Strategic Vendor Manager

About the Role
The Strategic Vendor Manager is a key commercial role within the Commercial team. You are responsible for owning and growing a portfolio of the company's most important vendor partnerships, driving revenue, margin, and long-term partnership value across the business.
You lead vendor strategy, joint business planning, commercial negotiations, and performance management. You work closely with Category, Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance, and Tech to ensure every strategic vendor aligns with the company's growth objectives, customer promise, and operational standards.
The ideal candidate has a vendor management, key account, category, or buying background in e-commerce, retail, FMCG, or marketplace environments. They bring strong commercial acumen, a data-driven approach, and an understanding that the best partnerships are built on trust, shared goals, and results for both sides.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Vendor Strategy & Portfolio Ownership: Own and manage a portfolio of strategic vendors across the company's ecosystem. Drive revenue growth, margin improvement, and long-term partnership value, ensuring each vendor’s direction supports category and company objectives.
• Joint Business Planning: Develop joint business plans (JBPs) with key vendors that set shared goals for growth, range, availability, promotions, and investment. Track delivery against these plans and adjust as the business evolves.
• Vendor Performance Management: Monitor and review vendor performance against agreed KPIs, including sales, margin, availability, promotional effectiveness, and operational SLAs. Hold regular business reviews and address underperformance early and constructively.
• Commercial Negotiation: Lead negotiations on pricing, margins, trading terms, promotions, exclusivity, and marketing investment. Secure the best possible commercial terms to support profitability while keeping vendor relationships strong.
• Incremental Revenue & Vendor Investment: Identify and grow incremental revenue streams through vendor-funded initiatives, on-site placements, and marketing partnerships. Ensure vendor investment is directed where it delivers the strongest return for both sides.
• Cross-Functional Execution: Work with Category, Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance, and Tech to turn vendor strategies into results. Ensure plans, terms, and commitments are delivered consistently across every team that touches the vendor.
• Campaigns & Promotional Planning: Support campaign planning, seasonal moments, and promotional calendars with vendors and the Marketing team. Secure vendor support for major sale events that drive profitable sell-through.
• Vendor & Product Onboarding: Ensure new vendors, products, and initiatives are onboarded on time and to standard. Coordinate with internal teams for smooth launches, ensuring readiness for customers from day one.
• Data, Insights & Reporting: Analyze vendor-level performance data to identify trends, risks, and growth opportunities. Prepare regular performance reviews for internal stakeholders and vendors, using data to shape decisions and vendor conversations.
• Relationship & Stakeholder Management: Act as the primary point of contact for assigned vendors, ensuring clear communication and alignment. Build trusted, long-term relationships with senior vendor stakeholders.
• Operational Problem Solving: Proactively resolve issues related to performance, supply, or execution. Work with internal teams and vendors to fix root causes and prevent repeat problems.
• Reporting & Communication: Communicate and report all key vendor information, risks, and results to the Manager in a clear and timely way.

What You’ll Need

• Experience
  • The Foundation: 4–7 years of experience in vendor management, account management, category management, buying, or similar commercial roles.
  • The Background: Experience in e-commerce, retail, FMCG, consumer goods, or marketplace environments. Knowledge of the mother, baby, and child category and the GCC market is a strong advantage.
  • The Track Record: Proven ability to manage and grow vendor or brand relationships. Experience leading commercial negotiations, building joint business plans, and working cross-functionally with multiple teams is expected.
• Qualification
  • Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business, Commerce, Marketing, or a related field.
  • Analytical & Technical Capability: Data-oriented and analytical, with strong proficiency in Excel and data analysis tools. Confident in building clear performance reviews and presentations for internal and vendor audiences.
• Mindset & Skills
  • Commercial Mindset: Strong commercial and negotiation skills, balancing profitability with long-term partnership value in every decision.
  • Strategic Thinker, Strong Executor: Able to set a clear direction for each vendor and follow through on the detail that delivers it.
  • Analytical Excellence: A data-driven mindset, with the ability to turn vendor performance data into clear, practical actions.
  • Relationship Builder: Excellent stakeholder and relationship management skills, with the confidence to engage senior vendor leaders.
  • Communication: Strong verbal, written, and presentation skills that influence both internal teams and vendor partners.
  • Solution-Driven: A collaborative, solution-oriented approach, especially in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.
• Individual & Collaborative Attributes
  • Entrepreneurial Builder: Enjoys building and scaling businesses, and is commercially sharp and outcome-driven.
  • Owner at Heart: Values teamwork, ownership, and accountability, and is comfortable with ambiguity and change.
  • Cross-Functional Partner: Works effectively with Category, Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance, and Tech to drive results.
  • Modest Achiever: Believes no task is too small when it comes to delivering impact. Modest and understated, yet creates a loud impact through results.

Why This Role Matters
The company’s strategic vendors are the brands parents trust most. The strength of these partnerships shapes the range, prices, availability, and experience mothers find on the platform every day.
The Strategic Vendor Manager ensures these partnerships grow in the right direction, with the right terms, the right investment, and the right standards. This is an opportunity to shape strategic vendor partnerships at the region’s leading mother, baby, and child e-commerce platform, working with a passionate team, iconic brands, and a fast-growing customer base across the GCC, and to contribute directly to the company's vision of making a mother’s life easier.

Who You Are
You are a commercially sharp vendor or account management professional who loves building partnerships, negotiating great terms, and using data to drive growth. You thrive in a fast-paced, high-growth environment, take ownership of results, and are motivated by building partnerships that help parents get the best from the brands they love.