Category Manager

talabat; Manama; On-site; BHD 23,000 - 38,000; Full time

Job summary

talabat is seeking a Category Manager to lead the tMart grocery store concept, driving assortments, pricing, offers and supply with full ownership. The role requires experience across multiple product categories in large retailers and a data-driven mindset to outperform in a fast-growing regional platform.

You will collaborate with regional teams, manage supplier relationships, and align promotions with the commercial strategy while staying hands-on in orders, forecasting, and execution.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in progressive development and management of multiple product categories in FMCG.
• Experience in an international setting with large retailers.
• Detail-oriented, structured, and able to prioritize.
• Willing to work on the warehouse floor or take customer calls when needed.
• Excellent analytical and communication skills with hands-on use of several tools.

Responsibilities

• Own category management including assortments, pricing, offers and supply.
• Monitor sales performance, gross margin, and P&L in line with commercial strategy.
• Define local assortment and integrate basic assortment for departments.
• Negotiate with local suppliers and manage contracts per guidelines.
• Develop and execute the country promotion calendar and monitor effectiveness.
• Support Ops with flows, tools, fixtures and related processes.

Skills

Cross-functional leadership

Analytical skills

Communication skills

Stakeholder management

Job description

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-minute delivery 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.

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.

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 (FMCG), in an international setting. You have built teams and led cross-functional projects at scale. 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 make 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. Additionally, you have robust interpersonal and intercultural skills. You can inspire several teams and stakeholders to rally behind a mission. Language skills: Fluent English and Arabic would be highly advantageous.