• Work with the SO Visual Merchandising Leader to translate the knowledge of people's lives at home, and insights from market intelligence into creative, aesthetic, and commercial solutions that exceed customer expectations.
• Actively support in developing the country business plan and contribute to delivering the department action plan and ensuring that all layout and range presentation initiatives in new stores and operating stores are focused on growing the IKEA business and supporting sustained long-term profitability.
• Coach and support Visual merchandising co-workers and store Visual Merchandising/Activity Managers to secure a deep knowledge and competence of layout as a commercial tool and range presentation together with the Com&In team and other functions.
• Actively contribute to the global Visual Merchandising Leaders network and share global directions and tools with the Visual Planners and new store Visual Merchandising/Activity Managers.
• Coach and support the Visual Merchandising/Activity Manager in the use of global tools, proven solutions, and best practices and when needed make the global solutions locally relevant. This will guarantee high quality, simplicity, and efficiency. Keep up-to-date and knowledgeable about home furnishing, retailing, and trends to support the Visual Merchandising planners and new store Visual Merchandising/Activity Managers in creative workshops to generate creative directions that inspire and surprise visitors with a strong visual impression.
• Secure a deep knowledge of all store media and clarify the main purpose of each media.

Skills

• Understand life at home in your local market and how to draw conclusions from market research, e.g. IKEA Customer Satisfaction Survey, IKEA Brand Capital.
• Understand trends that influence home furnishing and retailing, IKEA Concept and IKEA Brand Objectives, IKEA mechanical sales system, IKEA strategic landscape, and IKEA way of working with global tools and solutions.
• Understand how to lead creative processes.
• Understand how to build business competence. The IKEA values truly reflect personal values A passion for fast-paced, future-oriented retailing, home furnishing, people's life at home, and the IKEA product range.
• Ability to communicate clearly with different people and groups of people in various situations.
•  Ability to identify and combine commercial, aesthetic, and practical skills.
• Ability to create a trustful and creative environment.
•  A natural ability to move smoothly from assessing the bigger picture to seeing the small details.
• Good strategic and time management skills and the ability to work with flexibility towards assigned goals.