Assistant Category Manager

Roles and responsibilities

• Full Ownership over the category management role in terms of Assortments, Pricing, Offers and Supply
• Create and implement Field buying plans to ensure that the Category acquires the best products at the most competitive prices
• 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.
• Lead field negotiations with suppliers to secure the best terms and conditions, optimizing cost, delivery, and quality
• Assortment:
  • Ensuring cost efficiency across our consumers that meets their needs/wants.
  • ensuring only the highest quality products are purchased, compliant with company standards, industry grading, and food safety regulations.
  • Defining and maintaining the local assortment and integrating the basic assortment for the department/categories.(Daily)
  • Selecting local suppliers, negotiating and purchasing in line with expected needs guided by standards such as cost price, discounts, rebates, payment terms, discounts, etc.
  • Providing regional teams with information regarding products and quantities needed for international and regional contracts. (Daily)
• Price:
  • Negotiating with suppliers to secure advantageous deals that enhance our product range, pricing structures, and overall supply chain effectiveness.
  • 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.(Planning & negotiating seasonal Promotions)
  • Following up and ensuring effective execution of all activities required for each promotional event.
  • Analyzing and providing inputs for more effective promotional activities such as consumer preferences, local competitors and trends.

Desired candidate profile

• You have at least 5+ years of experience in progressive development and management of multiple product categories, matured by working for large retailers (Fresh Produce), in an international setting.
• Proven experience in strategic procurement, buying, or supply chain management.
• You are very detail-oriented, structured and know how to prioritize -- you consider yourself as someone who delivers solutions and not bottlenecks to be solved.
• You are willing to do anything necessary for the project to succeed, including working on the warehouse floor when you are short staffed to making a customer delivery, or to take customer calls. No job is too insignificant, no detail is too small for you.
• You are able to interact with senior-level executives and can manage the expectations of multiple stakeholders. You are someone energized by the unknown and look forward to learning each day on the job. You have excellent analytical and communication skills, and always like to be hands-on with several tools.
• You have excellent analytical and communication skills, and always like to be hands-on with several tools.