Maher Assaf, Head of merchandise ( total oman)

Maher Assaf

Head of merchandise ( total oman)

carrefour

Location
Lebanon
Education
Bachelor's degree, political & Managment Studies
Experience
18 years, 3 Months

Share My Profile

Block User


Work Experience

Total years of experience :18 years, 3 Months

Head of merchandise ( total oman) at carrefour
  • Oman - Muscat
  • September 2015 to December 2019

Head of merchandise ( Marketing and Sourcing )

o Head of Merchandise : Total Oman
o participate in the annual business planning and provide inputs to the top management.
o Create the overall product and merchandizing strategy for the business
o Analyze strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats vs competition and assess market opportunity
o Oversee the category management with the objective of maximizing sales and profits.
o Merchandise, and Assortment Planning
o Determine high-level financial goals including pre-season financial plans, in-season projections, open-to-buy management and new store budgets
o Prepare and monitor Concept merchandise based on actual sales, sales forecasts, company order parameters, inventory checks, forth coming events, replenishment needs etc
o Discuss, decide and freeze the concept merchandise strategic plans .
o Inventory Stock Optimization
o Ensure optimum inventory levels are maintained across Concept & Territories keeping in mind store requirements as well as working capital constraints
o Ensure that no instances of stock outs occur on account of any discrepancy on part of merchandise planning

Regional Purchasing director at Almco Group of Companies
  • Jordan - Amman
  • October 2008 to July 2015

Regional Purchasing Manager: OCT, 2008 till Present

Responsible for the group purchasing of supplies and items required for the efficient operation of ALMCO GROUP either from local market or Over seas. This include miscellaneous items of all kinds of food, non food, PRIVATE LABEL, &equipments (restaurant equipments, catering equipments, some times ware houses, power plants
ETC)
Manage the operational and fiscal activities of the regional purchasing offices (Amman, Kuwait, Dubai &Iraq) . Plan and develop systems and procedures to improve the operating quality and efficiency of the department. Supervise staff in accordance with company policies and procedures. Responsible for hiring, training, and coaching employees.
DUTIES: • Plan, direct, coordinate the activities of buyers and related workers involved in purchasing system.
• Negotiate, Source, select, develop & manage new products, services from local & international Markets
• Analyze market, supplier service level and delivery systems in order to assess present and future material availability
• Represent group in negotiating contracts, promotion and formulating policies with suppliers
• Stock control, Analyze the sales & place orders
• Forecast
• Open Lcs & coordinate with the finance department to finalize every thing with the bank
• Receive and check purchase requests against inventory records and stock on hand.
• Control purchasing department budgets.
• Hire staff, and oversee staff training.
• Plan and develop systems and procedures to improve the operating quality and efficiency of the department.
• Responsible to meet department productivity and quality goal
• Direct and coordinate activities of personnel engaged in buying, , and distributing materials, equipment, machinery, and supplies..
• Secures management approval and recommends standards of quality and price on all items purchased.
• Direct staff in the development, analysis, and preparation of reports.

Importing & Business Development Manager at Al-Sadhan Trading Company
  • Saudi Arabia - Riyadh
  • July 2006 to July 2008

Specialized in Retail Industry for Grocery Food, Perishables, Non Food, Home Center, Electronics, and Garments since 1954. 4000 employees.
www.al-sadhan.com
✓ Private Label, importing & Business Development Manager July, 2006 Till July, 2008
Main Duties,
• Create The private label & Importing division from scratch
• Create 280 skus as private label & it was filled from all over the world
• Work on the designs & packaging for private label
• Control private label quality
• Create new promotions ( POP, PIP,
ETC)
• Achieved a growth of 34 % increase of sales in Grocery Food department during my first 8 month
• Sign exclusive deals for imports
• Improved inventory turns and Gross Margin Return on Investment
• Successfully implemented a strong promotional program on a weekly basis.
• Successfully implemented Import Strategy to improve private label Assortment, Quality, Sales and Gross Margin.
• Competed against local Hyper Markets such as Geant, Carrefour, Othaim and Panda
• Controlling the purchase of all procured items ( private label & imports)
• Negotiating price and terms of products with suppliers.
• Managing, developing & improving the purchasing team.
• Establishing terms, pricing, quality requirements, delivery, and contracts.
• Reviewing all contracts/agreements to achieve 'best price/best quality' purchasing.
• Preparing & processing requisitions, purchase orders & invoices for purchases..
• Maintaining records of supplier contracts, agreements, goods ordered received.
• Managing vendor relationships and building effective supply chain partnerships.

