Lagardère Travel Retail is one of the world leaders in Travel Retail, serving passengers in airports, railway stations and other concessions in 42 countries. One of the two divisions of the Lagardère group, Lagardère Travel Retail meets the needs of passengers and licensors in a holistic way through a network of more than 5 000 Travel Essentials, Duty Free & Fashion and Foodservice outlets. The group has established an ambitious CSR roadmap called P.E.P.S (Planet.Ethics.People.Social), in order to contribute to the construction of a more sustainable industry. In 2023, Lagardère Travel Retail generated €6.6bn sales.

Under the supervision of the VP Business Development EMEA, the role is to develop Lagardere Travel Retail into new territories primarily in EMEA and punctually in other parts of the world through the gain of profitable concession contracts and the acquisition of other operators (Duty-Free & Luxury Fashion, Travel Essentials, Food & Beverage).

Key accountabilities

B2B / prospection / Networking

• To develop commercial relationships with potential future landlords (mainly airports, potentially also others such as railway stations, ferries, …) at different levels (shareholder, CEO, CCO, retail and F&B manager …) in order to develop our concession business: identification of opportunities, understanding of customer needs, design of commercial proposal, contractual negotiation, …; when relevant, to identify and to develop relationships with potential local partners
• To develop relationships with potential acquisition targets, sometimes in collaboration with other departments (such as M&A which has the leadership role on big acquisitions) in order to create opportunities of partnership (deal flow)
• To analyse existing market and to monitor market developments to spot and to create new opportunities: business and competitive intelligence, strategy and new projects of landlords, legislation, market dynamics and characteristics …

Project Management

•  To lead development projects (tender or more occasionally M&A) within Lagardere Travel Retail: set up of commercial and financial objectives, project and team management (incl. consultants when relevant), key assumptions for business plan, interface with logistics /IT /purchasing /marketing/operations, co-production of full commercial and financial proposal, contacts with external partners such as local brands or franchisors, internal selling and reporting, relationship with local partners if and when relevant; directly in charge of the analysis of local prices and of other local parameters
• On an ad-hoc basis, to support local business development projects, led by existing Lagardere Travel Retail entities

Geographical focus: focus on all EMEA countries (including Turkey and former CIS countries), with a lead role on territories where Lagardere Travel Retail does not operate today, but occasionally could work in any other project or territory worldwide on an ad hoc basis

Profile and key skill

Minimum 5 years of experience in travel retail or international B2B business development in the service sector with strong skills and ability in project management

 Relevant sectors:

• Sectors developed through gain of concessions, i.e. in airports, railway networks, ferries, …
  Retail and duty-free wholesale, including ship chandlers
  Food & Beverage
  Handling / Ground operations, airport services
  Airlines and aeronautical businesses
  Media in concessions
  Airport privatisatio
• Project management skills: project planning, teamwork and animation, coordination, presentation skills
• In-depth understanding of the B2B complex sales development process on mid to long term cycles to key accounts (prospection, understanding needs of client, design of solution, financial projections, negotiation cycle, …)
• Experience in selling outsourcing solutions is a plus
• Autonomous, rigorous … and 100% trustful
• Superior communication and interpersonal skills to interact both internally and externally sometimes at VIP level
• Ability to work in an international environment, good interpersonal and teamwork skills
• Languages: totally fluent in English (oral, written, incl. commercial negotiation, contract review etc); French is a plus but is not required
• Readiness to travel extensively (about 25%)
• Experience of retail and F&B is not a must; knowledge of duty free products neither.

We believe an inclusive and diverse culture can help businesses and people thrive. At Lagardère Travel Retail, we are committed to create a work environment where our people can fulfill their potential and be themselves and to support each and everyone of them in achieving their ambitions. We welcome and consider all applications regardless of their background and can ensure all candidates a fair and equal treatment.