Manager, Community Relations and Retail Operations

Northwestel values diversity in the workplace and is committed to the goals of Employment Equity. We strive to achieve a skilled workforce that is representative of the population we serve, and as a Northern company, we are committed to the employment and career development of our Indigenous peoples. Candidates must clearly indicate on their application if they are First Nation, Inuit, or Métis; a woman; a person with a disability; or a visible minority, if they wish to receive hiring preference.

Lead the day-to-day operation of the Yellowknife retail store, including sales, customer service, merchandising, staffing, scheduling, and operational execution.

Achieve established sales, revenue, product penetration, customer satisfaction, expense control, and store performance objectives.

Recruit, coach, train, develop, and support employees to deliver strong customer experiences, product knowledge, campaign readiness, and sales results.

Monitor sales trends, customer feedback, competitor activity, inventory needs, and operational issues and share insights with appropriate internal teams.

Resolve or escalate customer concerns, complaints, technical inquiries, special requests, and service-related issues in a timely and professional manner.

Recommend and implement improvements to retail processes, staffing, workflow, merchandising, sales activation, and customer experience.

Support the planning, execution, and evaluation of local marketing campaigns, customer growth initiatives, promotions, sponsorships, and community events.

Work with Marketing, Product, Customer Intelligence, Retail, Sales, Digital, Communications, and agency partners to support campaign execution and local market readiness.

Use customer, campaign, retail, and market data to identify opportunities to improve customer awareness, campaign effectiveness, and local market performance.

Ensure retail and customer-facing teams are prepared to support product launches, service updates, promotional offers, and customer programs.

Build and maintain positive working relationships with Indigenous organizations, community governments, local businesses, community leaders, and other key stakeholders.

Support Northwestel’s efforts to strengthen long-term Indigenous and community relationships throughout the Northwest Territories.

Identify and communicate community engagement, sponsorship, customer education, and relationship-building opportunities that support local priorities and business objectives.

Provide local perspective to internal teams on community issues, Indigenous relations considerations, cultural context, stakeholder expectations, and appropriate local responses.

Represent Northwestel at community meetings, public events, trade shows, business functions, and stakeholder engagements as required.

Act as a local connection point between Northwestel’s corporate teams and Northwest Territories customers, communities, partners, and frontline employees.

Coordinate local implementation of business initiatives, executive visits, community activities, customer education efforts, retail events, and special projects.

Prepare reports, presentations, briefings, stakeholder updates, and recommendations as required.

This position operates in a dynamic environment requiring the incumbent to balance retail leadership, customer service, employee development, local marketing execution, community engagement, and stakeholder relationship management. The role has direct accountability for the Yellowknife retail store and supports local customer growth and Northwestel’s market presence across the Northwest Territories.

The incumbent exercises judgment when managing operational priorities, employee matters, customer concerns, community expectations, campaign execution, and local relationship-building activities. Decisions are made within established policies, procedures, and business objectives, with matters of broader risk, reputation, or strategy escalated as appropriate.

Regular contact with Marketing, Retail Operations, Sales, Customer Experience, Product, Customer Intelligence, Digital, Communications, Public Relations, Government Relations, Indigenous Relations, Human Resources, Network Operations, Field Operations, Finance, Legal, and senior management for the purpose of local execution, information sharing, issue resolution, employee support, customer experience, and stakeholder coordination.

Regular contact with Indigenous organizations, community governments, public governments, local businesses, customers, community leaders, event partners, vendors, agencies, chambers of commerce, media representatives, and members of the public for the purpose of relationship management, customer support, community engagement, event coordination, and local market support.

This position is based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories and works in office, retail, customer-facing, and community environments. The incumbent manages store priorities, attends meetings, supports community events, participates in business functions, and represents Northwestel in public settings.

Evening or weekend work may be required to support retail activities, community events, public meetings, sponsorships, or business functions. Travel within the Northwest Territories and other parts of Northwestel’s operating area may be required, for example once every two months for up to one week at a time.