Category Manager, Handbags & Accessories

Job Title: Category Manager, Handbags & Accessories

Department:

Looking to unbox your full potential? Find YOUR Fit at the ALDO GROUP.

Join the ALDO Group and thrive in a culture of continuous learning and impactful social responsibility! We offer exceptional training programs and are committed to ethical practices and sustainability. Find YOUR Fit while making a positive difference - apply now!

FIND YOUR FIT

• Recognition programs to showcase your talent!
• Tools to support and help them to reach their Career Goals.  (Training Offers, Scholarship Programs, LinkedIn Learning and more).
• To be part of a company that takes a stand on issues affecting people, the environment, and our partners
• Summer Fridays (because Summer is for fun)
• Purchase discount on merchandise sold in all our divisions.
• Family & Friends events with discounts on our products
• Subsidized cafeteria & daycare
• Subsidized public transportation and free parking
• On-campus gym with access to a trainer
• Flex schedules and possibility to work from home
• Sick days
• Attractive total compensation!
  
  

YOUR ROLE

Reporting to the Vice President of Planning & Allocation for Aldo North America & responsible for:

• Owning planning & allocation strategy & execution for handbags & accessories across Canada & US.
• Lead a team of planners & allocators to ensure the planning deliverables are done and approved in a timely manner and the allocation strategy is properly executed across our store fleet.
• Owning planning tasks for the Handbag category.
• Building the relationship with Buyers for both categories & countries and with Sales & Operations in Canada & US
• Developing a product category expertise to partner closely with Buying in defining the right product blend, SKU budget per cluster, quantifying the buys, allocate & replenish timely & in the right quantity;
• Lead category specific projects to optimize assortment and drive revenue growth
• Owning inventory for the category in both countries & maximize its productivity
• Working in close collaboration with the Project Team to ensure that the team is properly supported (process mapping, training & continuous improvement, reports, IT enhancements).
  
  

Management and coaching:

• Lead a team of planner & allocators, organize their workload & help them on priority management.
• Build a very strong partnership with Buying to maximize inventory profitability & store performance
• Foster a results-driven culture & accountability on KPIs and results.
• Develop team members by developing synergies between planners & allocators, building product expertise & strong store fleet knowledge.
  
  

Process and operations driven:

• Manage all planning deliverables for the handbags category across both countries
• Understand deeply the mandate of allocation & planning to be able to challenge planners & allocators
• Identify continuous improvement opportunities & area of focus to feed the project team supporting us
  
  

Analysis:

• Pilot the category by checking on a weekly, daily basis with health checks reports to ensure that allocations for the category are done timely to the right store & in the right quantity (initial allocation, replenishment, aged inventory, store inventory…) & planning deliverables are done timely & accurately
• Ability to analyze our results with potential deep dive on some product / stores to build action plan for the category (promotion, re-balancing of units…)
• Ad hoc analysis to support requests on the category performance from Buyers or NA leadership
  
  

DO YOU HAVE THE PROFILE WE'RE LOOKING FOR?

Communication & interpersonal skills:

• Strong work ethic and interpersonal skills, enjoys working as part of a team and can provide coaching to team members
• Ability to work cross-functional in a multi-cultural environment.
• Ability to clearly communicate with partners from different teams and at different level in the hierarchy
• Ability to formalize ideas & projects: build documents/ presentation that articulate ideas clearly & map existing & target process
• Strong analytical skillset both to build reports & analyze the results
• “Customer Service” mindset to deliver support to allocators, stores…
  
  

Expertise & knowledge:

• Deep expertise in Merchandise Planning, running a category by itself, ideally for a Fashion Retailer
• Allocation processes knowledge is an asset
• Understanding of inventory management & stores is an asset
• Extensive knowledge of Excel is required.
• Ability to review and analyze large amounts of data.
• Ability to make decisions and solve problems in a timely manner.
  
