Associate General Manager_Buying_Household

Landmark Group; Dubai; On-site; AED 420,000 - 660,000; Full time

Job summary

Home Centre Landmark group is seeking an Associate General Manager - Buying (Household) for Dubai, UAE. The role leads soft goods category strategy, drives sales and profits, and oversees budgeting, vendor relations, and product quality.

The position requires extensive experience in home retail/fashion textiles and a strong fashion education background. It involves strategic planning, cross-functional leadership, and performance management in a dynamic retail environment.

Qualifications

• Post graduate or Graduate, 12+ years’ of relevant experience in the Home Retail /Fashion Apparel/textile Industry.
• Strong Fashion Education background is would be an advantage.

Responsibilities

• Category Growth and Profitability: Drive sales from the assigned category by developing comprehensive category business plans and monitor gross margins.
• Category Merchandise Planning: Prepare annual plans for the category and input to budgeting; study trends and ensure alignment with financial plan.
• Category Design and Quality: Guide product features, packaging and quality; ensure designs stay within budget and meet standards.
• Order and Vendor Management: Build vendor base, maintain relationships, review agreements to maximize profit and cash flow; manage buying plan and deliveries.
• People Management: Set KRAs for direct reports and conduct performance appraisals; oversee deployment and motivation.
• Competition Research: Map competition prices/products and provide qualitative inputs to the business.

Skills

Category management

Vendor management

Merchandising planning

Team leadership

Education

Graduate / Postgraduate

Job description

Home Centre Landmark group is looking for a Associate General Manager_ Buying_ Household for Dubai, UAE

Job Summary:

Overall business management of assigned (Soft Goods) product category/department and will ensure the development, implementation and management of the business plans to maximize sales and profits

Responsibilities for Internal Candidates

ROLE PROFILE / RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Category Growth and Profitability

• Drive sales from the assigned category by developing comprehensive category business plans
• Drive and monitor gross margins for the category and ensure alignment with the organization’s position, business plan and budgets.

2. Category Merchandise Planning

• Prepare annual plans for the assigned category and provide inputs to the Merchandising Development and Buying Head to assist in creation of overall merchandizing budget
• Study trends from historical data around product category sales and market research to assist in the overall planning process
• Ensure adherence to financial plan in all key areas - sales, markdowns, margin & average inventory
• Discuss, decide and freeze the merchandise plans (pricing, promotion, assortment etc.) for the category with the Merchandise Planning department
• Ensure effective in season management across territories (stock balancing, markdown management, stock analysis, stock vs sales performance)

3. Category Design and Quality

• Ensure optimum utilization of customer research information to guide category management decisions, including decisions on the introduction of new products, product assortment, shelf layout, promotion and pricing of products in the store
• Formulate design and development plan in consultation with the Design Head with specifications on product features, functions, packaging and resource requirement across categories
• Ensure all design and development activities are carried out within budget
• Ensure the merchandise procured and received meets the quality standards

4. Order and Vendor Management

• Create an adequate vendor base for the organization through active scouting and negotiation / renegotiation
• Maintain relationships with key vendors who are critical for the long term success of the business
• Review the financial and credit services agreement with the key vendors in order to maximize profit and positively contribute to cash flow
• Determine buying requirements and formulate buying plan and budget for the assigned category
• Monitor Orders based on the buying plan and follow-up to ensure merchandise delivery as per the plan based on the agreed service level agreement
• Pursue cost reduction measures through centralized bulk buying and/ or selecting appropriate vendor mix, scanning the environment for benchmarks and constantly improving the purchase process

5. People Management

• Monitor team development and facilitate complaint resolution
• Set KRA's for direct reports and conduct performance appraisal
• Oversee staff deployment and drive motivation levels of the direct reportees.

6. Competition Research

• Acquiring market intelligence through various sources & analyze trends which may impact our business.
• Map competition prices / products and provide qualitative inputs to the business

Qualifications for Internal Candidates

Post graduate or Graduate, 12+ years’ of relevant experience in the Home Retail /Fashion Apparel/textile Industry.

Strong Fashion Education background is would be an advantage