Director, Global Portfolio Strategy & Planning – Retail Development

Job Description

Full time - Permanent

London, UK

(Can be converted into a 12-month Secondment opportunity for interested internal candidates)

As Director, Global Portfolio Strategy & Planning, reporting to the Vice President Global Retail Development, you will work at the centre of the global RD organisation, connecting strategy, commercial and financial insight, portfolio priorities and executive decision-making to enable efficient planning and delivery of the RD programs, aligned to strategy and prioritisation.

From local market footprint strategies and store investment decisions to globally scaled concepts, you will bring together insight, constructive challenge and structure to help Retail Development leaders make informed decisions and turn ambition into actionable priorities.

Sitting on the Global Retail Development Leadership Team, you will play a pivotal role in shaping what matters most across existing and new markets, new store formats, design evolution, real estate strategy and global rollouts. You will create clarity across investment, cost, value, capacity, risk and opportunity, ensuring senior leaders are aligned on the decisions required and the implications of those choices.

This is a highly influential role for a commercially minded strategic leader who can move confidently between the numbers and the narrative, shaping the roadmap, challenging assumptions, connecting priorities and enabling the Global Retail Development organisation to make more informed, faster decisions.

We're pleased to share that we offer a hybrid working week arrangement called Best of Both, requiring 3 days in the office location and 2 days from home.

Relocation & visa assistance is offered for this position.

Core Responsibilities

• Portfolio Strategy Leadership & Governance - Partner with the VP of Global Retail Development and the Global Retail Development Leadership Team to shape the function's strategic agenda, translate priorities into an integrated multi-year roadmap, and maintain clarity on the choices and trade-offs required to deliver it.

• Portfolio & Programme Prioritisation - Define and embed clear principles for prioritising RD portfolios and programmes, balancing value, strategic alignment, feasibility and delivery capacity to guide investment and resource decisions.

• Commercial & Retail Finance Leadership - Bring strong commercial and financial rigour to Retail Development decisions, with a clear understanding of store development economics, CapEx/OpEx, cost drivers and investment returns. Challenge assumptions, strengthen business cases, and enable informed decisions on where and how we invest.

• Investment Planning & Performance - Create a holistic view of the global RD investment portfolio, connecting store development costs, budgets, forecasts, benefits and value delivery. Identify trends, risks and opportunities and provide the insight needed to optimise spend and improve return across markets and formats. Lead yearly RD resource planning, in partnership with functional heads.

• Executive Communication & Decision Support - Turn complex strategic, operational and financial information into clear executive narratives, recommendations and decision materials for VPs and senior leaders. Anticipate the questions that matter, surface implications early and drive alignment around key decisions. Own the Quarterly RD Review with M&C Leaders, bringing together progress, priorities and key decisions to drive alignment and clear follow-up actions.

• Leadership Alignment & Cross-Functional Partnership - Connect global, regional and functional perspectives across Retail Development, Finance, Real Estate, Operations and commercial teams, ensuring priorities, dependencies and decisions are understood and aligned across the organisation.
• Strategic Governance & Delivery Oversight - Establish the right governance, cadence and visibility across the RD portfolio, ensuring strategic priorities translate into disciplined execution while maintaining clear oversight of progress, risk, investment and outcomes.

Do you have what it takes

• Retail Development Strategy & Commercial Leadership - Significant experience in retail, real estate, store development or a closely related environment, with the ability to connect growth strategy, physical retail development and commercial performance.
• Strong Retail Finance Capability - Deep understanding of store development economics and investment decision-making, including CapEx/OpEx, development costs, budgets, forecasts, business cases and return on investment. Able to confidently challenge and interpret the financial assumptions behind major retail investments.
• Strategic Portfolio & Investment Management - Proven ability to assess competing priorities, evaluate investment trade-offs and create a clear portfolio view that enables senior leaders to make informed choices on resources, sequencing and value.
• Executive Communication & Strategic Storytelling - Exceptional ability to synthesise complex information into concise, compelling recommendations and executive-level materials, with the judgement to distinguish what senior leaders need to know, decide and act on.
• Senior Stakeholder Management & Influence - Demonstrated credibility operating with VPs, senior directors and cross-functional leadership teams, able to constructively challenge, build alignment and influence decisions without relying on formal authority.
• Global Leadership & Organisational Agility - Comfortable operating across geographies, functions and time zones in a fast-moving environment, balancing strategic thinking with enough proximity to the detail to understand implications, risks and delivery realities.

#LI-MD1

Play your part in the team succeeding

A strategic partner and advocate for Retail Development. A leader who brings together strategy, commercial and financial insight, and organisational alignment so that the function can make confident investment choices and deliver against its global growth ambition.

If you have operated at the intersection of retail strategy, store development, commercial finance and senior leadership decision-making, and can bring clarity to complex choices while building alignment across a global organisation, this is an opportunity to play a central role in shaping the future of our physical retail portfolio.

Applications are reviewed on an ongoing basis. However, please note we do amend or withdraw our jobs and reserve the right to do so at any time, including prior to any advertised closing date. So, if you're interested in this role we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

What’s in it for you?

Here is what you can expect:

Family Care Leave - We offer enhanced paid leave options for those important times.

Insurances – All colleagues are covered by our life and disability insurance which provides protection and peace of mind.

Wellbeing - We want our people to feel well and thrive. We offer resources and benefits to nurture physical and mental wellbeing along with opportunities to build community and inspire creativity.

Colleague Discount – We know you'll love to build, so from day 1 you will qualify for our generous colleague discount.

Bonus - We do our best work to succeed together. When goals are reached and if eligible, you'll be rewarded through our bonus scheme.

Your workplace: Your workplace will be the office, store or factory specified in this advert.

Hybrid Working: Our hybrid work model, Best of Both offers you the option of flexibility to work from home up to two days per week. Your People Leader will discuss the principles of the model, including how this option applies to your role and team.

Learn more about our benefits, culture and workplace experience here

Children are our role models. Their curiosity, creativity and imagination inspire everything we do. We strive to create a diverse, dynamic and inclusive culture of play at the LEGO Group, where everyone feels safe, valued and they belong.

The LEGO Group is highly committed to equal employment opportunity and equal pay and seeks to encourage applicants from all backgrounds (eg. sex, gender identity or expression, race/ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, age and religion) to apply for roles in our team.

The LEGO Group is fully committed to Children’s Rights and Child Wellbeing across the globe. Candidates offered positions with high engagement with children are required to take part in Child Safeguarding Background Screening, as a condition of the offer.

Thank you for sharing our global commitment to Children’s Rights.

Just imagine building your dream career.

Then make it real.

Join the LEGO® team today.

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About Us

Children are our role models. Their curiosity, creativity and imagination inspire everything we do. Our founder Ole Kirk Kristiansen made his first wooden toy in 1932. He persevered against the odds until his business was a success. Constantly innovating, never compromising. Building, rebuilding, and striving for the best. It is this resilience and permanent sense of renewal that drives us forward. We are never still. We will always be creating, inventing, and having fun. Build your career brick by brick and play your part in continuing our mission to “inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow”.