Food Buyer

Established in the 1930s as a trading business, Al-Futtaim Group today is one
of the most diversified and progressive, privately held regional businesses
headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Structured into five operating
divisions; automotive, financial services, real estate, retail and healthcare;
employing more than ‎35,000 employees across more than ‎20 countries in the
Middle East, Asia and Africa, Al-Futtaim Group partners with over ‎200 of the
world's most admired and innovative brands. Al-Futtaim Group's
entrepreneurship and relentless customer focus enables the organization to
continue to grow and expand; responding to the changing needs of our customers
within the societies in which we operate.
By upholding our values of respect, excellence, collaboration and integrity;
Al-Futtaim Group continues to enrich the lives and aspirations of our
customers each and every day

Overview of the role

The role of the food buyer is to purchase products (Ambient, Frozen, Grocery &
Chilled) to be sold in the stores. The job holder is responsible for the
following:
Planning/achieving agreed net margins, wastage & markdown as per food strategy
Tracking and reporting key functional metrics to maximized profits, grow
market share and sales, and create joined business plans for growth with
regional suppliers in line with the food strategy and with M&S Plan A
sustainability plan.
Liaising with UK, planning, ordering and forecasting M&S product for all
markets in MENA and manage stocks to ensure full availability across all MENA
stores.
Perform supplier and product sourcing across various categories in line with
Marks and Spencer's quality standards.
On-boarding suppliers and sourcing strategies.
Tracking and reporting key functional metrics to maximized profits, grow
market share and sales, and create joined business plans for growth with
regional suppliers in line with the food strategy and with M&S Plan A
sustainability plain.

What you will do

Food Operation

• Planning, forecasting, and ordering for all the relevant product categories.


• Build and develop relationships with new regional suppliers for various branded categories.


• Build, manage and develop joined business plans and commercial agreements with suppliers negotiating beneficial terms for the company, optimal cost prices, BDI's etc.


• Maintaining and storing supplier database, contract records, product specification sheets and related documentation.


• Ensuring all the sourced products meet the required quality standards and specifications as per M&S and/or country requirements

Delivery Management

• To research market trends, market prices and continued competitor analysis reviews to identify potential price reviews opportunities with suppliers.


• Creates an annual category plan in terms of promotions, events and new product range to grow sales, profitability, and increase market share in a customer-focused manner.


• Plan and leads yearly product category reviews and benchmark.


• Support the delivery of shared targets across the wider team

Vendor Management

• Successfully source and manage supplier relationships to deliver performance in line with the food strategy.


• Build and send category tender out to current and new supplier identify any potential cost savings.


• Liaise with Logistics and the compliance team to ensure product is registered and RTM stablished before ordering.


• Work cross-functionally and communicate weekly with Operations, Marketing, M&S UK team, Stores and Supply Chain.


• Continuously searching for opportunities to maximize sales and cash margin.


• Plan and implement long-term development strategies for product categories Handling recipe and menu management system for M&S Cafes within MENA region

Product Management

• Working closely with Digital team to build/update the online platform catalogue and maintain stock availability


• Supervising Food Category Assistants Duties Liaise with the UK team to monitor the incoming shipments to avoid unexpected delays and take immediate action in case of any impact on the stock availability


• Coordinating with Marketing, Food operation team and stores team for launching new ranges/events


• Working closely with Logistics team to improve supply chain, reduce delivery lead time in order to save cost and improve stock availability especially in non- UAE markets

Stakeholder Management

• Build good Relationships with colleagues within M&S MENA


• Build good relationships with UK M&S team, AFG Operations Team, VM Team, Marketing Team, Digital and Store Team

People Development

• Provides regular feedback to team members and recognises individuals who perform well in their role


• Communicates effectively and engages team through regular updates and team briefs


• Manages, develops, and defines objectives and KPI's for his/hers Category Assistant.


• Builds a strong training, recruitment, succession and engagement plan for the Hospitality team- Operation Napkin revised.


• Understands Employee Engagement Survey scores and makes commitments to drive improvements across the team/department/store


• Recognises individuals and team to celebrate success


• Takes an active role in ensuring all new and existing employees develop the skills and experience to perform well in their roles


• Implements company HR policies fairly and consistently

Required skills to be successful

• Able to analyze financial, market and customer data to identify opportunities.


• Able to spot issues and effectively plan to mitigate risk


• Excellent interpersonal and leadership skills


• Computer literacy, knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint & SAP


• Contract negotiation skills


• Outgoing, positive, willing to take challenges and work under pressure


• A results-driven personality who values teamwork as an integral part of getting great results

What equips you for the role

• ‎5 Years of experience in Food Buying in FMCG companies


• Food technical and supply chain experience would be ideal

About Al-Futtaim Retail
Al-Futtaim Retail has established itself as one of the leaders in Retail
across the Middle East, Africa & Asia over the past ‎30 years. We have
developed partnerships with some of the biggest and most respected Brands in
the world including IKEA, ACE and Toys R Us in the Middle East and the Inditex
Group of Brands (Zara, Mango, Bershka and P&B) across Asia. We are also one of
the largest Global partners of Marks and Spencer's in both regions with over
‎75 stores offering both fashion & food options.

Most recently we have been responsible for bringing brands to the Middle East
for the first time with the exciting launches of Watsons and B&Q and we aim to
continue to be agile and adaptive to our markets with new launches and further
development. For this to be possible we aim to recruit the best talent from
all backgrounds who will continue to challenge and develop our diverse
workforce which includes over ‎100 nationalities across ‎12 countries. Join us
today and make a difference…