Operations Manager – Retail Category & Merchandising

About the role

We are seeking an Operations Manager to lead category and merchandising functions for Aster Opticals in Dubai. The role combines strategic planning, inventory control and vendor partnership to drive sales and profitability across our retail network.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and execute category strategies aligned with customer demographics and store profiles.
• Monitor weekly category performance, introduce new ranges, and phase out slow‑moving items.
• Create annual and seasonal merchandise plans, forecast demand, allocate stock and maintain optimal product mix.
• Oversee inventory health, improve turn, reduce aged stock and manage full product life cycles.
• Analyse sales, margin, sell‑through and other KPIs to identify growth opportunities and produce performance reports.
• Set visual merchandising guidelines, planograms and conduct store audits.
• Build balanced assortments across price points, manage launches, seasonal collections and negotiate exclusive ranges.
• Recommend pricing and promotional strategies while protecting margins.
• Maintain supplier relationships, negotiate support and evaluate performance.
• Collaborate with Operations, Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance, Store Managers and IT/BI teams to achieve commercial goals.

Required profile

• Minimum 5 years of experience in retail merchandising, planning or category management.
• Strong commercial and analytical mindset with attention to detail.
• Proven ability to influence cross‑functional teams and manage projects.

Required skills

• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel.
• Experience with Power BI for data analysis and reporting.