Regional Category Manager - Imports

Company Description

Since launching in Kuwait in 2004, talabat, the leading on-demand food and Q-commerce app for everyday deliveries, has been offering convenience and reliability to its customers. talabat’s local roots run deep, offering a real understanding of the needs of the communities we serve in eight countries across the region. We harness innovative technology and knowledge to simplify everyday life for our customers, optimize operations for our restaurants and local shops, and provide our riders with reliable earning opportunities daily. At talabat, we foster an innovative environment where our talabaty employees can strive to create a positive impact across the region through the use of our platform.

Job Description

Role Summary

We’re looking for a Regional Category Manager – Imports to join the team and focus on growing our own Grocery Store “tMart”, which is the region’s first cloud store concept offering 30-minutedelivery of groceries at hypermarket prices. The service has expanded rapidly across Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain, Egypt, Oman and Iraq!

What’s On Your Plate?

• Managing Imports portfolio at the regional level (responsibility for sales, profitability, availability,
  
  

inventory, strong presence of the portfolio in the app)

• Sourcing, negotiating with and on-boarding new consolidators to bring imported items from all regions
  
  

crucial for our business (UK + Europe, US, APAC etc.)

• Leading replenishment for the whole region (leading local markets in implementing effective
  
  

replenishment plans for All Year Round ranges)

• Leading logistics and compliance for imports initiative across the region (making sure that everything
  
  

in regards to consolidation/shipping/customs/ clearance /registration/ transportation to the final

destination is well taken care of, with the help of necessary external partners)

• Necessary skill set:
• Strong understanding of the impact of imported products on Commercial 4Ps (Pricing, Promotion,
  
  

Presentation, Product)

• Strong analytical skills - monitoring of Imports portfolio performance for the whole region (sales,
  
  

profitability, availability, inventories etc.), extracting insights from the data to improve and optimize

Imports performance across the region (action plan recommendations for local markets including

expertise in recommending categories to penetrate and brands to introduce)

• Easiness to work with the data & various data tools and easiness of presenting data in a
  
  

compelling/concise way

• Suppliers management (negotiations, on-boarding, maintaining good relations) - both local (agent
  
  

companies) and international (consolidators from various regions)

• Good time management skills in order to push all stakeholders involved to follow agreed timelines
• Meticulous while managing compliance part of the imports process
• Candidate must be well versed in retail (assortment with focus on imported items), experience in working for
  
  

a well-known consolidator could be a strong plus (preferably serving MENA clients).

• Responsible for managing the Imports assortment at the regional level + driving the intivite to penetrate
  
  

more categories (frozen, chilled, non-food) and new origins.

What Did We Order?

• Strong understanding of the importance of Imports in the commercial strategy.
• Good overview of the region in regard to imports categories & brands that are working best, but also
  
  

with good eye for innovation and niche opportunities. Working experience with/knowledge of imports

documentation (including labelling), customs & regulatory compliance, imports logistics & supply chain

aspects would be a big plus.

• You are very detail-oriented, structured and know how to prioritize -- you consider yourself as
  
  

someone who delivers solutions and not bottlenecks to be solved.

• You can interact with senior-level executives and can manage the expectations of multiple
  
  

stakeholders.

• You are someone energized by the unknown and look forward to learning each day on the job.
• You have excellent analytical and communication skills, and always like to be hands-on with several
  
  

tools.