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VP – Business Solutions (Joint Ventures)

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

INSPIRE | EXHILARATE | DELIGHT

For over seven decades, Chalhoub Group has been a partner and creator of luxury experiences in the Middle East. In its pursuit to excel as a hybrid luxury retailer, the Group has curated a portfolio of over 10 owned brands and strengthened its distribution and marketing expertise for over 400 international names across luxury fashion, beauty, jewellery, watches, eyewear, and art de vivre categories.

Every step at Chalhoub Group is taken to build a future where luxury dreams become reality — bridging cultures and crafting memorable experiences for our consumers. Be it by constantly reinventing itself, committing to innovation, or embracing new technologies, the Group is shaping the future of luxury retail. It delivers seamless omnichannel experiences across more than 950 stores, online platforms, and mobile apps. Driving this innovation journey is The Greenhouse — the Group’s innovation hub, incubator, and accelerator for startups and emerging businesses, regionally and globally.

Chalhoub Group fosters a people-at-heart culture rooted in diversity, equity, and inclusion, and a workplace catalysed by forward thinking and future-proofing. Today, it brings together over 16,000 talented professionals across eight countries in the Middle East, with a presence in LATAM. Their collective efforts have earned the Group the Great Place to Work certification in several markets.

Sustainability is at the core of the Group’s strategy, guided by a clear commitment to people, partners, and the planet. Chalhoub Group is proud to be a member of the United Nations Global Compact, a signatory of the Women’s Empowerment Principles, and to have pledged to reach Net Zero by 2040.

What You'll Be Doing

As VP – Business Solutions, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the strategic direction and operational excellence of our Joint Ventures (JVs). Acting as a bridge between Chalhoub Group and its JV partners, you will lead the integration of services across supply chain, fulfillment, customer care, technology, omnichannel, performance marketing, loyalty, and administration.

Our JV portfolio includes partnerships across Beauty, Fashion, Luxury Tech, Eyewear & Watches & Jewelry, and includes working with brands such as Sephora, L’Occitane, Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Maison Margiela, Zimmermann, Devialet, Dyson, and Essilor Luxottica.

Strategic Leadership:

Shape and drive the strategic direction of Chalhoub Group’s services, ensuring JV needs are integrated into key Group initiatives (e.g., ERP, omnichannel).
Lead governance processes and decision-making forums to align JV operations with Chalhoub Group’s objectives and maintain strong relationships with senior leadership across functions.
Support business planning, ensuring that the services' ROI, CAPEX, and OPEX contributions are well-defined and aligned with JV P&Ls.
Lead monthly business reviews and scorecard analysis with all JVs, consolidating all Services into a single forum.
Shape and challenge brand strategy — Evaluate optimal brand market entry plans (e.g., timing and platform choice for eCommerce), critically assess brand visions across services, and influence direction by articulating benefits, risks, and long-term impact.
Drive service value creation — Own the strategy, cost structure, and end-to-end delivery of services, ensuring P&L impact is optimised. Proactively position Chalhoub’s solutions to new and existing JVs, driving uptake through strategic pitching, cross-selling, and onboarding excellence.
Strategic alignment and execution — Set clear business solutions strategies in partnership with the President of JVs and C-level stakeholders, securing alignment before activation and ensuring flawless implementation.
Financial and business performance leadership — Act as the voice of the business, owning financial accountability and quality metrics to measure both commercial impact and operational excellence.
Joint venture onboarding and lifecycle strategy — Lead the onboarding of new JVs into the Chalhoub ecosystem, defining which partnerships to pursue, how services will be delivered, and ensuring readiness for growth.
Strategic planning and activation — Redesign and deliver the three-year plan for JVs and services, ensuring execution matches the strategic ambition and delivers measurable results.

Operational Excellence:

Act as the senior point of contact for JVs, managing escalations and ensuring smooth execution of projects across multiple functions.
Oversee omnichannel and e-commerce integrations, ensuring seamless execution and alignment with JV goals.
Support e-commerce integration and support models for JV brands.
Prioritize and manage the JV portfolio, balancing demands with Group resources to ensure successful project delivery and measurable ROI.
Support Chalhoub’s centers of competence in responding to brands' tenders.

Team Leadership & Development:

Lead, coach, and inspire a high-performing team, promoting a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Provide regular feedback and performance assessments to ensure team alignment with business goals.

