Category Manager - Buy Side - Regional Brand - B2B eCommerce Firm (4-8 yrs)

About Jumbotail:

- Jumbotail(www.jumbotail.com) is India's leading B2B marketplace and New Retail platform, serving thousands of mom & pop stores ("Kiranas").

- Jumbotail ecosystem has 4 in-house, proprietary platforms - B2B online marketplace, Supply Chain & Logistics, Fintech for SME Lending, and Retail platform that powers its J24 branded convenience grocery stores.

- Jumbotail transforms traditional unorganised kirana stores into J24 branded modern convenience grocery stores, by providing a complete business toolkit and playbook consisting of J24 consumer branding, in-store GoldenEye retail technology and processes, real-time data driven product selection and merchandising insights, integrated supply chain with daily store servicing, Green Card loyalty program and payment solutions which create a differentiated in-store experience for consumers.

- J24 also provides complete omni channel experience by taking the store online and also integrating with hyperlocal platforms like Swiggy, Dunzo, and Flipkart.

- Jumbotail was founded by Karthik & Ashish, classmates from the Stanford MBA class of 2011. The company has raised USD $54M so far from Nexus Ventures,Heron Rock, VII Ventures, Nutresa, Veronorte, Kalaari Capital, and several well renowned family offices and HNIs across the world. In Dec 2020 Jumbotail completed its $25M fund raise with two back to back rounds of $14.2M (Dec 2020) and $11M (Oct 2020).

- We have a strong and passionate team who is motivated to solve real world problems and impact lives. Our team consists of alumni from Stanford, IITs, IIMs, BITS, ISB and top NITs, having several years of industry experience in leading companies like Flipkart, Amazon, Tata, ABRL, ITC and more.

- Together, we are reimagining and reengineering the food and grocery ecosystem in India through intelligent technology, innovative business models, and intuitive design.

- We are serving thousands of happy and satisfied customers who trust Jumbotail for their food and grocery needs every day.

- Jumbotail is at an inflection point - Covid-19 has brought Kiranas (its core customer segment) the attention that their >95% share of India's food and grocery market rightfully merits.

- In parallel, it has exposed the frailties of traditional wholesale and FMCG distribution as well as those of large format modern trade.

- Retailers and brands alike, are seeking a reliable, resilient, 21st century alternative. Jumbotail is well positioned to capture this market opportunity and become an indispensable part of India's $600 billion food and grocery retail market.

- While our market potential is huge - in the order of hundreds of billions of dollars, the opportunity requires us to solve challenging problems that are so unique to India that copycat models will not work.

- We are putting our customers first and building technologies, products, platforms and services, and cutting edge supply chains that will work for the next billion Indians who have fundamentally different needs - access, language, selection, supply chain, financial and cultural.

- The work you will do at Jumbotail will impact real lives and bring a lasting positive change for the next billion people of India.

- We promise a fun, fast paced ride with some of the smartest people, with opportunities to learn and grow, and leave a legacy.

Company Size : Mid-Sized

Working Days : 5 days/week

Office Location : Koramangala, Bengaluru

Role & Responsibilities:

- Vendor Management & Negotiation: Manage vendor relationships, negotiate local rates to meet cost-per-unit targets, and ensure timely delivery of products.

- Inventory Monitoring: Track stock levels, share daily reports on low inventory, and ensure minimum order quantities (MOQ) are met.

- Purchase Order Coordination: Map/unmap products, raise POs with desired vendors, and monitor negative margins at product level.

- Cross-functional Collaboration: Meet regularly with the Business Operations and Growth teams to align on stock availability, sales plans, and product launches.

- Payment & Delivery Follow-up: Coordinate with Finance on vendor payments to avoid delays, and ensure smooth vehicle offloading at Distribution Centers (DC).

- Vendor Sourcing: Identify and onboard alternate vendors to maintain product availability and address supply gaps.

- Stock Management: Monitor put-away status of inventory, manage slow-moving stock, and support sales strategies for excess inventory.

- Reporting & Analysis: Provide regular performance updates, including benchmarking new products, sales plans, and launch strategies.

Ideal Candidate:

- First Principles Problem solver

- Proven experience (3+ years) in category management, vendor management, or procurement, preferably in a retail, e-commerce environment, or fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry.

- Strong analytical skills with advanced proficiency in Excel

- Strong understanding of supply chain processes and inventory management best practices.

- Ability to manage relationships with both local vendors.

- Strong negotiation skills and a keen eye for cost optimization.

- Ability to work independently with limited support in a fast-paced, high growth environment

- Hunger to work, deliver, and grow in a rapidly growing organization

- Experimentative mindset: Ideate, try, measure, learn, document and help improve our ways of working

- Good collaboration skills - great at communication and negotiation

- Ability to influence a variety stakeholders without relying on positional authority

- Willingness to getting your hands dirty : Learn from customers, manufacturers and on ground teams about their business and challenges