Head of Retail Store Experience Full Time

The Company:

Patagonia is an outdoor apparel business like no other, “We’re in business to save our home planet.” A certified B Corporation, the company is recognised internationally for its commitment to product quality and environmental activism – and now our one and only shareholder is our home planet with 100% of profits going to fight the environmental crisis. Founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973, Patagonia is based in Ventura, California with offices around the world including in Doonmarngwarree (Torquay), Australia.
Our values stay true to a business that was started by a band of climbers and surfers, and the minimalist style they promoted. The approach we take demonstrates a bias for simplicity and utility – build the best product and provide the best service; examine our practices openly and honestly; protect our home planet; be just, equitable and antiracist; do it our way.

We look for candidates with proven experience who thrive in a team-based atmosphere, individuals who are passionate about their communities, the environment and caring for others. We seek core Patagonia product users, people who love to spend as much time as possible in the mountains, ocean, and wild nature. Folks who deal well with ambiguity, learn on the fly, demonstrate sound judgment, and solve problems creatively are most successful with us. We’re looking for someone who builds and maintains relationships with ease and desires to put the customer at the centre of everything they do.  We don’t want someone who can just do a job – we want the best person for the job. Yet we don’t look for “stars” seeking special treatment and perks. Our best efforts are collaborative, and Patagonia culture rewards the ensemble player, while it barely tolerates those who need the limelight.

The Role:

The purpose of the Head of Store Retail Experience is to support our growing and diverse retail store network across Australia and New Zealand. Scope of work includes managing new store and refurbishment projects, concepting, planning and delivering retail store experience, branded wholesale installations, and leading the Australian Visual Merchandising team. This role will partner with the merchandise and planning teams to inform seasonal store assortments,  the wholesale sales teams and the marketing team to deliver on our goals and maintain visual merchandising standards. Responsibilities include project planning and stakeholder management (suppliers, customers and internal), budgeting and cost management, managing complex projects concurrently from concept through to completion, team leadership, contributing to seasonal range architecture, development of seasonal merchandising plans, and ensuring outcomes are delivered on time and budget. Engaging and collaborating with internal stakeholders is essential to the success of this role. The Head of Retail Store Experience will navigate ambiguity with confidence, respond to feedback constructively, and consistently integrate Patagonia’s values into every aspect of their work.

With a deep understanding of the outdoor and surf market and contemporary consumer behaviours, this role integrates retail execution with merchandising and marketing through strategic planning, leadership, collaboration, and hands-on retail execution. When done successfully, this role will support the growth of core categories, technical product, and overall brand success in the retail and wholesale marketplace.
Our retail stores are where our brand comes to life, and we consider these spaces as a gift to our communities. We create an environment that is welcoming to everyone, unique, inspiring, and reflective of the local community. This role will honour this through creative design, embedding brand directives, and ensuring that local stories are told to not only create a unique retail experience, but a hub for local activism.

Objectives:

Visual Merchandising

You will be responsible for managing the overall visual strategy and retail experience across Patagonia retail and national wholesale stores. The role involves managing the regional Visual merchandiser team, collaborating with cross-functional departments, ensuring brand consistency, and elevating customer experience across all Patagonia stores. You’ll will monitor performance, and adapt strategies based on sales performance.  Additionally, you’ll oversee the implementation of branded Shop-in-Shop displays in key national wholesale partners.

• Develop and guide the Visual Merchandising team in executing seasonal plans and crafting compelling visual concepts that enhance the customer experience.
• Develop seasonal strategies and plans to support Ocean and Outdoor stores, evolving the customer experience through floor layout, colour initiatives, and seasonal imagery.
• Manage the VM team’s travel calendar in alignment with seasonal product deliveries, storytelling execution, and wholesale support.
• Ensure cohesive visual displays, signage, and overall store aesthetics across all locations.
• Lead seasonal planning to support retail campaigns, product launches, and store installations.
• Develop and manage seasonal store marketing strategies, including design, POP, and in-store experience creation.
• Oversee vendor partnerships to design and supply seasonal POP assets, ensuring alignment with budget and brand standards.
• Lead wholesale Shop-in-Shop execution by creating tailored layouts and assortments that balance Patagonia’s identity with host store flow and standards.
• Conduct regular store visits to research customer behaviour, assess execution, and gather insights that inform merchandising strategies and improve experience.

Assortment Planning

You will play a key role in shaping product presentation and assortment strategies that reflect store identity and customer needs. This involves leveraging sales insights, market insights, and customer profiles to support planning and instore execution. By collaborating closely with retail, merchandise, marketing, and buying teams you ensure alignment across channels, while driving performance through strategic product selection and visual storytelling.

