Honda Franchise Director

We are looking to appoint a Honda Franchise Director to join our senior leadership team to oversee our Vertu Honda car dealerships throughout England. Reporting to our Group Operations Director for our Honda, Kia, and Toyota, you will be responsible for a portfolio of 16 dealerships from Truro in the South West through the midlands up to the North East of England, ensuring operational excellence, and fostering strong relationships with Honda to support our long-term growth strategy. You will lead a team of General Managers to deliver our Vision, Values and objectives and set the tone for our team. You will have a dedicated divisional team around you to support you in delivering in the role providing you with expert aftersales, finance and HR advice and support. The role focusses on ensuring the excellent and consistent execution of the Group’s sales, after sales, marketing, and people strategy at the operational level. This starts with ensuring that the people in our dealerships understand our culture, systems and process and have the tools, resources, and support to be able to deliver it. Equally important is that our colleagues ensure customer experience is at the very centre of what they do. You will take the lead in creating this environment which will deliver financial results alongside customer experience whilst ensuring compliance with the regulatory framework surrounding vehicle and regulated product sales. Your role will involve setting the monthly and quarterly agenda for your management teams and working at a tactical level to help them deliver the results. You will have responsibility for the P&L performance of the Honda Cars division and will be the primary individual driving performance. This will include holding operational reviews, best-practice workshops and individual meetings with General Managers and Line Managers. You will lead the implementation of new systems, processes and change programmes and support your team to ensure that they understand these and are able implement them successfully. You will lead the talent and development of your management team to enhance their skill levels and performance creating succession plans for the Division. The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate their ability to grow talent in a structured and effective manner. Accordingly, the role will entail travel throughout the dealership network to ensure that you are close to the business, understand its nuances and are able to personally influence managers to help them succeed. A proven record of successfully managing and implementing change is essential as the sector is moving through a period of significant technological transformation. The increasing complexity of the sales process, vehicles options, electrification and innovation in customer buying channels has contributed to an increase in the pace of change. Your job will be to understand the Group’s approach and to simplify the messages to your team to allow then to deliver results whilst also embedding these new technologies and ways of working.