Category Manager F&B - Lifestyle Venue

I'm currently supporting an amazing hospitality group, in Saudi Arabia, with their search for a Category Manager to look after everything F&B.

The group are internationally known, with multiple projects & venues across the EMEA region, and they are now in the final stages of launching a brand new lifestyle venue, in Jeddah, which is set to open in early 2025.

This role would report directly into the Head of Purchasing, and in short this person will be responsible for outlining the overall collaborative relationships with all food & beverage suppliers including but not exclusively including : fresh grocery, dry goods, meat, artisan retail / deli and beverage selections. This will involve skilful negotiations, comprehensive reviews of products and suppliers, as well as proactive sourcing of new products to support the launch of our business and our ongoing success

Saudi nationals will certainly be preferred, however, we are open to speaking with those from a strong, premium / high-end, luxury hospitality background.

What you'll be doing :

• Foster and develop collaborative relationships with suppliers in all food & beverage categories.
• Manage terms with all key suppliers, using market knowledge to negotiate pricing, MOQ’s and processes.
• Understand and monitor market trends helping the business stay ahead of market movement.
• Evaluate and select suppliers with a focus on quality, service and price.
• Creating, documenting, detailing and tracking all supplier trading terms.
• Utilising market / commodity intelligence to deliver new and improved terms.
• Seamless transition of any new or improved agreements.
• Rationalisation & consolidation of terms / suppliers / products.
• Communicating cross functionally especially with Marketing, F&B and Operations.
• Supporting & managing Product / Promotional launches on time.
• Influencing decision making on range reviews / menus to best commercial deal.
• Identifying new commercial opportunities & recommending to internal teams.
• Presenting to senior management for approval and implementation.
• Managing, maintaining and selecting suppliers and their contract database.
• Annual audit of processes and income.

What you'll need :

• Extensive purchasing experience within Food Service, Retail, or Wholesale, showcasing a track record of successful procurement strategies.
• Proficient in both food and non-food purchasing, demonstrating an understanding of the intricacies of diverse product categories.
• Confident and articulate negotiator.
• Arabic speaking will certainly be advantageous.