Head of Category & Commercial Strategy

Carsome Sdn Bhd; Petaling Jaya; On-site; MYR 250,000 - 360,000; Full time

Job summary

Carsome Sdn Bhd is seeking a commercially driven Senior Manager / Head of Category & Commercial Strategy to shape our product strategy, optimise inventory economics, and strengthen our competitive position in the automotive market.

This role links product strategy, sourcing, pricing, refurbishment, inventory management and retail execution to maximise commercial returns, with ownership of category performance and profitability.

Responsibilities

• Develop and own overall product and category strategy across key vehicle segments.
• Define segment positioning, pricing strategies and customer value propositions.
• Analyse market trends, customer demand, competitor activities, and sales performance to identify growth opportunities.
• Optimise product mix by balancing customer preferences, market demand, inventory availability, and expected commercial returns.
• Translate market insights and business performance data into clear category strategies and actionable commercial initiatives.
• Establish scalable frameworks for product selection, sourcing, pricing, inventory allocation and lifecycle management.
• Connect supply and demand decisions to ensure the right vehicles are acquired, prepared, positioned, and brought to market at the right time.
• Evaluate the commercial implications of product mix, acquisition costs, refurbishment requirements, pricing, and customer demand throughout the product lifecycle.
• Identify opportunities to improve inventory readiness, time-to-market, sales conversion and overall inventory productivity.
• Drive category-level commercial performance and profitability with accountability for revenue, gross margin, inventory turnover, speed of sale, stock ageing and overall P&L.
• Evaluate commercial performance to identify opportunities for margin improvement, cost optimisation and sustainable growth.
• Develop pricing and inventory strategies that balance profitability, market competitiveness, sales velocity, and inventory risk.
• Translate financial analysis and market insights into commercial decisions, clear action plans and measurable business outcomes.
• Monitor performance against targets, challenge underperforming results, and implement corrective actions to improve profitability.
• Assess the commercial trade-offs between acquisition costs, refurbishment investments, selling prices, inventory holding costs, and expected returns.

Job description

As our business continues to grow and manage increasing volumes of inventory, we are looking for a commercially driven and strategically minded Senior Manager / Head of Category & Commercial Strategy to shape our product strategy, optimise inventory economics, and strengthen our competitive position in the automotive market.

This role will play a critical part in connecting product strategy, sourcing, pricing, refurbishment, inventory management, and retail execution to maximise commercial returns. You will take ownership of category performance and profitability, ensuring that product mix, acquisition costs, pricing decisions, and inventory allocation are aligned with customer demand and business objectives.

We are looking for someone who combines strong commercial acumen with analytical capabilities and a hands-on approach to execution. Beyond interpreting data and identifying trends, you should be able to translate market insights into actionable commercial decisions, challenge existing practices, influence cross-functional stakeholders, and drive measurable business outcomes.

Working closely with Category, Sourcing, Refurbishment, Retail, and Marketing teams, you will establish scalable frameworks to support increasing inventory volumes, improve inventory productivity, and drive sustainable business growth.

Key Responsibilities

1. Product & Category Strategy

Develop and own the overall product and category strategy across key segments, including Value, Certified, Premium, and Electric Vehicles (EV).

Define segment positioning, unique selling propositions (USPs), pricing strategies, and customer value propositions to strengthen market competitiveness.

Analyse market trends, customer demand, competitor activities, and sales performance to identify growth opportunities and refine the product portfolio.

Optimise product mix by balancing customer preferences, market demand, inventory availability, and expected commercial returns.

Translate market insights and business performance data into clear category strategies and actionable commercial initiatives.

2. End-to-End Product Lifecycle Management

Establish scalable frameworks for product selection, sourcing, pricing, inventory allocation, and lifecycle management.

Connect supply and demand decisions to ensure the right vehicles are acquired, prepared, positioned, and brought to market at the right time.

Evaluate the commercial implications of product mix, acquisition costs, refurbishment requirements, pricing, and customer demand throughout the product lifecycle.

Identify opportunities to improve inventory readiness, time-to-market, sales conversion, and overall inventory productivity.

Drive category-level commercial performance and profitability, with accountability for key metrics including revenue, gross margin, inventory turnover, speed of sale, stock ageing, and overall P&L performance.

Evaluate commercial performance to identify opportunities for margin improvement, cost optimisation, and sustainable growth.

Develop pricing and inventory strategies that balance profitability, market competitiveness, sales velocity, and inventory risk.

Translate financial analysis and market insights into commercial decisions, clear action plans, and measurable business outcomes.

Monitor performance against business targets, challenge underperforming results, and implement corrective actions to improve profitability.

Assess the commercial trade-offs between acquisition costs, refurbishment investments, selling prices, inventory holding costs, and expected returns.

4. Buying & Sourcing Strategy

Partner with sourcing and buying teams to develop acquisition strategies aligned with category priorities, customer demand, and commercial objectives.

Challenge existing buying practices and acquisition decisions using market intelligence, historical sales performance, pricing trends, and expected profitability.

Establish clear buying criteria and evaluation frameworks to improve acquisition quality, consistency, and commercial returns.

Identify high-performing and underperforming vehicle segments to refine sourcing priorities and optimise product mix.

Strengthen the connection between vehicle acquisition decisions and downstream sales performance, inventory turnover, and profitability.

5. Inventory Optimisation & Business Scalability

Develop scalable category management frameworks and operating models to support increasing inventory volumes and business expansion.

Optimise inventory mix, stock availability, capital utilisation, and inventory productivity to maximise commercial returns.

Establish relevant KPIs, performance dashboards, and governance processes to support effective commercial decision-making

Unlock job insights

Hirer responsiveness Salary match Number of applicants

CARSOME is Southeast Asia's largest integrated car e-commerce platform. With operations across Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore, CARSOME aims to digitize the region's used car industry by reshaping and elevating the car buying and selling experience.

The company provides end-to-end solutions to consumers and used car dealers, from car inspection to ownership transfer to financing, promising a service that is trusted, convenient and efficient. CARSOME currently transacts around 100,000 cars annually and has more than 2,000 employees across all its offices.

For more information, please visit www.carsome.my

CARSOME is Southeast Asia's largest integrated car e-commerce platform. With operations across Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore, CARSOME aims to digitize the region's used car industry by reshaping and elevating the car buying and selling experience.

The company provides end-to-end solutions to consumers and used car dealers, from car inspection to ownership transfer to financing, promising a service that is trusted, convenient and efficient. CARSOME currently transacts around 100,000 cars annually and has more than 2,000 employees across all its offices.

For more information, please visit www.carsome.my