• Align product planning with store DNA by analysing sales, customers, and trends to ensure assortments reflect individual stores needs.
• Produce floorplans, layouts, and presentation decks.
• Be a contributing voice for each stores product assortments based on customer, targeted sports, foundational products, sku holding and seasonal needs.
• Develop seasonal product calendars to support stock flows through out the season.
• Partner with merchandising and buying teams to give strategic feedback, ensuring assortments support for visual storytelling, seasonal campaigns, and brand goals.
• Design product presentations using Illustrator (or similar) to create compelling, easy-to-navigate guides that help store teams execute layouts.
• Use Illustrator (or similar) to sketch layout changes, develop floorplans, and optimise navigation and product visibility across various store zones.
• Continuously seek opportunities to enhance the brand experience through innovative design, layout optimisation, and immersive retail environments.

Retail Store Development

You will manage in the design process for new stores, existing store refurbishment and wholesale branded projects through management of an external architects, internal design teams. designers and drafts people. This will involve:

• Partner in the concept design process for store projects with external design partners; from initial briefing, through to design iterations, and final sign-off with internal and external stakeholders.
• Executing store modelling and rendering of branded structures and store environments, through design partners and directly (project size dependent).
• Produce floorplans, layouts, and detailed presentation decks.
• Researching and selecting appropriate materials with thoughtful consideration to sustainability and environmental impact; maintain a materials library and sample boards.
• Establishing project resourcing through trusted and cost-effective trades or store fit-out partners as appropriate, and conducting regular review of vendors to ensure positive outcomes.
• Interfacing with vendors, contractors, and other external agencies where necessary.
• Manage vendors and contractors effectively for on-time delivery within budget.
• Developing and managing project budgets and timelines in line with capital planning and management direction.

About you: 

• Strategic thinker: able to think big picture and drive work accordingly.
• Leader: build trusted relationships, influence decisions and drive urgency on critical priorities.
• Influential: able to communicate through complicated matters, builds trust easily and gets buy-in from partners at all levels of seniority.
• Strong Communicator: excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Emotionally intelligent: high level of self-awareness, empathy, and interpersonal skills.
• Inclusive: deeply experienced in collaborating with others and managing differences to a positive outcome.
• Passionate: cares deeply about people practices and saving our home planet.
• Creative: a passion for visual design principles, interior design trends, and being at the forefront of innovative an sustainable building materials.

Experience you bring       

• Experience in a similar visual merchandise / retail interior design / project management role within a retail environment with 10+ years experience.
• Tertiary qualified in interior design, visual design, architecture, or other relavant fields that support key design aspects of the role.
• Previous experience in leading build project teams, in a fast-paced environment, while navigating between multiple projects at once.
• Demonstrated experience at delivering multiple projects in different locations simultaneously.
• Agile mindset and the ability to work under pressure to meet deadlines and budgets.
• Ability to develop seasonal strategies and gain stakeholder buying.
• Ability to work with a diverse group of internal and external stakeholders, and the drive to be adaptable in order to manage great relationships.
• Able to provide folio documentation and supporting material to validate experience.
• Must effectively lead open and concise communications at all levels of the organisation.
• Demonstrate strong people skills, problem solving, communication, organisational skills, time management, and multi-tasking ability.
• Ability to give presentations and training to large groups and/or senior leadership.
• Proficient in the following: Sketchup Pro Rendering software (KeyShot, Podium, etc.); Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator); Microsoft Office Suite (PowerPoint, Word and Excel); Keynote; FTP file transfer; Ideation/visualisation via hand sketching/drawing, model building or other non-CAD techniques.
• Ability to work extended hours and travel when needed.

Equal Employment Opportunity:

Patagonia is an equal opportunity employer. Patagonia recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes without regard to race, religion, colour, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, or individuals with a disability. Patagonia is proud of our diverse workforce and encourages applications from diverse cultural backgrounds. Like our planet, our company is an interconnected network of ecosystems dependent on each other. Patagonia is a global community with members that seek to respect, uplift, and celebrate all the qualities that make each of us unique – members that look to champion justice, equity, and inclusion across our company and beyond.
 
Accessibility Support:

Patagonia is committed to ensuring that our hiring process is accessible for talent of all abilities. If you require assistance and/ or accommodation in the search and/ or application process, please contact us at accessibility@patagonia.com.au with your full name, best way to reach you, and the accommodation needed to assist you with the application process.

Benefits:

Patagonia provides employees with competitive benefits packages (unique to each role) that may include environmental internships, employee discounts, generous clothing allowance, activism hours, a nine-day work fortnight, equal paternity leave, matching of charity donations, and much more.

*Please include a cover letter in your application telling us about your passion for your communities, the environment, and caring for others. We’d also love to know how you spend your time in the outdoors!

Tagged as: director, marketing, patagonia, product, retail, retailer, sales, torquay