  

Management:

• Prior experience of managing a small team is an asset. If no management experience, previous leadership of a category is required.
• Ability to influence decisions & partner with key players without any hierarchical relationship (cross-functional work)
• Ability to work under pressure and meet multiple deadlines in a timely manner.
• Ability to document, provide constructive feedback & listen actively
  
  

WE'RE ON A JOURNEY TO CREATE A WORLD OF LOVE, CONFIDENCE AND BELONGING

The ALDO Group has been on this journey for over 50 years. We believe that our passionate associates are at the heart of our success, and that with them we will lead into our future with kindness.

The ALDO Group is committed to diversity and inclusion, not only now, but for the long term. We strongly encourage people who are Aboriginal, racialized, have disabilities, come from gender and sexually diverse communities and/or have intersectional identities to apply for employment with us. At ALDO Group, we will always strive to take steps to create a diverse and inclusive work environment that promotes equal opportunity and accountability.#FindYourFit

,

Reporting to the Vice President of Planning & Allocation for Aldo North America & responsible for:

• Owning planning & allocation strategy & execution for handbags & accessories across Canada & US.
• Lead a team of planners & allocators to ensure the planning deliverables are done and approved in a timely manner and the allocation strategy is properly executed across our store fleet.
• Owning planning tasks for the Handbag category.
• Building the relationship with Buyers for both categories & countries and with Sales & Operations in Canada & US
• Developing a product category expertise to partner closely with Buying in defining the right product blend, SKU budget per cluster, quantifying the buys, allocate & replenish timely & in the right quantity;
• Lead category specific projects to optimize assortment and drive revenue growth
• Owning inventory for the category in both countries & maximize its productivity
• Working in close collaboration with the Project Team to ensure that the team is properly supported (process mapping, training & continuous improvement, reports, IT enhancements).
  
  

Management and coaching:

• Lead a team of planner & allocators, organize their workload & help them on priority management.
• Build a very strong partnership with Buying to maximize inventory profitability & store performance
• Foster a results-driven culture & accountability on KPIs and results.
• Develop team members by developing synergies between planners & allocators, building product expertise & strong store fleet knowledge.
  
  

Process and operations driven:

• Manage all planning deliverables for the handbags category across both countries
• Understand deeply the mandate of allocation & planning to be able to challenge planners & allocators
• Identify continuous improvement opportunities & area of focus to feed the project team supporting us
  
  

Analysis:

• Pilot the category by checking on a weekly, daily basis with health checks reports to ensure that allocations for the category are done timely to the right store & in the right quantity (initial allocation, replenishment, aged inventory, store inventory…) & planning deliverables are done timely & accurately
• Ability to analyze our results with potential deep dive on some product / stores to build action plan for the category (promotion, re-balancing of units…)
• Ad hoc analysis to support requests on the category performance from Buyers or NA leadership
  
  

,

Communication & interpersonal skills:

• Strong work ethic and interpersonal skills, enjoys working as part of a team and can provide coaching to team members
• Ability to work cross-functional in a multi-cultural environment.
• Ability to clearly communicate with partners from different teams and at different level in the hierarchy
• Ability to formalize ideas & projects: build documents/ presentation that articulate ideas clearly & map existing & target process
• Strong analytical skillset both to build reports & analyze the results
• “Customer Service” mindset to deliver support to allocators, stores…
  
  

Expertise & knowledge:

• Deep expertise in Merchandise Planning, running a category by itself, ideally for a Fashion Retailer
• Allocation processes knowledge is an asset
• Understanding of inventory management & stores is an asset
• Extensive knowledge of Excel is required.
• Ability to review and analyze large amounts of data.
• Ability to make decisions and solve problems in a timely manner.
  
  

Management:

• Prior experience of managing a small team is an asset. If no management experience, previous leadership of a category is required.
• Ability to influence decisions & partner with key players without any hierarchical relationship (cross-functional work)
• Ability to work under pressure and meet multiple deadlines in a timely manner.
• Ability to document, provide constructive feedback & listen actively