Books Category Manager Jobs, Textbook Center Jobs
In this role, you are an entrepreneur, a head of business unit, a team-leader and an operator who both knows how to be scrappy while operating as part of a larger team and business. You are a strong leader who is analytical and data-driven, can prioritize well, communicate clearly and compellingly, and who understands how to drive a high level of focus and excellence.
Main Responsibilities and Accountabilities
- Owns the Books category end-to-end across all our channels (wholesale, owned stores, franchised stores, e-commerce) and is responsible for the performance of the category: assortment, financials, merchandising, pricing and consumer experience
- Leads the category from selection of the suppliers, sourcing of the products, definition and distribution of the assortment, inventory management, along with merchandising and marketing/promotional activities
- Owns the commercial calendar for the books category in order to maximize each commercial opportunity to grow sales and visibility of TBC
- Creates and develops a data-driven category business plan and strategy for development of the category and leads its execution
- Builds and leads a team to execute on business area or category objectives
- Coaches, drives and inspires team members and provides feedback to enhance skills, knowledge and work performance
- Defines success for the category and engages team to deliver business results consistent with category strategy
- Ensures premium merchandising standards across all channels to enhance consumer experience, including product presentation, content, customer reviews and enhancements
- Evolves and elevates the category’s assortment strategy through in-market expertise and identifies assortment gaps and opportunities
- Optimizes the product sourcing mix across manufacturers, distributors and third-party retailers
- Works with planning and supply chain partners to manage owned inventory in the books category
- Owns vendor relationships, including negotiating product costs and supplier funding
- Ensures holistic price competitiveness and adherence
- Collaborates with marketing and creative teams on category messaging
- Leads category management projects to optimize ranges and related merchandising
- Fosters trust relationships with vendors to achieve better pricing and quality of services and places appropriate orders to ensure product availability that meets consumer demands
- Works alongside wholesale and retail teams to translate customer insights into strategies which drive performance
- Manages P&L and ensures achievement of category financial targets and identifies levers to achieve these targets
Experience
● Masters degree in Business, retail or related fields
● 8-10 years experience in business, retail or related fields in the FMCG sector
● 5 years non-food category management in an omnichannel retail environment
● Strong negotiator with proven experience in setting negotiation strategies and conducting negotiations
● Extremely customer-focused and takes the time to understand the evolution of the market and the needs of the business
● Deep expertise in inventory Management, Planning, and Merchandising both in physical and digital retail environments
● Strong analytical skills including the ability to quickly synthesize, distill and draw conclusions on large amounts of disparate data
● Ability to manage multiple simultaneous projects requiring frequent communication, organization, time management, and problem-solving skills
● Analytical thinking and the ability to analyze retail insights and break down the components but still be able to see the bigger picture
● Excellent written, verbal and presentation skills
How to apply
To apply, please submit a letter of interest clearly indicating “Books Category Manager” as your subject title together with your resume and three references on or before 20th January 2020 to recruitment@tbc.co.ke