Assistant Manager Community Engagement - Full Time

About Gazelle Sports: 

Gazelle Sports is a run specialty & active lifestyle retailer. We're Michigan-based, locally owned and operated, and proud to be born and raised in Michigan. It is our mission to inspire movement through exceptional experiences. We do that by striving to provide the best customer care, building relationships and empowering and inspiring others to move. We seek to foster and support an active community in every place we call home. This was true when we opened our first store in downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1985, and it’s still true today across our 7 retail locations, GazelleSports.com and at Team Gazelle.

Position Vision:

The Assistant Store Manager, overseeing community engagement, is responsible for leading the community engagement initiatives of the store and local market. The Assistant Store Manager will lead people, community partnerships, community event operations, and store environment to drive traffic and sales to the Grand Rapids 28th Street store. This role is tasked with maintaining operational standards, delivery of community and sales KPIs, and managing the community activation leads in key audience categories - Medical, Young Athlete, Urban Herd and Trail Running. 

As a leader in the store, the Assistant Manager is also responsible for supporting the Store Manager.

The ideal candidate for this role is passionate about running, specialty retail, and eager to be an actively engaged member of the local running community.

Supervisory Responsibilities: 

• Model and lead customer and team member experience that supports Gazelle Sports core values
• Recruits, interviews, hires, and trains new team members to meet performance and cultural-add expectations
• Conduct timely, well-documented performance reviews that provide clear, actionable feedback and establish accountability for improvement and growth
• Ensure team members are adhering to all Gazelle Sports policies and procedures
• Consistently coach, mentor and develop team members through regular check-ins, real-time feedback, and documented action plans to ensure delivery of an exceptional customer experience
• Train, develop and hold Community Leads accountable for executing an exceptional experience in the community, ensuring they meet performance expectations and operational standards
  • Community Leads include:  Trail Community Lead, Urban Herd Lead, Medical Lead, Young Athlete Lead

Position Expectations:

• Supports delivery of results against individual store annual budgets (sales goals, labor/wages, and expenses) to maximize profitability
• Maintain meaningful relationships with key community partners, vendors, local businesses, and other strategic partners
• Promote a diverse and inclusive environment for team members, customers, and community members
• Strategize and execute business development strategies to drive sales and brand affinity with a focus on new customer acquisition
• Coordinate, execute and evaluate in-store events
• Manage, execute, and evaluate event sponsorships and partnerships, including:
  • Expos, Offsite Sales Opportunities, Demo Runs, Run Club Collaborations
• Maintain consistent planning and evaluation documentation for all Community Engagement activations
• Serve as Race Director for Whoville 5K
  • Plan, coordinate and lead execution of the event experience
• Lead Girls on the Run (GOTR) - West Michigan partner in partnership with the Holland Store Manager5K Celebration Sponsorship
  • GOTR seasonal partnership fulfillment (in-store events, coupons, etc…)

Position Requirements:

• Ability to communicate effectively verbally and in writing
• Strong interpersonal and customer service skills
• Intuitive community building and grassroots marketing skills
• Attention to detail, consistency in communication and documentation
• Consistency in meeting deadlines, and attention to detail
• Skilled at problem solving with an ability to quickly adapt to the needs of event or activation
• Strong leadership skills
• Ability to prioritize tasks and to delegate when appropriate
• Thrives in a high-paced environment, with an ability to calmly manage stressful situations
• A strong focus on collaboration with all teams and departments across Gazelle Sports
• Engagement in the running community and experience participating or volunteering with running events
• High School diploma or equivalent

Preferred Skills and Experience:

• 3 years experience in retail
• Experience in specialty retail
• Experience in grassroots marketing and business development
• Experience in event planning and execution

Other Requirements: 

• Flexibility and willingness to work a combination of mornings, evenings, weekends, and holidays based on the needs of the business with evening and weekend availability required
• Must work a minimum of 20 scheduled sales floor hours per week

Please apply at:  Gazelle Sports Career Page

Benefits Include:  Medical, HSA, Dental, Vision, Flex Dependent Care, Paid Time Off, Paid Bonding Time, Long Term Disablility, 401K with Employer Matching, Employee Assistance Program, Athletic Reimbursement, Employee Discount