Senior Category Manager

Job description / Role

Inspire | Exhilarate | Delight

For over seven decades, Chalhoub Group has been a partner and creator of luxury experiences in the Middle East. In its pursuit to excel as a hybrid luxury retailer, the Group has curated a portfolio of over 10 owned brands and strengthened its distribution and marketing expertise for over 400 international names across luxury fashion, beauty, jewellery, watches, eyewear, and art de vivre categories.

Every step at Chalhoub Group is taken to build a future where luxury dreams become reality - bridging cultures and crafting memorable experiences for our consumers. Be it by constantly reinventing itself, committing to innovation, or embracing new technologies, the Group is shaping the future of luxury retail. It delivers seamless omnichannel experiences across more than 950 stores, online platforms, and mobile apps. Driving this innovation journey is The Greenhouse - the Group's innovation hub, incubator, and accelerator for startups and emerging businesses, regionally and globally.

Chalhoub Group fosters a people-at-heart culture rooted in diversity, equity, and inclusion, and a workplace catalysed by forward thinking and future-proofing. Today, it brings together over 16,000 talented professionals across eight countries in the Middle East, with a presence in LATAM. Their collective efforts have earned the Group the Great Place to Worku00ae certification in several markets.

Sustainability is at the core of the Group's strategy, guided by a clear commitment to people, partners, and the planet. Chalhoub Group is proud to be a member of the United Nations Global Compact, a signatory of the Women's Empowerment Principles, and to have pledged to reach Net Zero by 2040.

What you'll be doing

As a Senior Category Manager for our Cairo International Airport operations, you will oversee all retail categories, including Beauty, Fashion, Jewelry, Chocolate & Confectionery, and Alcohol & Tobacco. You will be leading a team of six Category Managers towards driving negotiations and pricing/purchasing strategies and will be responsible for the below:

• Take ownership of gross margins and drive an optimal category mix to influence growth.
• Define the business model and competitive position for internal and external stakeholders.
• Play a key role in formulating and driving joint business plans with key suppliers to drive profitability and growth.
• Successfully negotiate and mentor in negotiating for win-win partnerships to grow the business' market share and mind share with suppliers.
• Interpret business risks and potential threats to business, and work to mitigate them.
• Analyze and help interpret trends pertaining to market, competitors, customers and partners and use insights to drive initiatives for growth.
• Assist in building a competitive assortment keeping in mind market and competition trends.
• Play a role in ensuring optimal space productivity and brand placements in stores via planogramming.
• Work closely with internal functions such as supply chain for inventory management and managing the buying budget, marketing for the promotional calendar and sales operations for driving key initiatives and novelties.
• Drive team to maximize additional income for the organization through initiatives like space selling (animation).
• Ensure the commercial teams drive new launches, new categories or new brands/initiatives successfully.
• Mentor the team on all major strategic sales planning functions, issues and considerations.
• Influence organization-wide or high-impact decisions and initiatives as the go-person for commercial initiatives.
• Address commercial escalations both internal and external.
• Play a role in building assortment and pricing strategy of ecommerce in line with competition to drive omnichannel retailing.
• Motivate, guide and mentor the commercial team to drive effective and profitable commercial decisions for the company.

What you'll need to succeed

• You have at least 10 years of experience in the Beauty or Travel Retail industries.
• You possess a strong commercial acumen with the ability to manage multiple categories simultaneously.
• You have excellent leadership, negotiation, analytical, and stakeholder management skills.
• You are a fluent English speaker.

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

About the Company

The Chalhoub Group is the leading partner for luxury across the Middle East since 1955. As an expert in retail, distribution and marketing services based in Dubai, the group has become a major player in the fashion, beauty and gift sectors regionally.

By blending its Middle East expertise and intimate knowledge of luxury, Chalhoub Group is building brands in the region, by offering service excellence to all its partners and a unique experience to its customers through its passionate teams.

With a growing workforce of more than 9,000 people, implemented in 14 countries, as well as the operating of over 470 retail outlets, the group's success is attributed to its most valued asset of highly skilled and dedicated teams. Professionalism and passion are what fuel the Chalhoub Group's competitive edge in today's market.

By being committed to implementing sustainable practices into their business, the Chalhoub Group has been awarded in 2013 the CSR Label from the Dubai Chamber of Commerce.