Category Manager - San Francisco International Airport

Duty Free Americas; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 60,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401k Plan Contributions

Paid Time Off

Paid Holidays

Parking Reimbursement

Employee Discounts

Job summary

Duty Free Americas in San Francisco is seeking a Category Manager to drive sales and operational excellence across the assigned category. The role focuses on brand presence, inventory allocation, and collaboration with corporate buying teams to optimize in-store displays and promotions.

Ideal candidates will have 3-4 years of retail management experience, strong leadership and communication skills, and the ability to work outside regular hours as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Merchandising, or related field, or equivalent work experience.
• 3-4 years of retail management experience, preferably in airport/travel retail or high-volume settings.
• Ability to lift up to 30 pounds as required.

Responsibilities

• Drive sales performance and merchandise allocation across category.
• Curate brand presence per corporate standards and optimize store displays.
• Manage stock transfers and replenishment (min/max) for assigned categories.
• Coordinate pricing, promotions, and terms with stores.
• Engage with vendor visits and communicate needs to buying teams.
• Provide sales training and product knowledge to staff.
• Develop sales strategies to meet monthly targets and grow category performance.
• Ensure 100% product availability in stores from warehouse stock.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Inventory management

Merchandise allocation

Category planning

Time management

Planning

Delegation

Fluency in English

Education

Bachelor's degree in business/merchandising

Job description

The Category Manager is responsible for driving sales performance, operational excellence, and team engagement across their category.

Essential Functions

• Ensure the assigned categories' brand presence is curated per corporate buying team standards.
• Responsible for overall brand maintenance by allocating merchandise to stores utilizing data analysis.
• Ensure brand presence, such as displays, visuals, and promotions, is in excellent condition.
• Utilize the order replenishment system (min/max) to effectively allocate all assigned category merchandise.
• Manage stock transfers between locations (transfer of merchandise between stores to ensure appropriate assortment).
• Ensure 100% of all products available in the warehouse are in the stores, according to available space.
• Verification of prices, promotions, and their terms in the store, and communicate any necessary adjustments/corrections.
• Strategic immersion in all retail locations to maintain the assigned categories' stock levels and make appropriate recommendations to achieve merchandise and sales goals.
• Handle vendor visits for assigned categories.
• Maintain regular communication with the corporate buying teams.
• Notify the buying team of items being requested that we do not currently assort that are worthy of listing.
• Ensure promotional materials for HPPs are on time in store locations for activations and product launches.
• Recommend floor moves and spaces to reinforce promotions and/or high turnover products to attract customers and increase sales.
• Provide general sales training; category product knowledge & sales development to staff, both individually and in a group setting. Assist in scheduling vendor trainings.
• Motivate and drive overall sales, with a focus on assigned categories.
• Support the development of sales strategies to ensure that the monthly sales goals are met.
• Perform all other duties as required.

Ideal Candidate

• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Merchandising, or related field and/or equivalent work experience in a management capacity
• Minimum 3-4 years of retail management experience, preferably in an airport, travel retail, or high-volume environment
• Ability to regularly lift and/or move up to ten (10) pounds, frequently lift and/or move up to twenty (20) pounds, and occasionally lift and/or move up to thirty (30) pounds.
• Strong understanding of merchandise allocation, inventory management, and category planning
• Strong leadership, communication (oral and written), organizational, planning, and delegation skills
• Comfortable working independently and on weekends and outside of regular office hours as business needs require
• Fluency in English; additional languages an advantage given the international airport retail environment
• Time management skills and ability to work well under pressure with competing deadlines
• 401k Plan Contributions
• Paid Time Off
• Paid Holidays
• Parking Reimbursement
• Employee Discounts

Compensation

The salary range for this position is $60,000 - $75,000. Placement within this range will be based on experience, qualifications, and internal equity. This role is eligible for an annual bonus program.