Category Lead

🏢 Apparel Group
📍 Dubai, United Arab EmiratesFull-timeOn-site
📅 Posted: 2mo ago🔄 Updated: 2mo ago
CV%
✨ AI Summary
6thStreet.com is seeking a Category Head – Beauty & Wellness to build, launch, and scale its beauty and wellness business. This role involves full P&L ownership, category strategy, assortment curation, brand partnerships, commercial trading, and cross-functional leadership to drive revenue growth, profitability, and customer engagement across digital and phygital channels. The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor's or Master's degree and 8-12 years of experience in beauty, wellness, or lifestyle retail, with a strong track record in category management and P&L responsibility. Responsibilities include defining category vision, managing the P&L, developing a growth roadmap, curating a differentiated product portfolio, leading commercial negotiations, executing trading calendars, optimizing pricing and promotions, enhancing customer experience, managing supply chain and inventory, collaborating on marketing initiatives, and leading a high-performing team.
Required Skills
Soft Skills & Professional Competencies
People ManagementTeam LeadershipNegotiationData Analysis
Other
category strategyassortment curationbrand partnershipscommercial tradingprofitabilityconsumer behavior analysispromotional strategyomnichannel merchandising
Finance, Legal & Governance
Financial Analysis
Business, Sales & Management
Business DevelopmentMarket ResearchCompetitive AnalysisPricing StrategyCustomer SuccessMarketing Strategy
Productivity & Workplace Tools
Notion
Information Technology
Monitoring
Operations, Logistics & Supply Chain
Supply Chain ManagementInventory Management
Nice to have:
Other
Arabic
Requirements
Candidates should possess a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Business, Retail, or Marketing, with 8-12 years of experience in beauty, wellness, or lifestyle retail, specifically in category management or buying. Proven ability to manage category P&L, drive commercial growth in high-SKU environments, and understand beauty/wellness trends is essential. Experience in sourcing, vendor negotiations, brand partnerships, data-driven performance improvement, digital/omnichannel environments, and cross-functional team leadership is also required.
Description
Job description / Role Job Type Full Time Job Location Dubai, UAE Nationality Any Nationality Salary Not Specified Gender Not Specified Arabic Fluency Not Specified Job Function Finance, Business Analysis & Consulting Company Industry Retail About the company 6thStreet.com is an omnichannel fashion & lifestyle destination that offers 1400+ fashion & beauty brands in the UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain & Qatar. Customers can shop the latest on-trend outfits, shoes, bags, beauty essentials and accessories from international brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Hugo, Marks & Spencers, Dune London, Charles & Keith, Aldo, Crocs, Birkenstock, Skechers, Levi’s, Nike, Adidas, L'Oreal, and Inglot amongst many more. 6thStreet.com recently opened GCC’s first phygital store at Dubai Hills Mall; an innovative tech-led space which combines the best of both online & offline shopping with online browsing & smart fitting rooms. Role summary The Category Head – Beauty & Wellness will be responsible for building, launching, and scaling the Beauty & Wellness business. The role combines full P&L ownership, category strategy, assortment curation, brand partnerships, commercial trading, and cross-functional leadership to create a differentiated destination for beauty and wellness customers. The role will drive revenue growth, profitability, customer acquisition, retention, and long-term category expansion across digital and phygital store. Key responsibilities: 1. Category strategy & P&L ownership Define and execute the Beauty & Wellness category vision aligned with overall business objectives and customer strategy. Own category P&L including revenue, gross margin, contribution margin, inventory productivity, marketing efficiency, and profitability. Develop and execute a 1–3-year growth roadmap covering assortment expansion, brand portfolio development, marketplace opportunities, omnichannel initiatives, and regional growth. Analyze market trends, consumer behavior, competitive landscape, and emerging opportunities across beauty and wellness sectors within the GCC. Identify whitespace opportunities and new growth segments to drive category leadership. 2. Assortment & brand portfolio management Build and manage a differentiated portfolio across: Skincare Makeup Fragrance Haircare Personal care Wellness & self-care Vitamins & supplements Functional nutrition Women’s wellness Fitness & recovery Clean, natural & sustainable products Develop category architecture including price ladders, customer segments, hero products, exclusive launches, bundles, and subscription offerings. Source, negotiate, and onboard leading regional and international brands including the marketplace model. Lead commercial negotiations covering margins, rebates, marketing investments, exclusivity, payment terms, inventory commitments, and promotional support. Establish strategic partnerships with key suppliers to drive innovation, exclusives, and category differentiation. 