Commercial and Marketing Manager

Job description / Role

Purpose:
* To assist in establishing the sourcing & buying strategy and ensuring they are in line with the business strategy enhancing overall profitability
* To oversee all supplier relationships, review all negotiations/purchases to ensure best merchandise deals are obtained
* Closely work with Corporate Commercial & Marketing for all import & private label items

Key Accountabilities

Revenues
* Assist in the establishment of the annual business plan (ABP) for all categories in coordination with the team & commercial departments ensuring that profit, sales & margin targets will be met
* Establish budgets & forecasts
* Oversee all negotiations to obtain best possible prices & promotion deals from the various suppliers
* Oversee all locally negotiated contracts & conditions - opening fees, rebates and payment terms as well as other revenues (listing, rental, advertising fees, etc.)
* Oversee pricing, stock return & other issues with regular suppliers
* Closely liaise with Corporate Commercial & Marketing for annual contract negotiations with global key suppliers as well as defining import targets

Category Management
* Coordinate with Country Heads, Store Managers & Operation Managers Supermarkets to guarantee proper assortment planning at category level meeting customer expectations & ensure timely purchases & deliveries
* Ensure establishment & respect of planograms for all categories and at all locations
* Review follow-up and appropriate communication & action on aged stock between team members & commercial departments
* Coordinate with IT to control the database (GOLD) - update system price list, new item creation, product description, barcode creation, cost price, and data clearing

New Store Openings
* Assist in establishing assortment range & planograms for new stores
* Responsible for planning and delivering merchandise to new stores
* Set targets & Oversee the negotiations of opening fees with suppliers

Promotions
* Plan yearly promotional calendar with team and Country Head, Store Managers & Operation Managers Supermarkets to optimize sales and reduce inventory risk
* Oversee proper product selection, planning & negotiation with suppliers ensuring stock availability at the time of promotion
* Liaise with advertising agency for product photo shoots, approve design of promotional leaflets as well content & obtain permissions for publication

Review Analysis and Feedback
* Review and Analyze feedback from stores on suppliers, quality of products, price changes, promotions and plan actions in accordance to optimize sales
* Conduct frequent visits to all stores in order to understand their requirements & problems
* Review the rollup of key departmental commercial information on BO (slow moving/fast moving, low margin/high margin, sales vs. trend of stores, high profit builders/high volume builders, item analysis YTD (year to date) WTD (week to date) etc., item-wise shrinkage and wastage analysis, etc.) with the team & Country Head and draw up action plans to mitigate risk and achieve targets
* Gather & review information from suppliers on competition activities, new product launches, consumer trends & special deals

Others
* Communicate effectively internally as well as externally and maintain highest personal & professional standards of management & ethics when representing the company
* Maintain a direct and positive working relationship with IT, stores, suppliers and vendors etc. and leverage these relationship for business advantage
* Ensure that all guidelines and SOP (standard operating procedures) are respected

What you are responsible to achieve
* Achieve Sales, Margin, Rebate targets as per ABP
* Responsible to generate ""other revenues"" to meet the margin target
* Cash flow from operation
* Quality of product and Assortment plan
* Proper implementation of planograms in stores
* Supplier agreements
* Merchandize plan & opening fees for new store openings

Requirements

* High School degree required, Bachelor's Degree in Business or a related field preferred 6-8 years' experience as a merchant or buyer with a major retail outlet whereof min. 3 years in a management position within the GCC region
* Understanding of merchandising principles & stock management
* Demonstrated track record of successfully growing a business by developing and executing plans
* Experienced in managing external supplier relationships & negotiating

Competencies and Capabilities
* Drive and resilience for achieving outstanding results
* Excellent relationship and networking skills
* Ability to build & maintain positive working relationships in a multicultural & multi-national environment
* Outstanding negotiation skills
* Strong numerical, analytical and interpretive skills
* Influencing skills (internal & external)
* Planning and decision making skills
* Ability to create a work environment that embraces, appreciates and fosters diversity

Client is particularly interested in candidates that are overseas and keen to move to the Middle East

About the Company

We recruit the very best talent for middle management positions across a range of functions and sectors. Think you've heard all that before? Read on.

We're here to make recruitment better. Better for our clients, our candidates and our own recruitment professionals.

We build relationships, not databases, and add real value that helps organisations and individuals grow. We are a team of functional and sector specialists delivering a genuinely consultative service that is underpinned by the depth of both our market knowledge and the client & candidate networks we have built.

Our clients love it. And as a result, we are one of the fastest-growing professional recruitment groups on the planet. Whether you're hiring or changing jobs yourself, you can't afford to get it wrong.

Argyll Scott will ensure you get it right.