Retail Director

Welcome to Warner Bros. Discovery… the stuff dreams are made of.

Who We Are…

When we say, “the stuff dreams are made of,” we’re not just referring to the world of wizards, dragons and superheroes, or even to the wonders of Planet Earth. Behind WBD’s vast portfolio of iconic content and beloved brands, are the storytellers bringing our characters to life, the creators bringing them to your living rooms and the dreamers creating what’s next…

From brilliant creatives, to technology trailblazers, across the globe, WBD offers career defining opportunities, thoughtfully curated benefits, and the tools to explore and grow into your best selves. Here you are supported, here you are celebrated, here you can thrive.

From the phenomenally successful Warner Bros. Studio Tours in London, Hollywood, and Tokyo, to flagship retail stores in New York, Chicago and Tokyo, the next exciting addition to this collection is Warner Bros. Studio Tour Shanghai - The Making of Harry Potter, a completely new experience for Harry Potter fans in China.

Located in the heart of the city, Warner Bros. Studio Tour Shanghai – The Making of Harry Potter is an indoor attraction designed to transport visitors into the world of filmmaking, revealing production secrets through interactive experiences, showcasing stunning sets, and displaying beautifully crafted props. 

This new attraction will deliver the Studio Tour values of exceptional customer service, experiences that exceed visitors’ expectations and the very best in Harry Potter retail.

Warner Bros. Studio Tour Shanghai will be operated in partnership with Jinjiang International (Holdings) Co., Ltd, a State-Owned Enterprise, ensuring a world-class experience for all who visit.

Your New Role – Retail Director

Duration of role – Full Time Employee

Role Reports To – General Manager

Numbers of Subordinates – 90+

Your New Role

We are looking for Retail Director, who will direct and lead the retail operations team for Warner Bros. Studio Tour Shanghai (WBSTS). This role will be accountable for delivering upon the retail strategy, driving operations, and taking the senior commercial lead for retail at WBSTS. He/She will ensure that the store maintains a strong commercial, service, and safety focus, while partnering with the Senior Leadership Team at Warner Bros. Studio Tour Shanghai and the SVP, Retail Experiences for Worldwide Tours & Retail to support the growth and continued success of the attraction in the China market.

Essential Job Functions

• Create, deliver, and maintain progress on the commercial retail strategy for Warner Bros. Studio Tour Shanghai, ensuring alignment with local consumer trends and expectations in the Shanghai market.
• Support the General Manager, WBSTS to exceed visitor expectations at the Studio Tour, ensuring store standards and staff engagement are consistently strong.
• Take a senior leadership role, working alongside the Senior Director, Tour Operations to maintain a high-performing and safe visitor attraction at WBSTS.
• Directly manage the Store Management team to drive standards, lead their teams,
• Oversee the commercial forecasts for all Retail at WBSTS, providing regular commentary and action plans for improvement of per cap, conversion, and EBITDA.
• Collaborate with the Sales, Marketing, and PR leaders to drive footfall to the Studio Tour retail spaces and support PR coverage for the Tour across all Retail activities.
• Drive a cross-functional leadership structure, enabling consistent action across partnered departments including but not limited to, IT & Technology, Finance, Visitor Experience, Security, and Marketing & PR.
• Regularly identify, present, and take action on opportunities for increased secondary spend across the Studio Tour retail locations.
• Work with the Finance team to optimize the labour and operational expenses budget for Studio Tour Retail, encouraging the leadership team to manage costs effectively.
• Act as a key liaison between the Merchandising, Buying, Design, and Visual Merchandising teams to support the Store Management team in operating the retail function, providing feedback and data on behalf of the Shanghai teams.
• Actively communicate with the WB Worldwide Studio Tours & Retail senior team, taking responsibility for reporting status, incidents, performance, and support required.
• Ensure the Store Operations team maintains accurate stock control, reporting, and stock turnover to optimize inventory performance across WBSTS.
• In collaboration with the Marketing team and Retail leadership, maintain an overview and administer brand assurance to ensure all commercial activities meet strict brand guidelines.
• Benchmark the retail product and commercial visitor experience externally, bringing new learning into the Tour and retail locations to maintain alignment with the local Shanghai market and broader Chinese consumer landscape.
• Support the Senior Leadership team in communicating with external stakeholders, including building relationships with local and national government authorities in China as required.
• Work within WB processes and procedures.
• Work with our Health and Safety Management and on-site security team to promote the health and safety of all WBSTS staff and visitors.

Education and Skills

• The candidate will have held a senior leadership role in the retail industry, including major high street retailers and ideally experience in the tourism, leisure, attraction, or heritage industry.
• Educated to bachelor’s degree level or higher.
• Experience of a start-up operation would be an advantage.
• Senior project leadership and new opening experience.
• Able to demonstrate commercial ability including growing primary and secondary income.
• Extensive senior level experience of driving customer service standards across multiple sites.
• Leadership and development of management staff within a sales environment.
• Outstanding business insight and data analysis capabilities. Producing and presenting reports.
• Native-level fluency in Mandarin and business-level English proficiency is required.

Working Pattern and Duty Management

This role is full time, working shifts.  Due to the varied nature of a visitor attraction, regular weekend and evening work will be required, across a seven-day roster.  A high level of flexibility is required to suit the needs of the business.  This can include working weekends, public holidays, school holidays and late evenings, alongside other team members.

Shanghai Joint Venture Employment:

Please note that this position is employed through Warner Bros. Discovery’s joint venture with Jin Jiang International (Holdings) Co., Ltd. The joint venture entity is Shanghai WB Jinjiang Studio Tour Co., Ltd. Successful candidates will be hired by the joint venture company and assigned to work with Warner Bros. Discovery as required for this project.

How We Get Things Done…

This last bit is probably the most important! Here at WBD, our guiding principles are the core values by which we operate and are central to how we get things done. You can find them at www.wbd.com/guiding-principles/ along with some insights from the team on what they mean and how they show up in their day to day. We hope they resonate with you and look forward to discussing them during your interview.

Championing Inclusion at WBD

Warner Bros. Discovery embraces the opportunity to build a workforce that reflects a wide array of perspectives, backgrounds and experiences. Being an equal opportunity employer means that we take seriously our responsibility to consider qualified candidates on the basis of merit, regardless of sex, gender identity, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marital status, pregnancy, parenthood, disability or any other category protected by law.

If you’re a qualified candidate with a disability and you require adjustments or accommodations during the job application and/or recruitment process, please visit our accessibility page for instructions to submit your request.