Country Manager – Australia in Melbourne

We improve everyday living: Ekornes’s vision is to be one of the world’s most attractive suppliers of furniture for the home.

Unique leadership opportunity – lead, mentor, coach and develop a passionate team. Step into a market named a strategic priority within the group's Asia Pacific growth plans. Shape the go-to-market strategy across two complementary, well-established brands, with genuine scope to influence direction. Melbourne based position (Dandenong South Location) – permanent full time.

About Us: Ekornes is one of Europe's largest furniture manufacturers, home to a portfolio of brands including Stressless, a globally renowned premium furniture name recognised worldwide. Ekornes is the largest furniture manufacturer in the Nordic region and owns such brand names as Ekornes®, Stressless® and Svane®. Products are manufactured in Norway and marketed across large parts of the world by a network of national and regional sales companies. Australia is a priority market within this strategy, and our client is looking for an experienced, hands-on Country Manager to lead the next phase of growth for its Australian businesses.

The Opportunity: Reporting to the SVP Commercial Asia Pacific, the Country Manager holds full profit-and-loss responsibility for the Australian business across two of its core brands, IMG and Stressless. You'll lead these highly respected and established businesses within the Australian market, mentoring and supporting a multi-disciplinary team that spans sales, operations, finance and customer service, while setting and executing a strategy aligned to the group's broader ambitions for both brands.

This is a role for a commercially sharp, hands-on leader who combines strategic thinking with a supportive, growth-focused leadership style. Above all, we're looking for a genuine people leader - someone who thrives on developing and coaching their team, not simply managing outcomes. You'll be decisive when it counts, and skilled at creating an environment where your people feel confident to grow.

What You'll Own:

• P&L and commercial performance: Own the Australian P&L end to end, setting annual budgets and delivering against revenue and profit targets. Analyse market trends, competitor activity and customer need to identify and act on opportunities for growth.
• Strategy and go-to-market: Develop and execute the commercial strategy and annual promotional calendar across the two core brands, working with sales and marketing to build effective go-to-market plans.
• Brand and marketing investment: Champion the marketing and brand-building agenda for both brands to sharpen brand positioning, elevate the customer experience across retail and digital touchpoints, and ensure commercial decisions don't come at the expense of long-term brand equity.
• Partner and stakeholder management: Build and maintain strong relationships with key retail and dealer partners, including regular visits to major accounts, and lead negotiations with customers and partners to secure favourable terms.
• Team leadership: Lead, develop and mentor the Australian team across all functions, building the capability and high-performing culture needed to deliver to plan.
• Operations, risk and compliance: Oversee operations, logistics and customer service to ensure a consistently high standard of delivery, identify and manage commercial risks, and ensure the business operates in full compliance with Australian laws and regulations. Report regularly on business performance to the SVP Commercial Asia Pacific and group leadership.

About You: Key to your success in this role will be your ability to lead, inspire and develop a team across sales, operations, finance and customer service, while building genuine trust with retail and dealer partners at every level. You bring strategic agility and sound commercial judgement, translating market insight into clear direction and decisive action, and you take real pride in representing the brand and business at every opportunity.

Commercially astute and hands-on, you read the P&L with confidence, spot opportunity in market trends and competitor activity, and adjust strategy to keep the business on track. At least 5 years in a senior general management or commercial leadership role, ideally with P&L responsibility. Experience working within a consumer brand environment, ideally in a consumer-facing, retail or wholesale business. A proven track record of driving revenue growth and profitability. Strong commercial acumen, with sound analytical and problem-solving skills. A demonstrated ability to lead, motivate and develop teams across multiple functions. Sound knowledge of the Australian retail and/or wholesale market. Experience in furniture, homewares or premium consumer goods is an advantage, but not a prerequisite. A positive, energetic, hands-on approach, with a willingness to travel across Australia and internationally.

We are an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer so, even if you don’t think you quite meet all of the skills listed or tick all the boxes, we’d still love to hear from you!