Category Manager

Job description / Role

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

• Assess the requirements and coordinate with relevant internal/external stakeholders (marketing, visual merchandising, suppliers, category managers and logistics)
• Handle the production of the annual calendar for the brands promotions, launches, etc.

Brands promotions:

• Pricing policies of brands and categories:
• Benchmark current pricing vs. The competition and the peer market
• Recommend adjustments on the pricing policy to the gm/captain
• Register newly imported brands to the market, in compliance with the regulations of each country
• Develop new merchandising aids, tools, and new concepts
• Coordinate new openings (brands/merchandising/promotions) or refitting of sales areas

Strategical:

• Develop the business plan of the department in line with the strategic objectives of the brand
• Formulate and communicate the department performance objectives and continuously monitor progress and alignment towards strategic objectives

Managerial:

• Develop the department policies and procedures in order to ensure the fulfilment of organizational requirements

• Oversee the operations of the department, provide expertise, encourage teamwork and facilitate related professional work processes in order to achieve high performance standards and staff pride in contribution
• Monitor the yearly budget of the department and control expenditure to ensure optimal use

Operational:

• Define the offer strategy for the stores in the designated area in alignment with the brand's values
• Validate the strategy with the gm/captain
• Negotiate annual commercial agreements and the commercialization of advertising spaces with the brands
• Drive the development of the margin and the budgetary objectives

Category performance management:

• Benchmark current performance vs. The competition and the peer market
• Create different tools to improve the categories' performance

Category management:

• Manage segmentation, seasonal activities, action plans for the stores; follow up on the results
• Manage the existing catalogue, optimising on the mix at the points of sale
• Identify the products with potential and research new products
• Develop a wide range of services (skincare - make up - lessons - etc.) To be adapted to each category
• Prepare the periodic category reviews

Supplier relations:

• Create partnerships with the brands and follow up on the results
• Handle the negotiations with existing and potential partners

Optimal strategy implementation:

• Optimize the merchandising plan and the allocation of space vs. The volume of margin

Team management:

• Negotiate with suppliers for the stock returns (discontinued and slow movers) assign individual objectives for employee performance management purposes, manage performance, empower staff, and provide formal and informal feedback in order to support professional development and maximize performance

What you'll need to succeed

• Proven experience in buying
• Proven experience in supply chain
• Professional level in English (speaking and writing)
• Arabic speaking is a plus
• Multi brands management
• Strong communication skills is required
• Leadership skills
• Analytical skills
• Advanced level in soft skills (Ms Office) is required

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.

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.