Category Lead - Beauty & Wellness

Role Overview

Category Lead - Beauty & Wellness at Apparel Group (6thStreet.com), based in the UAE, responsible for building, launching, and scaling the Beauty & Wellness business across digital and Phygital channels throughout the GCC region.

Company Overview

6thStreet.com is an omnichannel fashion and lifestyle destination offering 1400+ fashion and beauty brands across the UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, and Qatar. The platform features international brands including Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Hugo, Marks & Spencers, Dune London, Charles & Keith, Aldo, Crocs, Birkenstock, Skechers, Levi's, Nike, Adidas, L'Oreal, and Inglot. 6thStreet.com recently opened the GCC's first phygital store at Dubai Hills Mall, combining online browsing and smart fitting rooms with offline shopping.

Role Purpose

Drive revenue growth, profitability, customer acquisition, and retention across the Beauty & Wellness category by developing comprehensive category strategy, curating differentiated assortment, establishing brand partnerships, executing commercial trading initiatives, and leading cross-functional teams to create a best-in-class destination for beauty and wellness customers across digital and Phygital channels.

Key Responsibilities

Category Strategy & P&L Ownership

• Define and execute the Beauty & Wellness category vision aligned with overall business objectives and customer strategy.
• Own category P&L including revenue, gross margin, contribution margin, inventory productivity, marketing efficiency, and profitability.
• Develop and execute a 1–3-year growth roadmap covering assortment expansion, brand portfolio development, marketplace opportunities, omnichannel initiatives, and regional growth.
• Analyze market trends, consumer behavior, competitive landscape, and emerging opportunities across beauty and wellness sectors within the GCC.
• Identify whitespace opportunities and new growth segments to drive category leadership.

Assortment & Brand Portfolio Management

• Build and manage a differentiated portfolio across Skincare, Makeup, Fragrance, Haircare, Personal Care, Wellness & Self-Care, Vitamins & Supplements, Functional Nutrition, Women's Wellness, Fitness & Recovery, and Clean, Natural & Sustainable Products.
• Develop category architecture including price ladders, customer segments, hero products, exclusive launches, bundles, and subscription offerings.
• Source, negotiate, and onboard leading regional and international brands including the marketplace model.
• Lead commercial negotiations covering margins, rebates, marketing investments, exclusivity, payment terms, inventory commitments, and promotional support.
• Establish strategic partnerships with key suppliers to drive innovation, exclusives, and category differentiation.

Commercial Trading, Pricing & Growth

• Build and execute the annual trading calendar covering key retail moments including Ramadan, Eid, Summer, Back-to-School, White Friday, Singles Day, 11.11, 12.12, New Year Wellness, and gifting occasions.
• Define pricing and promotional strategies balancing competitiveness, premium positioning, customer value, and profitability.
• Drive growth through promotions, bundles, replenishment programs, subscriptions, and loyalty initiatives.
• Monitor and optimize key KPIs including Revenue, Margin, Conversion, Average Order Value (AOV), Sell-through, Customer Acquisition, Repeat Purchase Rate, Inventory Turnover, and Category Market Share.
• Lead weekly and monthly business reviews and implement corrective actions to maximize performance.

Customer Experience & Omnichannel Merchandising

• Partner with Product, UX, CRM, and Marketing teams to create a best-in-class Beauty & Wellness shopping experience.
• Develop category navigation, product discovery journeys, routines, wellness goals, personalized recommendations, and educational content.
• Ensure best-in-class product content including ingredients, benefits, certifications, usage guidance, routines, reviews, before-and-after imagery, and expert recommendations.
• Drive onsite merchandising strategy including category pages, landing pages, search optimization, ranking logic, and cross-category recommendations.
• Build customer engagement programs focused on replenishment, loyalty, subscriptions, sampling, and community-led discovery.
• Identify opportunities to integrate beauty and wellness with fashion and lifestyle categories to increase basket size and customer lifetime value.

Supply Chain, Inventory & Operations

• Partner with Planning and Supply Chain teams to manage demand forecasting, inventory investments, replenishment, launch planning, and lifecycle management.
• Optimize inventory health, stock cover, markdown exposure, and working capital efficiency.
• Ensure operational readiness for beauty and wellness-specific requirements including storage, shelf-life management, temperature-sensitive products, compliance, and returns handling.
• Drive availability and fulfillment excellence while minimizing stock-outs and excess inventory.

Marketing, Partnerships & Customer Growth

• Collaborate with Brand Marketing, CRM, Social Commerce, Influencer Marketing, and Performance Marketing teams to drive customer acquisition and retention.
• Develop integrated category campaigns, product launches, influencer partnerships, and brand collaborations.
• Build category awareness through educational content, wellness programs, expert partnerships, and community engagement initiatives.
• Drive customer lifecycle strategies focused on repeat purchases, replenishment behavior, and long-term loyalty.

Team Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Build and lead a high-performing team across category management, buying, merchandising, and trading.
• Foster a culture of commercial excellence, customer obsession, innovation, and accountability.
• Collaborate closely with Product, Operations, Finance, Marketing, CRM, Marketplace, and Retail teams to deliver category objectives.
• Mentor and develop future category leaders within the organization.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Business, Retail, Marketing, or related field.
• 8–12 years of experience in beauty, wellness, or lifestyle retail with strong exposure to category management or buying.
• Proven track record of managing category P&L and driving commercial growth in high-SKU environments.
• Strong understanding of beauty and wellness trends, customer behavior, and product ecosystems.
• Experience in sourcing, vendor negotiations, and brand partnership management.

Skills & Competencies

• Strong analytical and commercial acumen with ability to drive performance through data.
• Experience working across digital and omnichannel environments.
• Excellent stakeholder management and ability to lead cross-functional teams.