Workforce Optimization Manager

USA – Workforce Optimization Manager

Boston Based 3 days a week

The Retail Workforce Optimization Manager will work as part of the US Retail Operations Team and matrixed with the wider labor planning team, who are responsible for the deployment and utilization of labor across Primark stores in the United States. The purpose of this role is to work closely with the US Retail Leadership Team to optimize and evolve our capability in labor planning and embed best practice for forecasting and scheduling in our Workforce Management System. The role will be a subject matter expert on Workforce Management for the market and will work with the most senior stakeholders in Retail to optimize the largest budget in Primark. The role will be responsible for identifying opportunities to deploy labor hours in a more meaningful way, ensuring better outcomes for customers by placing the right people, in the right place, at the right time, working on the right tasks.  

What You’ll Do

• Utilize UKG Workforce Management System to optimize scheduling and ensure labor hours are prioritized toward high-value, customer-facing tasks.
• Maintain and configure all UKG system parameters, ensuring accuracy and consistency across all stores.
• Support the country in its correct use of UKG, ensuring appropriate configuration and resolving store-specific rostering, scheduling, and payroll-closing issues.
• Act as the primary business partner to the SVP, Retail and the Heads of Sales on workforce planning topics.
• Work with the central (Dublin-based) labor planning team to continuously refine and optimize the labor model, identifying productivity improvements and shifting hours away from low-value tasks.
• Monitor and analyze the “shape of day” to assess how labor hours are distributed across key trading periods and provide regular reporting on required adjustments.
• Understand the country’s individual scheduling rules and processes, identifying solutions to optimize our objective of having the “right person, right place, right task” within the country rule set.
• Provide detailed quarterly alignment updates, assessing how well stores align to recommended labor deployment and identifying improvement actions.
• Support the delivery of key projects that impact store processes and associated labor to ensure stores can understand and plan for the impact of changes to ways of working.
• Prepare and deliver senior-level presentations and progress updates to retail leaders, translating insights into actionable recommendations.
• Identify when region-level, area-level, or store-level interventions are required, and prepare detailed breakdowns, content, and business cases to support approval, in conjunction with commercial finance business partners.
• Leverage hands-on retail leadership experience to guide pragmatic productivity improvements at store level.
• Demonstrate an independence of thought and approach allowing you to use the data available to challenge, where appropriate, the retail leaders to take the required actions to improve optimal spending of the labor budget.

What You’ll Get

We’re committed to your success and will provide you with an onboarding period in Primark’s other U.S. trading areas. Here, you’ll be empowered to succeed. As we rapidly expand across the globe, we’ll give you the tools that you need to excel. We’ll also offer you competitive benefits and work life balance – we know your life outside of the store is important.

What You’ll Bring

• Minimum 4 year’s experience in a similar role within a retail organization, previous store manager experience is a plus  
• Strong understanding of in-store retail processes across all aspects of store operations.
• Detailed understanding of current store labor planning processes from forecasting, scheduling, and in-day deployment and management of labor.
• Effective project management skills with the ability to juggle competing priorities and timelines.
• Strong communication and stakeholder engagement abilities across multiple levels and functions.
• Analytical mindset with the ability to assess risks and impacts quickly and make informed decisions.
• Comfortable working in ambiguity with the ability to drive clarity and momentum.
• Flexibility to travel when required.

Personal Attributes:

• Highly organized and proactive with strong planning and coordination skills.
• Collaborative, approachable, and able to build trust with cross-functional teams.
• Confident in decision-making and able to represent retail priorities in a complex program environment.
• Diplomatic and resilient, able to push back constructively and manage conflict where required.
• Strong sense of ownership and accountability for delivering results.
• Culturally aware and respectful of different working environments and practices.

Excited? Good. Because it’s energizing to put your skills to work, in a growing global business committed to helping people express themselves – and feel a sense of belonging.

We encourage all our people to grow, learn, and develop, and we can’t wait to see how you’ll positively impact colleagues in this role.

The pay range for this role is: $121,840 - $150,000

Our fashion isn’t one-size-fits-all and neither is our culture. Primark promotes equal employment opportunity, we strive to create an inclusive workplace where people can be themselves, access opportunities and thrive together. Excited? Good. There’s real accountability and ownership here as you shape your store, team’s futures, and steer sales. It’s energizing to put your skills to work, in a growing local and global business committed to helping people express themselves- and feel a sense of belonging. Because you thrive outside your comfort zone. Apply today to start your Primark journey!

Primark is an equal opportunity employer. Primark does not discriminate against applicants or employees on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law. Primark is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment. To request reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, please email [email protected] with your request. This email is not for general employment inquiries or correspondence. We will only respond to those requests that are related to accessibility of the online application system due to a disability.