Central Operations Lead - Retail Backend & Operational Excellence

Central Ops - Lead

Central Operations – Offline Retail

Backend Operations, Audit, Store Tech & Operational Excellence

Function

Central Operations – Offline Retail

Reports to

Head of Offline Operations

Location

Corporate Office (Pan-India scope)

Scope

2,500+ stores across India

Type

Full-time | Central, cross-functional role

About the Role

This is the role that keeps our pan-India store fleet running consistently, efficiently and to a high standard — every day, in every store. As the owner of the backend operating system behind our retail network, you will define how stores operate, how compliance is verified, how technology is used to measure and improve performance, and how change is rolled out across thousands of stores without disruption.

Working closely with Audit, Loss Prevention, Business Development, Training & Academy, Visual Merchandising, Tech and Field leadership, you will turn policy and standards into reliable execution on the shop floor. If you enjoy building structure at scale and seeing your work show up in real stores, this role offers exactly that.

What You’ll Own

Store Technology & AI Implementation

•     Drive the ideation and rollout of the AI charter and operations technology across the store network, in partnership with Tech and Product.

•     Lead the deployment of initiatives such as CCTV-based footfall measurement and AI-based store cleanliness and grooming monitoring.

•     Ensure data accuracy and store-level adoption, with telemetry feeding back into everyday operational decisions.

Backend Operations SOPs

•     Define, document and maintain the end-to-end SOPs governing backend store operations across COCO, FOFO and HOB formats.

•     Standardise procedures across the fleet, version-control changes, and keep SOPs current with new processes, formats and launches.

•     Run a clear adoption and review cadence so every store operates to a single, consistent standard.

Audit Mechanisms & Corrective Action

•     Design and own the audit framework and scoring mechanisms used to assess store compliance against SOPs.

•     Translate audit findings into time-bound corrective actions at store, AOM and region level, with Audit as a close partner.

•     Drive closure of audit gaps through structured tracking, escalation and follow-through with field leadership.

Change Management at Stores

•     Own change management across the network, including Visual Merchandising resets and new-launch readiness.

•     Build and run a structured rollout playbook so VM changes, product launches and process changes land on time and to standard.

•     Partner with Circle Heads to ensure smooth on-ground implementation, verifying readiness before go-live and capturing feedback for improvement.

Store Inventory Monitoring

•     Provide data-backed feedback to Merchandising on store-level inventory and staff insights on the merchandise mix.

•     Partner with Loss Prevention to identify, monitor and reduce shrinkage by strengthening process controls and surfacing hotspots.

•     Manage store consumables end-to-end, balancing cost efficiency with customer experience, and set norms, replenishment logic and cost benchmarks.

Store Refit & New Store Opening

•     Own the refit charter — cost-benefit analysis, planning, scheduling and tracking — to complete refits on time and minimise store downtime.

•     Partner with Business Development to enable smooth new-store openings with clean operational handovers when sales takes over.

•     Define and run the operations handover checklist that bridges site readiness to live trading.

Training Compliance & Consequence Management

•     Partner with the Academy team to drive training-calendar adherence, tracking completion across the network and nudging regional leaders.

•     Define, communicate and manage the consequence framework for non-adherence to training requirements.

FOFO Operations & Incentive Release

•     Manage day-to-day operations for the 300+ FOFO store network, ensuring standards in line with the broader fleet.

•     Own an accurate, timely and policy-compliant incentive-release process for FOFO stores.

•     Coordinate with Finance and field teams to resolve operational and incentive queries for FOFO partners.

Who You’ll Work With

This is a deeply cross-functional role. You’ll partner closely with Audit (compliance and corrective action), Loss Prevention (shrinkage control), Business Development (new store openings), Training & Academy (training adherence), Visual Merchandising (changes and launches), Circle Heads (on-ground implementation), Tech & Product (operations technology) and Projects & Maintenance (refits and consumables).

How Success Is Measured

•     SOP coverage and adoption across the fleet.

•     Store audit compliance scores and speed of gap closure.

•     Adoption and data accuracy of store operations technology.

•     On-time, to-standard execution of VM changes and launches.

•     Reduction in inventory shrinkage.

•     Consumables cost efficiency without trading off customer experience.

•     Refits started and completed on schedule, and on-time handover of new stores.

•     Training-calendar adherence and accurate, timely FOFO incentive release.

Requirements

What We’re Looking For

•     6–9 years of experience in retail operations, central operations or operational excellence — ideally in a large multi-store, multi-format retail network.

•     Proven experience defining SOPs, running audit or compliance mechanisms, and leading network-wide change management.

•     Exposure to retail technology deployment (CCTV analytics, AI-based monitoring, store systems) is strongly preferred.

•     Strong cross-functional stakeholder management across audit, loss prevention, tech, training and field teams.

•     Graduate degree required; MBA from a Tier-1 institute or comparable work experience.

Skills & Competencies We Value

•     Structured, process-first thinking with strong execution and follow-through.

•     Comfort with data and reporting to monitor compliance, cost and readiness at scale.

•     Ability to influence and drive accountability across field leadership without direct authority.

•     Balanced judgement on cost versus customer experience.

•     A bias for standardisation, consistency and operational discipline across a large fleet — and the judgement to know when to escalate.

Experience Level

Senior Level