Director, BD Manager, Finance & Banking

THE ROLE

Debenhams Group is entering an exciting new phase of growth.

We're looking for an exceptional Growth Director to identify, develop and deliver new commercial opportunities across the Group, creating incremental revenue, strengthening our proposition and unlocking long-term value.

We're looking for a highly commercial, financially astute and exceptionally well-connected leader who can look beyond our existing business model and identify where the next opportunities for growth could come from.

Whether through new partnerships, strategic alliances, new propositions, commercial models, categories, services, markets or entirely new revenue streams, you'll have the network, commercial instinct and credibility to open doors – and the financial capability to determine which opportunities are genuinely worth pursuing.

Reporting into senior Group leadership, you'll work closely with the CEO, CFO, Managing Directors and wider SLT to turn ideas and relationships into commercially viable opportunities.

• Own and develop the Group growth pipeline, identifying new opportunities capable of delivering meaningful incremental revenue and profit.
• Use your external network and market relationships to introduce opportunities, partnerships and commercial conversations that wouldn't naturally come to us.
• Identify whitespace across the Group, looking beyond our existing model to understand where Debenhams Group can play and win next.
• Build relationships with major brands, platforms, technology businesses, financial services providers, strategic partners and other organisations that could create value for the Group.
• Originate and negotiate strategic partnerships, joint ventures, commercial agreements and new business models.
• Build robust business cases around opportunities, including revenue potential, investment requirements, margin, EBITDA contribution, ROI, payback and associated risk.
• Work closely with Finance to challenge assumptions and ensure opportunities are commercially and financially compelling, not simply strategically interesting.
• Present recommendations and investment cases to the CEO, CFO and senior Group stakeholders, influencing decisions at the highest level.
• Take opportunities from initial idea and introduction through commercial modelling, negotiation and execution.
• Work across our brands and Group functions to identify opportunities that can leverage our customer reach, brands, data, technology, marketplace capability and infrastructure.
• Build a strong external view of emerging consumer behaviours, new business models, disruptive businesses and adjacent markets.
• Understand what competitors – both within and outside retail – are doing differently and translate those insights into actionable opportunities.
• Create clear measures of success and maintain accountability for the commercial performance of initiatives after launch.
• Be prepared to challenge how we operate today and bring new thinking, new relationships and new revenue opportunities into the Group.

You’ll be an established commercial leader with a strong track record of creating growth rather than simply managing an existing P&L. You'll combine exceptional commercial judgement with the ability to build relationships, influence senior leaders and get deals done.

We’d love to see:

• Significant experience in commercial growth, business development, strategy, partnerships, corporate development or new ventures at Director level.
• A demonstrable track record of identifying and delivering new revenue and profit streams.
• An exceptional external network with the ability to open doors at senior and C-suite level.
• Strong financial acumen – comfortable building, interrogating and challenging complex commercial models.
• A…