Job description

The Associate General Manager – Buying (Furniture Category Retail Merchandising) at Home Centre, part of Landmark Group, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates is responsible for the overall business management of the assigned furniture product category within the home retail sector. The role ensures the development, implementation, and management of category business plans to maximize sales performance and profitability while aligning with the organization’s strategic objectives. Responsibilities include driving category growth and profitability by developing comprehensive category business planning frameworks and monitoring gross margin management to ensure alignment with organizational financial plans, business plans, and budget targets. The position is responsible for category merchandise planning including preparing annual merchandising plans for the assigned category and providing inputs to the Merchandising Development and Buying Head for the development of the overall merchandising budget. The role requires analyzing historical sales trend analysis and market research insights to support the planning process and ensure adherence to financial targets including sales performance, markdown management, margin targets, and average inventory levels. The Associate General Manager collaborates with the Merchandise Planning department to finalize merchandise strategies including pricing strategy, promotion planning, and product assortment planning while ensuring effective in-season management across territories through stock balancing, markdown management, stock analysis, and monitoring stock versus sales performance. The position oversees category design and quality management by utilizing customer research and market insights to guide category management decisions regarding new product introduction, assortment planning, store shelf layout, promotional planning, and product pricing strategies. The role also works with the Design Head to formulate product design and development plans including product specifications, functional features, packaging requirements, and resource allocation while ensuring development activities remain within budget and merchandise quality standards are maintained. The position manages order and vendor management processes by determining buying requirements, formulating retail buying plans and budgets, developing vendor sourcing strategies, conducting vendor negotiation and renegotiation activities, and maintaining vendor relationship management with strategic suppliers. Responsibilities include monitoring purchase orders, ensuring merchandise delivery compliance according to service level agreements, and implementing cost optimization initiatives through centralized bulk buying and vendor mix optimization while benchmarking procurement processes against market standards. The role also includes people management responsibilities including recruitment support, team development monitoring, complaint resolution, staff deployment oversight, performance appraisal processes, and setting Key Result Areas (KRAs) for direct reports. In addition, the Associate General Manager conducts retail market intelligence and competitive price benchmarking by mapping competitor product offerings, pricing structures, and market trends to provide strategic inputs to business planning and category strategy development.