Managing Director — Family-Owned Fashion & Accessories Group

JOlivier & Partners has been retained to identify the Managing Director of a well-established, family-owned Spanish company in fashion and accessories. Based in Madrid and reporting to the Board, the Managing Director will take full executive responsibility for the business and for delivering its strategic plan, leading a growing project within a solid and stable company.

The Organisation & Context

Our client combines a strong brand heritage and a positive family culture with the ambition to professionalise its management and accelerate growth in Spain and abroad. The new Managing Director will be expected to preserve the know-how and values that have made the company successful, while introducing the processes, data and management disciplines required to compete in an omnichannel market.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the company as its chief executive, owning the execution of the strategic plan and overseeing the global P&L, with clear visibility on profitability by channel, market and business unit, and preparing budgets, annual plans and regular reporting to the Board.
• Build, coordinate and develop the senior leadership team, defining clear responsibilities, objectives, KPIs and reporting systems, and ensuring effective collaboration between product, marketing, sales, e-commerce, operations and finance.
• Review and evolve the commercial model in Spain and internationally — wholesale, key accounts and strategic partners — alongside retail, franchise and e-commerce, within a coherent omnichannel vision.
• Drive the digital transformation of the business and a more data-driven management, while evolving the brand positioning and adapting the product proposition to the changing needs of consumers.
• Optimise processes, structure and resources, identify capabilities to strengthen or bring in, manage major investments with a disciplined view on return, and develop new growth opportunities in Spain and abroad.

Candidate Profile

• Relevant leadership experience in fashion, footwear, lifestyle, retail, consumer brands, distribution or e-commerce, or in sectors where product, brand, retail and the consumer play a central role — either as Managing Director or General Manager, or in a strong second-line role within a larger company.
• A strategic and entrepreneurial leader with a strong results orientation, able to understand the business as a whole rather than through a single functional lens, and with the financial depth to manage P&L, cash flow, budgets, investments and profitability.
• Genuine commercial instinct and sensitivity to brand, product and consumer, with a real understanding of wholesale, retail and e-commerce and experience managing international business.
• A digital mindset and the ability to work with data, implement effective KPI and reporting systems, and build, lead and challenge a senior team through change, taking difficult decisions when needed.
• Maturity, authority and relational intelligence to operate successfully within a family-owned company — listening, questioning and building consensus without giving up leadership — together with a high degree of autonomy and a strong level of professional English.

Compensation

Compensation will be competitive and aligned with the scope of the role, and will be discussed with shortlisted candidates.

Application

Senior executives interested in exploring this opportunity may submit their profile to JOlivier & Partners. All approaches are handled in strict confidence.