Manager, Category Management

At Sephora, beauty is about feeling seen, valued, and empowered, individually and collectively. It is connecting deeply with others, celebrating diversity and inclusivity, unlocking your potential and making a difference every day. Together, we belong to something beautiful.

Sephora SEA’s omni channel business spans over 8 countries (Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines) with 100+ stores and boasts some global flagships such as ION and Raffles City in Singapore, F88 in Kuala Lumpur and Pitt Street in Sydney. Sephora SEA is experiencing rapid growth in the region with new store openings and business channels (i.e., Click and collect and marketplace).

The Opportunity

As a Manager, Category Management, you will manage a portfolio of brands within your category to drive differentiation with key brand groups, optimising growth, space productivity, profitability, and strong 360 campaigns for category penetration. This role includes managing brand relationships, commercial negotiations, joint business planning (including animations), assortment optimisation, productivity, clear pricing principles, and a robust calendar for existing brands and new brand launches. Additionally, you will collaborate with Supply Chain for effective planning and forecasting.

You will shine here if you enjoy…

• Category Strategy
  • Contributing to the development of SEA category strategy based on market trends, consumer insights, and sales data, to identify white space, optimize growth, space productivity, profitability and strong 360 campaigns to support key natures to gain category penetration
  • Negotiating, influencing, and managing communication with Market Merchandising teams to ensure effective collaboration in implementing category strategy
  • Owning brand portfolio, tracking omni-channel category performance (by channel, markets, segments, margin, productivity, brand conversion & stocks management) vs set KPIs
• Portfolio / Brand Management
  • Driving differentiation with key brand groups, and building and maintaining strong supplier relationships
  • Managing commercial negotiations
  • Conducting joint business planning (including animations) with key brand groups, optimizing assortment and productivity, and establishing clear pricing principles
  • Developing a robust calendar of existing brands and planning meaningful and incremental new brand launches
• Assortment Planning
  • Collaborating with brands to determine the product assortment for omni-channel, considering customer preferences, market trends, and brand positioning
  • Working closely with brands and internal stakeholders on planning, coordination and execution of launch plan for assigned brands – annual launch plan and new listing process
• Inventory Management
  • Collaborating with the Supply Chain team on effective planning and forecasting to achieve brand targets and healthy stock levels

We would love to hear from you if you are/have…

• A bachelor’s degree in business administration, Marketing, Economics or a related field, an MBA would be an advantage
• At least 6 years of experience in category management, retail buying, or a related field 
• A track record of in developing and implementing category strategies to drive growth, profitability, and market penetration
• Experience in managing brand portfolios, including supplier relationships, commercial negotiations and joint business planning
• Experience in assortment optimization, pricing strategies and managing product lifecycles
• Experience in collaborating with supply chain teams for effective planning and forecasting
• Proficiency in negotiating commercial agreements
• Strong communication skills with the ability to present effectively
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills in a multicultural environment

Here, you will find:

• Community, in which authenticity is embraced, and the strength of our differences fuels our collective spirit
• Culture of empowerment, learning & growth, that offers you the tools, space and opportunity to learn, innovate and lead
• Work that brings fulfilment, from delighting clients every day, to inspiring our industry at large, every action makes a difference 

It is in the Sephora DNA to champion a world of inspiration and inclusion where everyone can celebrate their beauty. You can be yourself, because you are what sets us apart. Join us and belong to something beautiful. 

Sephora is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace for all. We do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, advancement, or other employment practices. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating and fostering an inclusive environment for all employees.