Head of Brand - Wellness & Masstige - Pharmaceutical Skincare

INSPIRE | EXHILARATE | DELIGHT

For over six decades, Chalhoub Group has been a partner and creator of luxury experiences in the Middle East. The Group, in its endeavour to excel as a hybrid retailer, has reinforced its distribution and marketing services with a portfolio of eight owned brands and over 300 international brands in the luxury, beauty, fashion, and art de vivre categories. More recently, the Group expanded its expertise into new categories of luxury watches, jewellery, and eyewear.

Every step at Chalhoub Group is taken with the customer at heart. Be it constantly reinventing itself or focusing on innovation to provide luxury experiences at over 750+ experiential retail stores, online and through mobile apps, each touch point leads to delighting the customer.

Today, Chalhoub Group stands for 14,000 skilled and talented professionals across seven countries, whose cohesive efforts have resulted in the Group being ranked third in the Middle East and first in Saudi Arabia as a Great Place to Work.

To keep the innovation journey going, the Group has set up "The Greenhouse", which is not just an innovation hub, but also an incubator space and accelerator for start-ups and small businesses in the region and internationally. This is just one of the several initiatives taken by the Group to reinvent itself, catalysed by forward thinking and future-proofing. The Group has also been embedding sustainability at the core of its business strategy with a clear commitment towards people, partners and the planet, and by being a member of the United Nations Global Compact Community and signatory of the Women's Empowerment Principles.

What you'll be doing

Our Head of Brand is responsible for designing and implementing the strategy, goals and objectives, setting budgets and commercial targets of their brand(s) in alignment with the General Manager/ Vice President's strategic direction for the short and long term.

In addition, our Head of Brand is responsible for driving the development of their brand(s), predominately in its growth through new projects, whilst also reviewing and supporting the management of the current operational growth of retail/wholesale, commercially and financially.

Our Head of Brand will enable our business to achieve results through driving the capability of its human capital and promoting knowledge and information sharing whilst ensuring compliance within the Group's guidelines.

Key Responsibilities

1. Develop the business plan for the brand(s) in line with the strategic direction of the vertical and seek buy-in from the Vice President (where applicable) or President.
2. Agree on the portfolio's commercial KPIs for the year with the Vice President/President (where applicable) and cascade them to the team accordingly; continuously monitor progress and development towards strategic objectives.
3. Participate in strategic meetings with suppliers, marketing, merchandising, and regional teams to negotiate commercial conditions (margins, animations, exclusivity, etc.).
4. Partner with Group leadership and run projects that enhance efficiencies around cost and time (e.g., transformation or automation projects).
5. Set the yearly fiscal and manpower budgets for the brand(s), incorporating plans and needs, and leverage available dashboards to monitor budget materialization.
6. Ensure People KPIs (e.g., nationalization, turnover rates) are agreed upon and cascaded to Line Managers (where applicable).
7. React with agility to underperforming or successful initiatives.
8. Develop an evolving hybrid customer journey that builds, grows, and sustains a community of loyal customers.
9. Manage store network investments (opening, renovation, and closing) and digital investments (e.g., eCommerce, apps, digital in-store, etc.).
10. Create a strong digital revenue channel for the brand(s).
11. Manage contracts and agreements with the brand(s) and seek legal advisory when needed.
12. Develop a long-term vision for the category and a brand acquisition strategy.
13. Prepare a roadmap, identify gaps in the portfolio to match customer aspirations, and scout new brands.
14. Ensure that IRR by store conforms to the Group's guidelines.
15. Manage a portfolio of brands (scale fast for successful brands or terminate quickly for failed ones).
16. Review the bi-annual list of underperforming stores (retail-specific) and retailers (distribution-specific) to ensure that remedial plans are implemented.
17. Ensure all OPEX and CAPEX commitments remain within monthly budget allotments.
18. Ensure that monthly and annual financial statements prepared by the financial team reflect the financial position of the business.
19. Mentor and coach the team, leading them to achieve the brand vision and business plan milestones.
20. Assign operational responsibilities to the team while maintaining accountability for deliverables.
21. Identify gaps in competencies and manpower within the team and find solutions with the help of the People Partner and Digital Business Manager.
22. Participate in the Group's succession planning by identifying high potential individuals within the team, especially potential leaders.

What you'll need to succeed

1. Strong background in skincare, with significant experience in the pharmaceutical and beauty channels.
2. At least 5 years of experience in a senior commercial, brand management, or business development role.
3. Leverage a deep understanding of category dynamics, retail landscape, and consumer trends to drive product performance and brand presence.
4. Experience working in the GCC region and fluency in Arabic, is a major advantage.

What we can offer you

With us, you will turn your aspirations into reality. We will help shape your journey through enriching experiences, learning and development opportunities and exposure to different assignments within your role or through internal mobility. Our Group offers diverse career paths for those who are extraordinary, every day.

We recognise the value that you bring, and we strive to provide a competitive benefits package which includes health care, child education contribution, remote and flexible working policies as well as exclusive employee discounts.

We Invite All Applicants to Apply

It Takes Diversity Of Thought, Culture, Background, Differing Abilities and Perspectives to truly Inspire, Exhilarate and Delight our customers. At Chalhoub Group, we are committed to inclusion and diversity.

We welcome all applicants to apply and be part of our exciting future. We ensure equal opportunity for all our applicants without regard to gender, age, race, religion, national origin or disability status.

Department RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION