The Araca Group is a leading, global entertainment & merchandising company that has been prospering for over 25 years thanks to our innovative and collaborative team members. Araca’s employees act as brand ambassadors through creating live event and e-commerce merchandise experiences for some of the world’s top entertainment properties including Wicked, Cobra Kai, Back to the Future the Musical, The Outsiders, Hadestown, The Book of Mormon, Jeopardy, Beetlejuice the Musical, Ghostbusters, Death Becomes Her the Musical and many, many more!
We are in search of a Universal Music Store Director to join our Account Management Team and to report to our EVP of Account Management & Retail Strategy.
Position Summary
The Universal Music Store, located 2 Penn Plaza, is UMG’s first permanent brick-and-mortar, superfan retail experience in North America. Operated by The Araca Group, the space brings artist campaigns to life while serving as a hub for exclusive artist merchandise, new releases, and live activations, connecting fans directly to the music and artists they love.
The Universal Music Store Director is responsible for project managing the day-to-day operations, visual presentation, and event execution within a high-profile retail environment operating in partnership with Universal Music Group. This role serves as both a store leader and an account manager, ensuring seamless collaboration across Universal, Araca internal teams, and store staff to deliver dynamic, artist-driven retail experiences.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities Include:
Universal Music Store Operations
- Ensures all store operations align with the UMusic Shop brand identity
- Partner with store managers and staff, providing leadership and direction for an exemplary customer experience
- Partner with internal Araca teams (inventory, visuals, ops) to regularly refresh the store and celebrate music industry milestones throughout the year
- Maintain accountability for store performance and operational efficiency
Artist Activations & Event Execution
- Execute in-store artist activations, appearances, and promotional events
- Oversee store floorsets and coordinate resources to execute rapid visual transformations supporting store events
- Act as the on-site lead during events, ensuring smooth coordination across all teams
- Anticipate and troubleshoot last‑minute changes with flexibility and composure
Visual Merchandising & Store Presentation
- Collaborate with visual teams to execute compelling, brand‑aligned store presentations
- Ensure strong visual storytelling that reflects artist campaigns and promotes sales
- Maintain attention to detail in all merchandising and displays to stay on‑brand
Account Management
- Serve as the primary liaison between the UMG team, Universal Music Group, and internal Araca Group teams
- Translate partner needs into actionable plans for store execution
- Build and maintain strong working relationships with key stakeholders
- Continue to refine communication workflows.
- Communicate updates, timelines, and recaps internally and externally clearly and consistently
- Strategize on regular product refreshes and development for limited edition items, leveraging historical sales data
- Set up products in internal Araca systems for inventory tracking and POS
- Manage end‑to‑end logistics for stock transfers between the regional warehouse and retail store.
- Reconcile vendor invoices for payment by Finance team
- Inventory counts
- Generate weekly projections and reports
A day in the life of a Music Store Director
- Confirm gameplan for upcoming product refreshes and events. Coordinate with the label, artist management, and product teams.
- Set and communicate timelines for product selection and order to artist teams for in‑store activations.
- Confirm seasonal floorset plans with UMG team and communicate schedules with internal Araca teams to support.
- Upload product information into Araca systems for upcoming music releases so inventory can be ordered.
- Conduct a weekly touchbase with the UMG team to discuss any operational concerns, upcoming event schedules, and pass along customer feedback.
- Visit shop to ensure the floorset is executed correctly with the UMG team, third‑party merchandisers, and the shop staff.
Key Skills
- Strong leadership and team management skills
- Exceptional organizational and project management abilities
- Ability to thrive in fast‑paced, ever‑changing environments
- Creative eye with a strong sense of visual presentation and branding
- Ability to execute visually compelling retail environments
- Excellent communication and relationship management skills
- Solutions‑oriented with the ability to handle last‑minute challenges
Requirements
- 3-5 years of retail management, event production, or account management experience
- Extensive & current knowledge of the music industry and trends across multiple genres
- Proven experience managing teams in a fast‑paced, high‑visibility environment
- Strong background in event planning or experiential retail
- Experience working and communicating with multiple stakeholders
- Tech‑savvy and adaptable to systems such as NetSuite, Teams and CRM tools
- Proficiency in MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and other relevant software applications
Missing some of these requirements, but know that you’re the right fit? We encourage you to apply and tell us why.
The Araca Group is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.
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