BookPeople – Austin, Texas
General Manager
The General Manager is responsible for the smooth day-to-day operation of the retail bookstore location, leadership of long-term projects, offsite events and communication with the airport kiosk. The General Manager supervises the leaders of the retail departments including Events and Marketing, Children’s Programming, Retail Floor Sales, Purchasing and Inventory, and IT.
Responsibilities include:
- Working with the Chief Support Officer to meet the relevant needs of all stakeholders: customers, employees, investors, community, vendors and the government.
- Supporting the heads of store departments in their efforts to develop selling and programming efforts with a mind towards ensuring profitability.
- Acting as the senior leader of the management team to develop, implement, and train on standards, process, and protocols
- Operational responsibilities include:
- Creating and adhering to sales, payroll, and operational budgets.
- Overseeing purchasing, inventory management, IT, events, programs and customer service.
- Cultivating and developing a leadership team dedicated to working towards stated objectives.
- Overseeing facility management and planning for capital spending as necessary (maintenance, repairs, lease terms, etc.).
- Approving operational procedures, policies, and standards.
- Additional responsibilities in conjunction with the Chief Support Officer include:
- Working with CPAs to complete monthly and annual financial reporting, tax reporting, and management of sales and property taxes.
- Managing cash flow and allocating funds to company priorities.
- Overseeing accounts payable and receivable.
- Overseeing human resources and developing employee salary structures, bonus incentive programs, and performance reviews for staff.
- Authorizing/obtaining authorization for and signing all contracts.
- Serving as primary contact for partners in large-scale offsite bookselling events like Texas Book Festival, SXSW, and women’s conferences.
- Serving as a project manager for any necessary long-term projects (i.e., software implementations, marketing initiatives, etc.) to ensure that stakeholders in those projects complete their work in a timely manner.
- Building and maintaining strong relationships with industry and community stakeholders.
- Serving as or designating a primary contact for all outside communications and the media.
- Identifying/cultivating partnerships with businesses/organizations in support of company goals.
- Serving as, or designating a representative at trade organizations.
- Modeling world-class bookselling.
Qualified candidates will:
- Have a minimum of five years’ experience in bookstore management with preference given to whole store management and experience with managing large-scale offsite bookselling events.
- Have strong interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills.
- Be up to date on the latest trends and challenges in independent bookselling and brick and mortar retailing.
BookPeople has been the leading independent bookstore in Texas since 1970. Located in the heart of downtown, BookPeople has been voted best bookstore in Austin for over 15 years. BookPeople was voted Bookstore of the Year by Publisher’s Weekly in 2005. With visits from some of the most interesting and important authors of the past 43 years, as well as by Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, BookPeople is the destination bookstore in Texas.
posted 9/14/19
