Category Development Manager

Description

At Basamh Group, our mission is to grow people and companies by empowering individuals and fostering collaborative relationships to achieve sustainable success. Backed by over 75 years of experience, we’ve built a strong, consumer-centric ecosystem serving the MEA region. Our excellence in distribution is driven by Basamh Trading Company (BTC) in retail and Specialized Food Services (SFS) in HORECA. GoodyCo leads our efforts in marketing and brand building, while Thokoman Foods anchors our manufacturing capabilities.

Guided by our core values of true ownership, passion to grow, transparency and family spirit, we are committed to establishing long-term partnerships with our people and all those we work with. We aim to strengthen our network, uplift our communities, and build a legacy of homegrown success stories that inspire the leaders of tomorrow.

Job Overview

To lead and drive the long-term growth and competitiveness of assigned categories across KSA by owning category strategy, volume and budget planning, trade investment effectiveness, and cross-functional execution, ensuring sustainable business performance and value creation.

Key Responsibilities

Role Responsibilities:

Manage the Category - Expertise & Strategies:

• Understanding the performance of assigned categories and work proactively with the Brand Managers and Business Development Managers on developing sales business plans in order to achieve the desired sales results.
• Accountable for the volume and budget of assigned categories.
• Develops plans and puts in place all the required tools and communications that will ensure flawless and superior executions of those business plans through the CBD organization.
• Obtain the required knowledge regarding the category strategies and key business drivers as well as a full understanding of the category performance by channel and spot on the key opportunities to become the internal category expert.
• Ensure the deployment of category strategies.
• Analyze and have a clear picture of competitive landscape & activities.
• Lead the internal development of the plans to maintain a category competitive edge.
• Search and reapply proven success models.
• Identify shopper insight for in-store communication or execution & share it regularly with the business.
• Manage trade budget planning for the category.
• Managing the Category Trade Marketing Calendar.

Managing Internal Customer – Business Development Managers & Brand Managers:

• Be the contact person for the Business Develop Managers and brand managers for your categories.
• Provide the Internal customers with new product development volume forecast.
• Work proactively with the Business Development Managers and Brand manager teams on developing aggressive sales business plans in order to achieve the desired sales results.
• Provide the Business Development Managers and Brand teams with the updated sales and distribution analysis along with improvement initiatives.
• Provide the Business Development Managers and Brand team with the updated budget and profitability analysis along with improvement initiatives.
• Ensure integration between channels to avoid conflicts.
• Align Category plans, volume, in-trade plans IMP, Building Blocks & KPIs for FY.
• Analyze category sales & plan effectiveness and share findings & recovered plan with Channel and Brand managers.
• Prepare the Trade Stories for New launches/Promotions.
• Owning BB inputs and keeping it updated with all agreed plans.

Managing Internal Customer - Demand & Supply team:

• Be the contact person of the category volume forecast.
• Provide the demand team with the initiatives volume plans.
• Co-owning Goody stocks on hand along with Supply team.

Managing Internal Customer – Finance Team:

• Be the contact person for the category budget forecast.
• Managing the category profitability.

Managing External Customers – Distributors & Logistic Team:

• Support the distributor with the required category data to enhance distribution.
• Close monitor on the stock availability on national and branch level to secure optimum leaner operations.
• Minimize stocks expires through meticulous plans by channel by branch.

People Management:

• Set clear performance objectives, offer necessary support, and regularly evaluate and provide feedback to direct reports for continuous development.
• Actively participate in the identification and recruitment of key talent for the function.
• Provide clear direction, prioritize tasks, delegate responsibilities, and monitor workflow.
• Create opportunities for team members to contribute to improvement, innovation, and knowledge-sharing initiatives.

Governance and Resilience

• Adhere to policies, procedures, and processes to ensure consistent and controlled execution of daily tasks.
• Contribute to identifying opportunities for continuous improvement of processes and practices to enhance effectiveness.
• Foster a high-performance environment and actively promote company values.

Minimum Requirements

• Required: Bachelor’s degree in related field.
• 4 to 6 years in Sales, Category management and or Trade marketing experience
• MS Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint)
• Leadership skills
• Strong negotiation skills
• Organization skills
• People management skills
• Influencing skills
• Strong communication skills
• Excellent numeracy skills

Working Environment

At Basamh Group, we pride ourselves on attracting talented individuals by offering dynamic and rewarding professional opportunities that inspire growth and innovation. We are deeply committed to fostering a culture of growth by supporting continuous development through hands-on learning, comprehensive online resources, interactive training, and personalized coaching. Guided by our core value of family spirit, we cultivate an environment where every individual feels valued, supported, and empowered to thrive. We ensure our people contribute to our collective success while finding fulfillment and pride in being part of the Basamh Group family.