Category Manager - Perfume & Fragrances

Real Estate Souq; Dschanub al-Batina; On-site; OMR 23,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

Real Estate Souq in Oman seeks a senior perfumery professional to develop fragrance portfolios for men, women and unisex, and to work with fragrance houses on development and evaluation.

You will understand notes, families and concentrations, and help develop Oud, Musk and Amber lines while coordinating packaging and private-label projects. GCC market familiarity is highly valued.

Qualifications

• Formally educated in perfumery or 6+ years fragrance industry experience.
• Strong knowledge of fragrance families, notes and concentrations.
• Arabic/Oriental perfumery knowledge is essential.
• GCC fragrance-market experience preferred.
• Experience with fragrance houses and private-label development is a major plus.
• Must combine technical fragrance knowledge with solid commercial buying capability.

Responsibilities

• Develop men's, women's and unisex fragrance portfolios.
• Work with fragrance houses on development and evaluation.
• Plan launches and seasonal collections.
• Negotiate terms with suppliers and manufacturers.
• Own sales, margins, inventory and SKU lifecycle.
• Benchmark GCC fragrance retailers and brands.

Skills

Fragrance knowledge

Arabic/Oriental perfumery

Category management

Supplier negotiation

Education

Formal education in perfumery / Fragrance Development

Job description

Scope: Perfume, fragrance and related fragrance products

• Develop men's, women's and unisex fragrance portfolios.

• Work across Arabic/Oriental and Western fragrance profiles.

• Work with fragrance houses/manufacturers on fragrance development and evaluation.

• Understand fragrance families, notes, accords, concentrations and product quality.

• Develop Oud, Musk, Amber and other relevant fragrance families.

• Participate in fragrance selection, modification, testing and approval.

• Develop exclusive and private-label fragrances.

• Coordinate bottle, cap, packaging, gift-box and presentation development.

• Develop category strategy, assortment architecture and accessible-premium-to-luxury price ladders.

• Own Sales, GP%, Margin, Inventory and SKU lifecycle.

• Plan launches, gifting and seasonal collections.

• Benchmark Oman/UAE/GCC fragrance retailers and brands.

• Develop fragrance houses, manufacturers and packaging suppliers.

• Negotiate cost, MOQ, exclusivity, lead times and commercial terms.

• Work with Planner on forecasting, stock cover, sell-through and ageing.

• Work with Operations/Marketing on testers, sampling, launches, displays and store-team product knowledge.

Desired Candidate Profile

• MANDATORY: Candidate must have formal education/training in Perfumery, Fragrance Development, Fragrance Chemistry or a recognised professional perfumery programme OR minimum 6 years of substantial professional experience specifically within Perfume & Fragrance.

• Generic cosmetics, beauty or general retail experience must not be considered equivalent to the mandatory requirement.

• Strong knowledge of fragrance families, notes, accords and concentrations.

• Knowledge of Arabic/Oriental perfumery is essential.

• GCC fragrance-market experience strongly preferred.

• Experience with fragrance houses/manufacturers highly desirable.

• Private-label fragrance development is a major advantage.

• Must combine technical fragrance knowledge with strong commercial buying/category-management capability.

Core KPIs

Sales GP% Margin New Launch Success Private Label Contribution Sell-through Stock Turn Ageing Supplier Terms Product Development Lead Time