Purchasing Manager at Al- Othaim holding company
  • Saudi Arabia - Riyadh
  • May 2004 to May 2006

Al- Othaim is The biggest retail chain in KSA, WITH 78 Hyper market, 22 corners, 55 whole sale . 9, 000 EMPLOYEES
www.othaim.com

Purchasing Manager (fresh food): May 2004 Till May 2006

Main Duties: • Locate new vendors and interview them in order to determine product availability & terms of sales
• Develop the produce Festival at Al Othaim Markets
• Hire & Train a team to implement my strategy in all Othaim stores for produce dep
• Import many kinds of fruits & vegetables (exotic fruits, mango,
etc)
• Change the disply in all the stores
• Filling all sku1 under our own Label
• Quality control for all the received products.
• Improve the packaging procedure ( select the items, increase the weight, use different color of trays
etc)
• Reduce the cost the vegetables ( buying from the farmers directly)
• Involved for setting the company's inter department annual budget
• Successfully established and opened 18 new markets and in, Riyadh, Tabouk, qassim, Hafer Albaten
etc.
• Achieved and maintained continuous growth of Sales and Profitability for the responsible department under my supervision.
• Introduced and implemented Merchandising Guidelines for the Retail Operations.
• Preparing aggressive promotions on daily & weekly basses.
• Follow up competitors & monitor them
• Investigate and identify supply sources and prepare and process purchase orders.
• Maintain records of goods ordered and received..

.

Senier Buyer at sultan-center( TSC)
  • Kuwait - Al Farawaniyah
  • June 2001 to June 2004

( Sultan center TSC, Kuwait, Oman )

One of the pioneers in the retail business which is located in the Gulf & middle east . With over than 6000 Employees.
www.sultancenter.com

BUYER: June 2001 Till June 2004
Main Duties: • managing & controling daily activities of the Fresh dep to ensure they operate at maximum efficiency and according to the standards and procedures.
• Monitors, controls and takes preventive actions on sales results, timely ordering of fresh products, physical stock, products display, price tags, expiry date & shrinkage of the products, seasonal & other store promotions, etc.
• Ensures excellent customer service, responsible for customer complaints resolution & constant improving of customer service.
• Maintains safe, clean & healthy work environment and ensures the department employees comply with the Hypermarket hygiene policies and procedures, represent.
• Organizes, supervisors and evaluates the work of the department employees, prepares the weekly/monthly work schedule & participates in HR activities.
• Constantly keeps informed about competitor's activities & price levels, new products on the market, customer behavior and latest market trends.
• Following up on vendor's visibility agreements and positioning contracts within the stores.

.

Education

Bachelor's degree, political & Managment Studies
  • at Lebanese University of Beirut
  • June 2000

Specialties & Skills

Negotiation
Team Leadership
Sourcing
Staff Training
Stock Control
BUYING/PROCUREMENT
CONTRACTS
INVENTORY
NEW PRODUCTS
OPERATIONS
PACKAGING
PURCHASING
RESPECT DEAD LINE
Negotiation
TRAINING THE STAFF
TEAM PLAYER
LEADER SHIP
management skills
strong influence and negotiation skills
Energy and enthusiasm to motivate and engage others
detailed oriental focus
Good communication skills both verbal & written
Ability to fulfill critical tasks on time .
Negotiation
business awareness and commercially focused
supplier management
hard working spirit, high motivation , sociable , self confidence , serious personility .
Attention to details
Drive , Analize, & Decision making .
Excellent Reporting Skills
Good knoledge of GCC market / competitors / suppliers / .
Good computer literacy of word , excel , power point , out look , Oracle & JDA system
personally credible with strong interpersonal skills .

Languages

Arabic
Expert
English
Expert

Training and Certifications

Category managment (Training)
Training Institute:
Sultan center ( TSC )
Date Attended:
September 2001
ISO 9001 (Training)
Training Institute:
AL othaim holding company
Date Attended:
May 2005
Customer service (Training)
Training Institute:
AL othaim holding company
Date Attended:
October 2005
Training of the trainers (Training)
Training Institute:
al sadhan trading company
Date Attended:
July 2007

Hobbies

  • Travelling
  • reading
  • Music