Country Manager B2B (m/f/x) - Decathlon Switzerland - DE/ENG NUOVO

Come speed up the conquest of the Swiss B2B sport retail market !

Aufgabe

Context

Decathlon Switzerland, with nearly CHF 460 million in turnover, is solidly established in the B2C market, supported by its tightly knit network of 50 stores and a high-performing online platform (representing 25% of turnover). This strong position ideally places the company to consolidate its leadership in the retail sale of sporting goods. In parallel, the Swiss B2B market presents significant growth potential, estimated at around CHF 580 million by 2030.

B2B players rely on traditional models (paper catalogs, large inventories) and with a slow moving pricing policy, focused on discounting, leaving room for new challengers. This context offers opportunities for Decathlon, through Decathlon Pro, to achieve a significant growth lever. The potential is amazing in German-speaking Switzerland, where our retail growth is accelerating.

Decathlon PRO, launched in mid-2024 with a first commercial policy and simple tools, must now accelerate its market conquest. To achieve this, a highly ambitious deployment plan is essential focused on:

1. OPERATING MODEL: The immediate structuring and development of the BtoB sales team.
2. USP: Refining Decathlon PRO’s unique value proposition: price, quality, innovation, availability, and digitalization, breaking away from the competition.
3. DIGITALISATION: Implementing targeted and modern acquisition tactics, particularly in German-speaking Switzerland and high-potential business sectors via a strong CRM, AI, and all digital tools that will allow for greater scaling.

Your objectives

As the P&L owner for Decathlon Pro Switzerland, your mission is to transform a market opportunity into a high-growth, profitable, and scalable business unit. You are not a coordinator; you are a builder. As a DECATHLON PRO Country Director with an intrapreneurship mindset, you will incarn and develop the strategic professional market of sport goods & services in Switzerland : associations, clubs, country authorities, local authorities (canton, municipalities, army, etc.), schools and companies (country wide and local) to generate revenue first to self-fund the organization’s growth (“Pay-as-you-grow” model).

You will be fully responsible for the commercial development of this strategic branch at the national level, relying on a centralized service yet to be established, and on our local network of stores through local commercial developers.

What you will actually do :

• Build the operating model by structuring the B2B service in our stores and creating a strong commercial organization.
• Define the sales strategy and the commercial action plan to acquire new professional customers.
• Animate the business by tracking KPI’s and sharing clear dashboards with the country.
• Define the strategic direction to transform our offer for clubs and identify new business models.
• Establish a fair value-sharing model between our stores, Decathlon pro, clubs, and partners.
• Drive the strategic roadmap towards 2030 to deliver ambitious growth.
• Achieve financial profitability for the B2B project within a clear deadline of 3 years.

Your KPIs :

To ensure our global growth, you will define a 3-year roadmap and be directly measured on the following financial and satisfaction indicators:

• Global GMV generated
• Margin, profit, and the net result of the Decathlon Pro business model
• Partnership members growth and overall b2b customer satisfaction
• The percentage of circular services in the overall Decathlon Pro revenue.

Profil

Your profile:

• You have proven experience managing a Business Unit (over 10m CHF in B2B or 21m CHF in B2C). If you are an internal Leader, you have the seniority of a Store Leader or Ecosystem Leader.

• You are a strong strategist who can easily analyze the market, define what needs to be done, and build a long-term vision.
• You have a true entrepreneurial mindset: you know how to win quickly, capture market share, and reach profitability.
• You have a deep understanding of the Swiss market and local business realities.
• You are a resilient leader who can convince others, build strong alliances, and cooperate with our network to bring people on board.
• You are a native German speaker (Swiss-German is strongly preferred), totally fluent in English (C1), and speaking French is an optional bonus.

Key details of the position:

• Location: based in Spreitenbach (Zurich) or in Bussigny (Lausanne), but with regular travel expected to connect with our network.
• Timing: the position is open now and we are looking for someone to start as soon as possible.

The recruitment process:

Please note that each step of our process is selective; you will move forward only if the previous step is successfully validated.

• Step 1: AssessFirst and language tests. You will complete the AssessFirst test and language tests (English and German) via Voice. Why? Because we want to see beyond your CV to discover your natural talents, your true motivations, and ensure you are fully comfortable communicating in the required languages.
• Step 2: Talent Acquisition interview (external candidates only). An initial discovery interview with me to discuss your background, your motivations, and ensure a mutual cultural fit.
• Step 3: Manager Interview. If your application is selected (and if you validate the internal mobility requirements for internal candidates), you will have an interview with Adrien Lagache, your future Manager.
• Step 4: HR Interview. An in-depth interview with Lionel Lefin, our HR Director.
• Step 5: Final Interview. An ultimate validation interview with Dragos, our CEO.

Ready to build the future of our B2B business? Apply now !

Kompetenzen

• German
• English
• Management
• B2B
• Entrepreneurship