Assistant Category Manager

RNA Resources Group; Dubai; On-site; AED 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Lifestyle is seeking an Assistant Category Manager for Perfumes to drive growth, profitability and market leadership of fragrance brands. You will lead end-to-end merchandise planning, cross-functional projects, and vendor management to meet financial targets and optimise inventory.

This role requires strong Excel skills, multi-brand and omni-channel experience, and a strategic approach to open-to-buy and promotions. Located in Dubai, the role covers in-store and digital brand campaigns.

Qualifications

• 5 years' experience in beauty or retail buying.
• Exposure to multi-brand and omni-channel retail.
• Advanced level proficiency in MS Excel.
• Experience in buying budgets & vendor management.
• Product development & research experience.
• Good financial and business acumen.
• Negotiation skills.
• Relationship management.
• Attention to detail.
• Planning & execution abilities.
• Strong communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Take full accountability for category sales gross margins sell-through and inventory health OTB stock turns and aged stock reduction.
• Align brand portfolios with overall category goals identify growth opportunities brand exclusives and market gaps through competitive benchmarking and trend analysis.
• Lead vendor negotiations regarding trading terms margins promoter support marketing contributions and CVM initiatives.
• Serve as the strategic owner for private label perfume ranges steering projects from initial scent concept and formulation through cross-functional approvals to in-store launch.
• Direct perfume houses and packaging suppliers on briefs formulation benchmarks target pricing and quality standards evaluate and approve scent samples and components.
• Manage vendor creation contract closures and regulatory compliance by orchestrating cross-functional alignments across Finance Legal Quality and Supply Chain.
• Lead financial assortment and Open-to-Buy planning setting sales targets margins and stock allocations across store networks.
• Monitor daily weekly performance against budgets and adjust with reorders or markdowns to maximise sell-through.
• Design and evaluate category promotions ensuring pricing and margins align with inventory reduction targets.
• Lead category team operations with KPIs and regular performance reviews for senior leadership.

Skills

Beauty retail buying

Omni-channel retail

MS Excel

Vendor management

Product development

Financial acumen

Negotiation

Relationship mgmt

Planning & execution

Communication skills

Job description

Lifestyle is a leading retail destination specialising in Beauty Fashion and Home products Established in 1998 Lifestyle has consistently delivered a distinctive shopping experience and an extensive selection of brands and products across colour cosmetics perfumes personal care fashion accessories home essentials and home fragrance With its chain of more than 160 retail stores spread across the GCC coupled with a rapidly growing E-commerce platform Lifestyle has established itself as an omnichannel destination-of-choice for Beauty and Fashion serving more than 4 million customers every year.

Role

Assistant Category Manager Category Perfumes

Role Purpose

The Category Manager is responsible for driving the growth, profitability and market leadership of assigned fragrance brands, private label development and impulse retail channels. This role blends strategic category leadership, end-to-end merchandise planning, cross-functional project execution and vendor management to deliver financial targets and optimise inventory performance.

Key Responsibilities

• Take full accountability for category sales gross margins sell-through and inventory health OTB stock turns and aged stock reduction.
• Align brand portfolios with overall category goals identify growth opportunities brand exclusives and market gaps through competitive benchmarking and trend analysis.
• Lead vendor negotiations regarding trading terms margins promoter support marketing contributions and Customer Value Management CVM initiatives.
• Serve as the strategic owner for private label perfume ranges steering projects from initial scent concept and formulation through cross-functional approvals to in-store launch.
• Direct perfume houses and packaging suppliers on briefs formulation benchmarks target pricing and quality standards evaluate and approve scent samples and components.
• Manage vendor creation contract closures and regulatory compliance by orchestrating cross-functional alignments across Finance Legal Quality and Supply Chain with strong understanding of compliance requirements for private labels.
• Lead financial assortment and Open-to-Buy OTB planning setting sales targets margins and stock allocations across store networks categories and channel mix.
• Monitor daily weekly performance against budgets sales vs stock margin inflows promo lift and execute corrective actions reorders or markdowns to maximise sell-through.
• Design and evaluate category promotions ensuring promotional pricing and margins align with inventory reduction targets and bottom-line profit goals.
• Sales Performance Review and Inventory Management Execution Store Operations and Engagement.
• Build direct engagement channels with retail store cashiers and training teams to drive up selling at checkout Perform routine store visits to audit execution and uncover growth levers.
• Partner with Visual Merchandising VM and Retail Operations to ensure optimal brand visibility planogram compliance and flawless campaign execution across all retail touchpoints.
• Coordinate with Marketing VM E-Commerce and Supply Chain teams to ensure launch calendars are fully supported across digital and physical touchpoints.
• Work alongside supply chain teams to maintain healthy replenishment cycles preventing out-of-stock scenarios in top doors while mitigating warehouse overstock.
• Lead category team operations setting Clear Performance Indicators KPIs KRAs mentoring junior staff and delivering regular performance reviews and presentation updates to senior executive leadership.
• Management of critical path Trend forecast management Vendor Onboarding contract management Cross-Functional Leadership Operational Governance 360-Degree Go-to-Market GTM.

Qualifications

• 5 years' experience in beauty or retail buying
• Exposure to multi-brand and omni-channel retail
• Advanced level proficiency in MS Excel
• Experience in buying budgets & vendor management
• Product development & research experience
• Good financial and business acumen
• Negotiation skills
• Relationship management
• Attention to detail
• Planning & execution abilities
• Strong communication skills