Category Manager

Job Responsibilities

• Managing PL & Import portfolio at the National level (responsibility for sales performance, profitability, availability, inventory, in-app availability, and merchandising)
• Leading the country in managing local PL & Import suppliers, full responsibility over supplier relationships, sourcing new potential suppliers, while extending the portfolio
• Leading private label development & Import process for new items (assortment selection, supplier sourcing, packaging creation, and launch preparation): multiple projects at the same time

Necessary Skill Set

(A) Category Management

• Strong understanding of Commercial 4Ps (Pricing, Promotion, Presentation, Product)
• Strong analytical skills - monitoring of import & PL portfolio performance for the whole country (sales, profitability, availability, inventories, etc.), extracting insights from the data to improve and optimize PL performance across the country (action plan recommendations for the local market)
• Easiness to work with data & various data tools and ease of presenting data in a compelling/concise way
• Supplier management (negotiations, onboarding, maintaining good relations) - both local and international suppliers

(B) Brand Building

• Strong project management skills related to import & leading the private label development process for new items
• Ability to work efficiently with external creative agencies (packaging creation)
• Assuring maintenance of a consistent brand image of the PL portfolio across the region (packaging standards, communication/promotional standards, etc.), keeping local markets in line with regional guidelines and country targets
• Knowledgeable of UAE import regulations and processes, able to register products with local Food & Non-Food authorities, managing relations with clearing agents