Fresh Food Category Manager – Procurement

About the role

Al Madina Group is looking for an experienced, commercially driven Fresh Food Category Manager to oversee procurement and category management across its fresh food divisions in Abu Dhabi. The role covers sourcing strategies, supplier relationships, commercial agreements and product quality and availability, with a focus on improving category profitability across multiple retail outlets.

Key responsibilities

• Lead procurement and category management for fruits and vegetables, fishery, butchery, bakery and other fresh food divisions.
• Develop sourcing strategies to keep products available and prices competitive.
• Build and maintain supplier relationships and negotiate favourable commercial agreements.
• Monitor market trends, seasonal availability and wholesale pricing to guide procurement decisions.
• Implement cost optimisation and pricing strategies to improve profitability and margins.
• Oversee product quality, freshness standards, inventory management and wastage reduction.
• Evaluate and onboard new suppliers and monitor category performance for efficiency gains.

Required profile

• Extensive experience in fresh food procurement, sourcing and category management.
• Strong understanding of the UAE fresh food market, including wholesale markets, pricing trends and seasonal availability.
• Proven supplier relationship management, vendor development and commercial negotiation experience.
• Understanding of cost optimisation, pricing, profitability and margin management.
• Previous supermarket or hypermarket experience in the UAE is highly preferred.

Required skills

• Negotiation and commercial awareness.
• Analytical and decision-making skills.
• Category management expertise.

Salary is estimated at AED 15,000 to AED 22,000 per month. Applications are made by submitting an updated CV to the recruitment team.