
Senior Director of Stock Integrity and Loss Prevention
The Director of Stock Integrity & Stock Loss Prevention is a senior leadership role responsible for safeguarding the integrity, accuracy, and value of over $100 million in stock across 400+ stores within WH Smith North America. This role combines strategic oversight with hands-on leadership to reduce shrinkage, improve inventory accuracy, strengthen stock controls, and deliver measurable improvements to stock availability and working capital. The Director will lead a dedicated team of 5 and work cross-functionally with Finance, Store Operations, Supply Chain, and Category Planning to ensure stock assets are fully protected and accurately reported.
Duties
Stock Integrity & Accuracy
- Own the end-to-end stock file accuracy across 400 stores and central systems, ensuring reconciliations are timely, complete, and robust.
- Lead continuous improvement initiatives to strengthen master data governance, cycle counting practices, and store-level stock management processes.
- Partner with IT and Planning teams to design and deploy stock accuracy tools, dashboards, and reporting solutions.
Stock Loss Prevention
- Develop and execute a comprehensive stock loss prevention strategy that balances financial control with operational practicality.
- Monitor, investigate, and reduce shrink through process controls, analytics, and targeted interventions.
- Oversee audits and compliance programs, including root cause analysis of variances and implementation of corrective actions.
- Work with Store Operations and HR to design accountability frameworks for shrink performance.
Leadership & Collaboration
- Manage and mentor a team of 5 professionals across stock integrity and stock loss prevention functions.
- Serve as a strategic advisor to the Chief Planning Officer and Executive Leadership Team on stock-related risks and opportunities.
- Build strong partnerships with Store Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, and Loss Prevention functions to ensure alignment of objectives.
Financial & Strategic Impact
- Protect and optimize +$100M in inventory assets, delivering measurable improvements to the balance sheet (working capital) and income statement (shrink cost reduction).
- Set and track KPIs for stock accuracy, shrink reduction, and financial impact, ensuring accountability across the business.
- Provide insights and recommendations to leadership on investment in technology, process change, and compliance controls.
Qualifications
- 7+ years’ experience in stock integrity, inventory control, or retail loss prevention, with at least 3 years in a leadership role.
- Proven experience managing stock across large multi-store retail operations ($100M+ inventory value).
- Strong financial acumen with ability to link stock accuracy and shrink outcomes to income statement and balance sheet performance.
- Excellent knowledge of retail systems, stock file management, and cycle counting best practices.
- Exceptional leadership skills with demonstrated ability to manage, mentor, and build high-performing teams.
- Analytical mindset with strong problem-solving skills and ability to leverage data to drive decisions.
- Bachelor’s degree in business, Finance, Supply Chain, or related field (Master’s preferred).
Key Experience:
- Stock Integrity:
- Shrink Reduction:
- Stock File Maintenance/Stock Ledger
- Perpetual Inventory
