Lifestyle and fashion retailer The Iconic has hired former Nike executive Andrew Poole to fill its newly created role of general manager for Sport.

Poole, who will commence with the role this month, will be responsible for the retailer’s sports category, leading a cross-functional and customer-focused team.

The Iconic said the past 12 months marked a period of significant growth for the company’s Sport section, with both an increase in assortment and amplified marketing investment in full funnel integrated campaigns.

“We are thrilled to welcome Andrew to The Iconic team after an extensive global search to fill the newly created role of general manager, Sport,” said Gayle Burchell, The Iconic’s chief category officer.

“By being truly customer centric and curating a world-class offering, our sports category is an integral part of our business,” Burchell said. “We can’t wait for Andrew to bring his wealth of expertise as we deliver further strength to this category.”

Before joining The Iconic, Poole was senior sales director for Nike Sportswear for four years. In this role, Poole drove commercial functions and growth for the business through a customer-centric market strategy, recruiting and optimising high performance teams. Prior to this, Poole managed the full P&L for Nike Pacific across merchandise, tech, marketing, supply chain, finance sales and HR.

“The opportunity to apply my retail and e-commerce sports experience to a disruptive retailer like The Iconic makes this role an incredibly exciting prospect,” Poole said. “The Iconic has driven unrivalled customer loyalty and market growth and I look forward to supporting them as they continue on this impressive trajectory.”