Commercial Manager

Position Overview

We are actively seeking a Commercial Manager to join our team in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to lead and drive the commercial strategy for our fuel stations chain.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and implement commercial strategies and category plans.
• Manage categorization, range architecture, and assortment decisions.
• Oversee store clustering, format optimization, and space utilization.
• Negotiate with suppliers to secure favorable trading terms.
• Control pricing strategies and margin management.
• Plan and execute promotions including supplier-funded activities.
• Drive the development of fresh food, beverages, and food service offerings.
• Ensure product availability and enhance supply chain and inventory performance.
• Lead performance management efforts with analytics and reporting.
• Provide team leadership and foster cross-functional collaboration.

Key Performance Indicators

• Growth in net sales across convenience store categories, formats, and clusters.
• Management of gross margin, gross profit, and profit after supplier income.
• Improvements in basket size and conversion rates from forecourt to store.
• Achievement of supplier income targets and realization rates.
• Maintain on-shelf availability at store level.
• Minimize shrinkage and waste as a proportion of sales by category and cluster.
• Monitor stock cover, ageing, and inventory value.
• Productivity of the range quantified by sales and profit per metre and SKU.
• Expand fresh food, food service, and coffee sales and profitability shares.
• Ensure compliance with planograms, pricing files, and range guidelines.
• Supplier performance and avoidance or deferral of cost price increases.

Qualifications and Experience

• University degree in Business, Commerce, Supply Chain, Economics, or related fields; postgraduate qualifications are a plus.
• 10 to 15 years of experience in retail commercial roles with at least 4 years leading category management or buying.
• Proven experience in convenience stores, forecourt, grocery, or food service retail with P&L responsibility.
• Demonstrated skills in negotiating trading terms and supplier income with national distributors.
• Expertise in range architecture, store clustering, space management, and planogram governance across multiple sites.
• Experience with the Saudi market, including direct store delivery models, is highly preferred.
• Background in transformation or turnaround projects is advantageous.

Technical Skills

• Competency in category management including category role, assortment optimization, and space-to-sales analysis.
• Proficiency with space planning and planogram software such as Blue Yonder, JDA, or Relex.
• Advanced Excel skills and commercial modelling; familiarity with Power BI or similar analytics tools.
• Experience with ERP and merchandising systems, including item master, pricing, and purchasing modules.
• Understanding of retail accounting concepts including margin, markdowns, accruals, supplier income, and stock valuation.
• Knowledge of Saudi food retail regulations, labelling, excise goods, and invoicing requirements.

Competencies and Behaviours

• Strong negotiation and influence skills with resilience in high-pressure commercial environments.
• Ability to analytically interpret raw transaction data to inform decisions.
• Disciplined and structured execution managing multiple suppliers, categories, and locations.
• Collaborative leadership working effectively across Operations, Finance, Marketing, and Supply Chain departments.
• Focus on people development and capacity to build and nurture a category management team.
• Proactive, action-oriented mindset willing to adapt in a dynamic organizational setting.

Additional Requirements

• Fluency in both Arabic and English, spoken and written.
• Willingness to undertake regular travel within the store network for visits and supplier engagement.