Relationship Building:

Build strong, trusted relationships with Joint Venture brands’ senior leaders globally (Chief Information Officers, Chief Operations Officers, Chief Digital and Omnichannel Officers, Chief Technology Officers, etc.) and regional services leaders.
Serve as a trusted advisor on matters related to services in the market, either Chalhoub or external services (e.g., payment providers, BNPL, etc.).

Business Development:

Lead end-to-end integration of new Joint Ventures through planning, project management, and execution.
Support and coordinate setup of new legal entities, in collaboration with legal and finance, as well as other services centers (e.g., Admin).
Identify and promote value-add services across JVs, working with service centres to cross-sell scalable solutions.

Financial Stewardship & Planning:

Ensure projects deliver measurable value and manage budgeting and financial oversight for services, contributing to JV P&L outcomes.
Collaborate with JV partners to define financial structures and ensure the impact of services is aligned with financial goals.
Define and monitor KPIs / Scorecard for service performance, satisfaction, integration velocity, and cost-effectiveness across JV initiatives.

Escalation & Decision-Making:

Serve as the senior escalation point for complex issues, ensuring resolution before they reach higher management.
Provide strategic recommendations based on data-driven insights to optimize services and drive business results.

Data Services & Analytics:

Provide centralized data services to JV partners to support decision-making, operational optimization, and strategic planning.
Promote a data-driven culture within JVs by standardizing KPIs and metrics and driving analytics maturity.

Operational SLA Monitoring:

Collaborate closely with JV Operations and Supply Chain teams to monitor and ensure performance of key operational SLAs, including:

1. OTIF delivery SLAs (i.e., on-time delivery, lead times, delivery accuracy).
2. Warehouse management SLAs (i.e., order processing times, inventory accuracy, pick/pack efficiency).

Identify bottlenecks and drive continuous improvement in logistics and operational support.

Risk Management and Audit:

Establish and monitor risk registers for each JV, ensuring risks are logged, assessed, and mitigated in coordination with Group Risk.
Work with both JV audit teams and the Group Internal Audit to align compliance, governance, and control standards.
Ensure closure of audit findings and transparent reporting of compliance status to JV Boards and Group leadership.

Cybersecurity and Business Continuity:

Ensure all JVs comply with Group-level cybersecurity policies and participate in regular security assessments or awareness campaigns.
Act as liaison with Group Information Security to enforce cybersecurity protocols and manage third-party risk assessments.
Develop and test Business Continuity Plans (BCPs) for services and critical operational areas within JVs to minimize disruption during incidents or crises.

Digital and Omnichannel:

Support Joint Ventures in rolling out e-commerce solutions.
Support development of performance marketing support model supporting our JV brands.
Support onboarding of JV brands into Chalhoub loyalty, measuring success and developing the offering.

What You'll Need to Succeed

10–12 years in senior leadership roles, with experience in retail, operations, technology, and omnichannel (luxury retail a plus).
Degree in business or technology.
Experience with ERP systems (Oracle, SAP), WMS, CRM, e-commerce platforms (Salesforce, Shopify), and integrations.
Strong understanding of Retail, ideally Fashion and Beauty.
Strong understanding of Supply chain processes, metrics and KPIs; LEAN/ KAIZEN experience is a plus.
Strong leadership, negotiation, and strategic thinking skills with proven experience in managing cross-functional teams and influencing senior stakeholders.
Project Management and Programme management experience – ideally with PMP certification.
Fluent in English; knowledge of French or Italian is a plus.

What We Can Offer You

With us, you will turn your aspirations into reality. We will help shape your journey through enriching experiences, learning and development opportunities and exposure to different assignments within your role or through internal mobility. Our Group offers diverse career paths for those who are extraordinary, every day.

We recognise the value that you bring, and we strive to provide a competitive benefits package which includes health care, child education contribution, remote and flexible working policies as well as exclusive employee discounts.

We Invite All Applicants to Apply

It Takes Diversity Of Thought, Culture, Background, Differing Abilities and Perspectives to truly Inspire, Exhilarate and Delight our customers. At Chalhoub Group, we are committed to inclusion and diversity.

We welcome all applicants to apply and be part of our exciting future. We ensure equal opportunity for all our applicants without regard to gender, age, race, religion, national origin or disability status.

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