Assistant Category Manager - Fish & Meat

Jeyachandran Textiles; Thiruvananthapuram; On-site; INR 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Jeyachandran Textiles is seeking a Category Manager for Fish & Meat in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. This role involves end-to-end ownership of the fish, seafood, and meat category, focusing on category strategy, sourcing, pricing, and vendor management.

The ideal candidate has a strong commercial background, knowledge of supply chain management, and at least 5 years of experience in category management. Responsibilities include driving sales targets, managing inventory, and ensuring compliance with food safety standards.

Qualifications

• 5 to 8 years of experience in Fresh Food Category Management, Buying, or Retail Merchandising.

Responsibilities

• Own the business performance of the Fish & Meat category.
• Develop annual and seasonal category plans.
• Identify growth opportunities through market trends.
• Define category pricing architecture and product mix strategy.
• Manage supplier base and negotiate pricing and supply terms.
• Drive demand forecasting and inventory optimization.
• Ensure compliance with food safety standards.

Skills

Commercial and negotiation skills

Understanding of fresh food and protein category dynamics

Vendor sourcing and supply chain management

Analytical and decision-making ability

Knowledge of food safety and cold chain

Advanced Excel and data-driven reporting

Leadership and cross-functional coordination

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business, Retail Management, Food Technology, Fisheries Science, Agriculture, or related field

MBA preferred

Job description

Job Summary

The Category Manager - Fish & Meat is responsible for end-to-end ownership of the Fish, Seafood, and Meat category. The role drives category strategy, sourcing, profitability, pricing, assortment, vendor development, inventory efficiency, and customer experience. The incumbent ensures strong supply chain control, optimal freshness, minimal wastage, and consistent availability while achieving sales and margin targets.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the overall business performance of the Fish & Meat category across stores and channels.
• Develop annual and seasonal category plans aligned with sales, margin, and growth objectives.
• Identify growth opportunities through market trends, customer behavior, and competitor benchmarking.
• Define category positioning, pricing architecture, and product mix strategy.
• Develop and manage supplier base including fisheries, poultry farms, meat suppliers, and distributors.
• Negotiate pricing, supply terms, credit terms, and promotional support.
• Build a strong sourcing network to ensure consistent quality and supply stability.
• Evaluate and onboard new vendors to improve cost efficiency and product availability.
• Monitor vendor performance on quality, delivery, compliance, and pricing competitiveness.
• Design and manage category assortment across fresh fish, seafood, poultry, mutton, and value-added meat products.
• Ensure optimal SKU mix based on demand patterns, regional preferences, and profitability.
• Introduce new products and innovations such as marinated, ready-to-cook, and cleaned cuts.
• Conduct periodic range reviews and eliminate non-performing SKUs.
• Define pricing strategy based on daily market trends, procurement cost, and competition.
• Ensure achievement of gross margin targets while maintaining competitiveness.
• Monitor price fluctuations and implement dynamic pricing where required.
• Approve promotional pricing and ensure return on investment on campaigns.
• Drive demand forecasting in coordination with stores and supply chain teams.
• Ensure optimal inventory levels with minimal stock-outs and wastage.
• Manage cold chain efficiency and freshness standards across the supply network.
• Monitor stock ageing, shrinkage, and wastage at category level and take corrective action.
• Ensure proper display, hygiene, merchandising, and cutting, packaging, labeling experiences across all stores.
• Work closely with store operations teams for daily availability and replenishment.
• Resolve operational issues related to freshness, shortages, or quality complaints.
• Ensure strict compliance with food safety standards, hygiene protocols, and regulatory requirements.
• Monitor cold chain integrity from sourcing to store delivery.
• Establish quality benchmarks and inspection processes for all incoming goods.
• Handle escalations related to product quality and customer complaints.
• Plan and execute seasonal campaigns, festive promotions, and value-added offers.
• Collaborate with marketing team for category visibility and customer engagement.
• Evaluate promotion performance and optimize future campaigns for better ROI.
• Track key KPIs including sales, margins, wastage, inventory turnover, and availability.
• Prepare weekly and monthly category performance reports and business reviews.
• Use data insights to drive pricing, assortment, and sourcing decisions.
• Benchmark performance against competitors and market trends.

Required Skills

• Strong commercial and negotiation skills
• Deep understanding of fresh food and protein category dynamics
• Experience in vendor sourcing and supply chain management
• Strong analytical and decision-making ability
• Knowledge of food safety, cold chain, and perishables handling
• Advanced Excel and data-driven reporting capability
• Strong leadership and cross-functional coordination skills

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Retail Management, Food Technology, Fisheries Science, Agriculture, or related field
• MBA preferred
• 5 to 8 years of experience in Fresh Food Category Management, Buying, or Retail Merchandising