3. Commercial trading, pricing & growth Build and execute the annual trading calendar covering key retail moments such as Ramadan, Eid, Summer, Back-to-School, White Friday, Singles Day, 11.11, 12.12, New Year Wellness, and gifting occasions. Define pricing and promotional strategies balancing competitiveness, premium positioning, customer value, and profitability. Drive growth through promotions, bundles, replenishment programs, subscriptions, and loyalty initiatives. Monitor and optimize key KPIs including: Revenue Margin Conversion Average Order Value (AOV) Sell-through Customer acquisition Repeat purchase rate Inventory turnover Category market share Lead weekly and monthly business reviews and implement corrective actions to maximize performance. 4. Customer experience & omnichannel merchandising Partner with Product, UX, CRM, and Marketing teams to create a best-in-class Beauty & Wellness shopping experience. Develop category navigation, product discovery journeys, routines, wellness goals, personalized recommendations, and educational content. Ensure best-in-class product content including ingredients, benefits, certifications, usage guidance, routines, reviews, before-and-after imagery, and expert recommendations. Drive onsite merchandising strategy including category pages, landing pages, search optimization, ranking logic, and cross-category recommendations. Build customer engagement programs focused on replenishment, loyalty, subscriptions, sampling, and community-led discovery. Identify opportunities to integrate beauty and wellness with fashion and lifestyle categories to increase basket size and customer lifetime value. 5. Supply chain, inventory & operations Partner with Planning and Supply Chain teams to manage demand forecasting, inventory investments, replenishment, launch planning, and lifecycle management. Optimize inventory health, stock cover, markdown exposure, and working capital efficiency. Ensure operational readiness for beauty and wellness-specific requirements including storage, shelf-life management, temperature-sensitive products, compliance, and returns handling. Drive availability and fulfillment excellence while minimizing stock-outs and excess inventory. 6. Marketing, partnerships & customer growth Collaborate with Brand Marketing, CRM, Social Commerce, Influencer Marketing, and Performance Marketing teams to drive customer acquisition and retention. Develop integrated category campaigns, product launches, influencer partnerships, and brand collaborations. Build category awareness through educational content, wellness programs, expert partnerships, and community engagement initiatives. Drive customer lifecycle strategies focused on repeat purchases, replenishment behavior, and long-term loyalty. 7. Team leadership & cross-functional collaboration Build and lead a high-performing team across category management, buying, merchandising, and trading. Foster a culture of commercial excellence, customer obsession, innovation, and accountability. Collaborate closely with Product, Operations, Finance, Marketing, CRM, Marketplace, and Retail teams to deliver category objectives. Mentor and develop future category leaders within the organization. Desired experience: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Business, Retail, Marketing, or related field. 8-12 years of experience in beauty, wellness, or lifestyle retail, with strong exposure to category management or buying. Proven track record of managing category P&L and driving commercial growth in high-SKU environments. Strong understanding of beauty and wellness trends, customer behavior, and product ecosystems. Experience in sourcing, vendor negotiations, and brand partnership management. Strong analytical and commercial acumen with ability to drive performance through data. Experience working across digital and omnichannel environments. Excellent stakeholder management and ability to lead cross-functional teams. About the Company The Apparel Group is a global fashion and lifestyle brand conglomerate residing on the crossroads of a modern economy - Dubai, UAE. The mercurial growth in the last 17 years has been by acquiring a host of world class fashion labels from around the world - Nine West, Tommy Hilfiger, Kenneth Cole, Aldo & Tim Hortons just to name a few. Today the group caters to thousands of eager shoppers through its over 1530 stores, 75 International brands and employing 12,000 multi cultural staff in over 4 continents. Apparel believes in turning dreams in to reality and we give everyone - our customers, our stakeholders, our employees - an equal opportunity to do so. Apparel group has carved its strong presence not only in the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, and Saudi Arabia but opened thriving gateways to market in India, South Africa, Poland, Singapore, Jordan, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. Additionally, clear strategies are in place to enter emerging markets such as Hungary, Pakistan, Egypt and Philippines. Apply Now
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🎯 Overalli74%
⚡ Skillsi85%
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Ontology Match: 85.0
Matched:✓ Requirements Matching✓ Ontology Skills Mapping
📜 Eligibilityi49%
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Local: 19600%
🏗️ Career Fiti91%
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Seniority: 91.0
📋 Requirementsi67%
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Domain: 67.0
🔥 Motivationi78%
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Title Fit: 78.00