Category Manager Clothing
btb consumer products • 5+ years • Fashion Management • Schiphol/Leiden • Fulltime
To expand the department, we have a vacancy for an experienced Category Manager Clothing/Apparel for an international company located near Schiphol and Leiden.
Are you ready for your next career step as Category Manager and do you want to be a part of the dynamic and challenging world of our product media industry? Are you the one who will give a commercial boost to our clothing products with your data-driven approach? Then we invite you to apply for this job!
An interesting phase to join, because our company started in 2023 with the launch of a new positioning and Go-to-Market strategy. This also means that we have organized our product categories in a different way, in order to strengthen our position in the market and to serve our B2B customers even better.
As Category Manager you are responsible for the product category clothing. You create and activate the category strategy for our clothing products. With your knowledge and experience you will make the difference for our B2B customers.
A very challenging and exciting position in a fast pace department within our marketleading company.
What are you going to do?
As Category Manager, you will manage our clothing category and grow it in both numbers and sales. From concept to launch, you will initiate and coordinate new introductions in all stages of the development cycle, including sample validation through fittings and building up technical specifications. In addition to being familiar with products and their markets, this role will also require creative and strategic insight.
This will make it easy to spot trends, new brands, and quickly seize opportunities while conducting competition analysis and sales analyses to create win-win partnerships. Moreover, you will develop strategic development plans, ensure product development schedules are maintained, and continuously drive growth and performance. You will manage a broad portfolio of clothing products that continues to appeal to our customers within a short period of time.
Your solid communication skills will be very useful in order to maintain everything on the right track, because you will be in continuous contact with a large number of stakeholders. You will often start your mornings with a meeting with one of the foreign purchasing offices about the latest products. What colors will we use, what will a finished product look like, and what will be the requirements we set for the product and its supplier? You will discuss it, arrange it and record it. You will work closely with quality and compliance teams on product compliance to ensure new products meet legal requirements. Besides, some knowledge about (online) marketing will be desirable in this role, as many sales will be generated from this perspective, and you will handle various marketing-related tasks to promote the category.
You will work in a large and professional Category Management team (both in the Netherlands and international) and you will work closely with your Category Director, Category Manager(s) colleagues, GBS team, compliance team and Decoration team in Poland. You will be supported by a Category Assistant.
Who are you?
You will be able to easily find your way between cross-functional teams, not only externally, but also internally. You will know how to get things done in a natural way, without losing sight of the different interests involved. Your contacts will range from the Marketing and Planning departments to the International Sales Offices and the Printing Team.
Since you are able to keep a good overview, you also do not feel stressed when several colleagues, clients, projects or data require your attention at the same time. You also have:
- Degree in textiles such as AMFI.
- 5 to 7 years of experience in category management in a textile company;
- A passion for fashion and a keen interest in clothing trends and consumer preferences;
- Strong analytical skills;
- Outstanding listening, communication and presentation skills at different levels;
- Excellent understanding of English in word and writing (Dutch is an advantage);
- Customer supportive, stress resistance and a team player;
- Open for occasional trips to domestic and foreign locations/partners.
Our offer to you!
Besides a pleasant working atmosphere, a place to grow your talents, a flat organization with an open culture, where one’s own input and initiative is rewarded, we offer you:
- Good salary that matches with the knowledge and experience you bring;
- Annual bonus to celebrate our success, when we achieved our results;
- Laptop and the option to work partially from home fully equipped and with extra budget for a good working place;
- 25 (or more) holidays, a premium-free pension, money to celebrate your birthday, travel allowance for every kilometer you travel and more;
- Extensive learning and (personal) development possibilities, including a wide range of online courses via Goodhabitz;
- Allowances to keep you fit and healthy, free fruit and every day different lunch options available at rock bottom prices;
- A dynamic and inspiring world of product media products and gifts which you can buy in our own shop;
- Never a dull moment!
Heb je interesse in deze vacature?
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Contactpersoon: Evert Fermin