Job Description

Summary

U-turn is a leading organisation in developing pathways out of homelessness. We are looking for a Retail Area Manager to join Retail team in Cape Town from

01 June 2025

. This is a full-time onsite position and will initially be offered as a one-year contract.

This position

There is an opportunity for a person with strong retail skills and experience to join the U-turn team as a Retail Area Manager in and around the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town, thus giving them the opportunity to apply their professional retail skills in a development setting.

Reporting directly to the Retail Operations Manager, the candidate will apply their retail skills to manage and oversee our retail stores in and around the northern suburbs of Cape Town and to grow sales and profitability.

The ideal candidate is someone who is happy to work in an organisation with strong Christian motivations, displays a passion to see people grow (i.e. to work developmentally) and is excellent at customer service.

Background

U-turn is a thriving non-profit that exists to equip homeless people with the skills to overcome homelessness. Founded in 1997, we believe that every homeless individual is intrinsically valuable and should have access to an effective pathway to address their physical, spiritual and emotional needs so they can leave the streets and become a long-term productive member of society.

To help people overcome homelessness we operate a phased approach that includes addiction rehabilitation, counselling, life-skills training and sheltered work placement in one of our social enterprises. Through this process, the programme inculcates a healthy work ethic, furnishes modern job skills and gives 18-24 months of real work experience so that individuals can be gainfully employed in the modern South African economy.

Our graduates enter the open market employment and show an above 85% long term success rate! We are actively working to expand to more locations in Cape Town and across South Africa.

Service Centres

U-turn's Service Centres provide services to people living on the streets in order to prepare them for and to support them on a journey of change. This includes providing food and clothing (and in some cases access to a shower and a bed for the night), therapeutic and development based interventions, and recovery support for those struggling with addiction. The ultimate aim of the Service Centre is to prepare individuals to participate in our work-based rehabilitation programme.

Key areas of responsibility

Manage, train and support U-turn Retail Managers under the direction of Retail Operations Manager to run the retail aspect of the stores and in collaboration with the Personal Development team to ensure the shops successfully support and develop Champions on the U-turn Work Readiness programme Deal with high level customer complaints and queries Deal with HR queries across stores including Champion pay slips, leave approval and disciplinaries. Ensure U-turn retail stores are professionally presented and run and following all operational procedures in order to meet monthly income targets. Ensure that monthly store audits and stock takes are done to help strengthen overall operations Oversee and maintain a high standard across social media platforms - Facebook, whatsapp and tiktok, etc. Manage the Bizfo POS setup and training of all staff on how to use new parts of the POS. This is then followed up with training manuals. Use and contribute to existing planning & record keeping systems to ensure continuous improvement of your areas of responsibility

Experience and Skills

Previous experience in the retail sector (essential) Experience as a duty manager/ assistant manager or a manager in a retail setting (desirable) Excellent communication skills - verbal and written Well-developed interpersonal skills Excellent organisational skills and ability to prioritise A collaborative team player - concerned with the team success as well as individual performance Ability to motivate, coach and develop people Commercial awareness

Personal attributes

Self-starter - high energy levels, able to self-direct their work to hit targets. Enthusiastic and confident Resourceful individual that is not easily flustered Trustworthy - works with integrity Good Listener - will challenge constructively and respond well to feedback Emotionally mature individual Problem solver who is open to change and able to take initiative Willingness to learn and grow personally Gospel orientation - connected to a local fellowship of believers, reading the Bible and grounded in Gospel-motivated Social Action

Organisational Fit (where applicable)

If in recovery - actively engaged in own ongoing recovery, accessing accountability support and practicing recovery behaviour If employed as a Professional - affiliation with professional board, continued personal development and accessing supervision Gospel orientation - connected to a local fellowship of believers, reading the Bible and grounded in Gospel-motivated Social Action

Next Steps

Candidates interested in this position should apply online at https://homeless.org.za/careers/. The letter of motivation should be approximately 1 page in length and include information on why you would like to work at U-turn and how you fulfil the required knowledge skills set outlined above. Please note that applications without a letter of motivation will

not

be considered.

IF YOU HAVE NOT HEARD FROM US WITHIN 4 WEEKS PLEASE CONSIDER YOUR APPLICATION UNSUCCESSFUL.

Job Type: Full-time

Work Location: In person