Fragrance Category Manager - Faces RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION · Dubai ·

Chalhoub Group; Dubai; On-site; AED 240,000 - 360,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health care

Education contribution

Remote & flexible working

Exclusive employee discounts

Job summary

Chalhoub Group in Dubai seeks a Category Manager to develop and execute category strategies, oversee product assortment, purchasing, pricing, merchandising, and promotions while building strong partnerships with brands and suppliers.

You will lead negotiations, monitor performance, plan launches, optimize space, and coach the team to drive sales, margins, and growth within the luxury beauty and fragrance portfolio.

Qualifications

• Experience in luxury fragrance is highly preferred
• Strong negotiation skills with brand partners and campaigns
• Excellent stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration
• Strong analytical and commercial acumen to drive growth
• Arabic language skills are a plus

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute category business plans aligned with brand objectives
• Define product assortment, purchasing, pricing, merchandising, and promotions across categories
• Monitor performance vs trends and competitors; identify growth opportunities
• Build relationships with brand partners; negotiate commercial terms and margins
• Plan and coordinate brand promotions and launches with suppliers and internal teams
• Optimize merchandising and space allocation; support store openings and concept development
• Identify new products and services to enhance customer offering and category performance
• Lead and develop the team with clear objectives and feedback

Skills

Luxury fragrance

Brand negotiation

Stakeholder management

Analytical skills

Arabic (bonus)

Job description

INSPIRE | EXHILARATE | DELIGHT

For over seven decades, Chalhoub Group has been a partner and creator of luxury experiences in the Middle East. In its pursuit to excel as a hybrid luxury retailer, the Group has curated a portfolio of over 10 owned brands and strengthened its distribution and marketing expertise for over 400 international names across luxury fashion, beauty, jewellery, watches, eyewear, and art de vivre categories.

Every step at Chalhoub Group is taken to build a future where luxury dreams become reality — bridging cultures and crafting memorable experiences for our consumers. Be it by constantly reinventing itself, committing to innovation, or embracing new technologies, the Group is shaping the future of luxury retail. It delivers seamless omnichannel experiences across more than 950 stores, online platforms, and mobile apps. Driving this innovation journey is The Greenhouse — the Group’s innovation hub, incubator, and accelerator for startups and emerging businesses, regionally and globally.

Chalhoub Group fosters a people‑at‑heart culture rooted in diversity, equity, and inclusion, and a workplace catalysed by forward thinking and future‑proofing. Today, it brings together over 16,000 talented professionals across eight countries in the Middle East, with a presence in LATAM.

Sustainability is at the core of the Group’s strategy, guided by a clear commitment to people, partners, and the planet. Chalhoub Group is proud to be a member of the United Nations Global Compact, a signatory of the Women’s Empowerment Principles, and to have pledged to reach Net Zero by 2040.

What you'll be doing

As a Category Manager at Chalhoub Group, you will be responsible for developing and implementing category strategies that drive commercial performance, profitability, and brand growth. You will oversee product assortment, purchasing, pricing, merchandising, and promotional activities while building strong partnerships with brands and suppliers.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute category business plans aligned with brand objectives, defining performance targets and monitoring progress against commercial goals.
• Manage departmental budgets, operations, and team performance, ensuring efficient resource allocation and achievement of business objectives.
• Define the product assortment, purchasing, pricing, merchandising, and promotional strategies across assigned categories and stores.
• Monitor category performance against competitors and market trends, identify growth opportunities, optimize product mix, and prepare regular category performance reviews.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with existing and potential brand partners, negotiating annual commercial agreements, margins, pricing, advertising spaces, and stock returns.
• Plan and coordinate brand promotions, product launches, seasonal activities, and marketing calendars in collaboration with suppliers and internal stakeholders.
• Optimize merchandising strategies and space allocation to maximize sales and profitability, while supporting new store openings, refits, and the development of merchandising tools and concepts.
• Identify new products and services to enhance the customer offering and strengthen category performance.
• Ensure compliance with local regulations for new brand registrations and product imports.
• Lead, coach, and develop the team by setting performance objectives, monitoring results, and providing ongoing feedback to support professional growth and high performance.

What you'll need to succeed

• Experience in luxury fragrance is highly preferred, followed by luxury experience in other beauty categories.
• Strong commercial negotiation skills, with experience managing brand partners, distributors, promotional agreements, and marketing campaigns.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build strong external partnerships and collaborate effectively with cross‑functional teams.
• Strong analytical and commercial acumen, with the ability to assess brand and category performance, identify opportunities, and drive sales, margin, and business growth.
• Arabic language skills are a plus.

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 employeediscounts.

Using GenAI in Your Application Process

To support a fair and consistent experience for all candidates, we ask that assessments and interviews are completed independently and without assistance from generative AI tools. This ensures we understand your strengths, your thinking, and how you approach real situations.

It Takes Diversity Of Thought, Culture, Background, Differing Abilities and Perspectives to truly Inspire, Exhilarate and Delight our customers. At Chalhoub Group, we are committed to inclusion and diversity.

We ensure equal opportunity for all our applicants without regard to gender, age, race, religion, national origin or disability status.