Category Manager

Overview

Role Summary

• We’re looking for a Category Manager to join the team and focus on growing our own Grocery Store “tMart”, which is the region’s first cloud store concept offering 30-minutedelivery of groceries at hypermarket prices.
• The service has expanded rapidly across Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain, Egypt, Oman and Iraq!
• What’s On Your Plate?
• Full Ownership over the category management role in terms of Assortments, Pricing, Offers and Supply.
• Responsible for monitoring economic performance of the assigned departments /categories across sales, gross margin, profit and loss and consistency with the company's commercial strategy.
• Ensuring proper implementation of the commercial strategy and strategic guidelines, including categories plan and pricing strategy.
• Providing input to the Ops team flows, adjacencies, tools and templates, fixtures, etc.
• Reviewing and resolving any issues with local suppliers.
• P&L Ownership: Take full accountability for category profitability, ensuring targets for sales, margin, and stock turn are consistently met or exceeded.
• Strategic Sourcing & Contracting: Lead the finalization of vendor contracts and marketing agreements, ensuring favorable terms and long-term partnership value.
• Campaign Excellence: Conceptualize and launch high-impact promotional and marketing campaigns, working cross-functionally to ensure 360-degree execution.
• Negotiation Mastery: Drive aggressive negotiations on promotions, investments, and rebates to maximize commercial returns.
• End-to-End Supply Chain: Oversee the full lifecycle of products, from supply chain logistics to shelf-ready availability. Assortment:
• Ensuring cost efficiency across our consumers that meets their needs/wants.
• Defining and maintaining the local assortment and integrating the basic assortment for the department/categories.
• Providing regional teams with information regarding products and quantities needed for international and regional contracts.
• Selecting local suppliers, negotiating and purchasing in line with expected needs guided by standards such as cost price, discounts, rebates, payment terms, discounts, etc. Price:
• Pricing the items based on pricing guidelines and recommended prices for PL/Imported items.
• Collecting market prices and conducting country price audits. Promos:
• Identifying local promo products and pricing each item and submitting forecasting/relevant reordering information to replenishment.
• Developing the country promotion calendar.
• Following up and ensuring effective execution of all activities required for each promotional event.
• Analysing and providing inputs for more effective promotional activities such as consumer preferences, local competitors and trends.

Qualifications

• What Did We Order?
• 5+ years of progressive category management experience with large retailers (FMCG) in an international setting, with proven expertise in Non-Food and Beverage sectors across offline and online channels.
• Demonstrated success in P&L ownership, vendor negotiations, and developing high-impact promotional campaigns that drive sales and profitability.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data, forecast trends, and translate insights into actionable commercial strategies.
• Established supplier network within the UAE market and deep product knowledge in relevant categories.
• Excellent cross-functional leadership capabilities with the ability to manage multiple stakeholders and senior-level executives effectively.
• Detail-oriented, structured approach to prioritization with a hands-on mindset and willingness to support operations at all levels to ensure project success.
• Fluent in English and Arabic; strong interpersonal and intercultural skills with the ability to inspire teams across diverse markets.