Job Description

Category Leader - Munich

 

Location: Munich (on-site)

Salary: €120,000 to €150,000 + quarterly bonus + more

Languages: C1 or Native German + C1 or above English

 

About the Company

Solis Recruitment is proud to partner with a fast-growing marketplace that is redefining how people discover and shop online. With a rapidly expanding user base and a bold vision for the future of digital commerce, the business is investing heavily in category expansion, seller acquisition and the onboarding of high-profile brands across Europe.

 

To support this next phase of growth, we are now hiring an ambitious and energetic Category Leader to drive the success of categories, onboarding Tier 1 suppliers within the German market.

 

The role requires someone with a track record of building high performing teams, but is still hands on approaching, negotiating with and onboarding new clients.

 

The Opportunity

This is a high-impact commercial leadership role for someone who thrives in fast-moving environments. You will lead a team of 6 to 8 Business Development Managers, build the category strategy from the ground up, and play a central role in onboarding major brands to the platform.

The ideal candidate brings strong leadership, proven brand acquisition experience, and the ability to balance strategy with hands-on execution. This is a chance to shape one of the company’s most important growth areas at a pivotal moment.

 

Key Responsibilities:

Category Strategy and Growth

• Define the long-term category strategy industries such as Fashion, Beauty and/or Consumer Electronics, setting clear commercial priorities and growth targets.
• Own category P&L performance, ensuring sustainable topline growth and strong commercial returns.
• Map the competitive landscape, identify emerging trends and unlock new opportunities to elevate category performance.
• Build strong relationships across the brand and retail ecosystem to accelerate category expansion.

High-Profile Brand Acquisition

• Drive proactive outreach to leading brands, groups and distributors across categories such as Fashion, Beauty and Consumer Electronics.
• Lead the full acquisition process from pitch to onboarding, ensuring a seamless transition onto the marketplace.
• Work closely with sellers to optimise catalogue readiness, operations, pricing and go-live execution.
• Act as a senior partner to key sellers, supporting continuous performance improvement and long-term category contribution.

 

Team Leadership

• Build, manage and grow a high-performing BD team with a clear focus on acquisition, activation and revenue delivery.
• Set clear expectations, KPIs and development pathways for each team member.
• Provide hands-on coaching across negotiation, seller management, category knowledge and commercial decision-making.
• Create a culture of accountability, collaboration and high energy, ensuring the team maintains pace and momentum.

 

Operational Excellence

• Establish structured BD processes across outreach, qualification, negotiation, onboarding and activation.
• Track core performance indicators including pipeline quality, conversion rates, time-to-activation and category revenue.
• Introduce data-backed improvements to enhance team effectiveness, seller performance and category results.
• Produce clear, insight-driven reports and recommendations for senior leadership.

 

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Operations, Marketing, Product and Design teams to accelerate seller success and maximise category potential.
• Align category plans with promotional calendars, strategic campaigns and platform initiatives.
• Shape internal product and process improvements based on seller feedback and category needs.

 

What You’ll Bring

• 5+ years experience in Business Development, Category Management, Buying or a similar commercial function.
• Proven experience leading teams, ideally 5 years+ in a high-growth or marketplace environment.
• Strong track record onboarding high-profile brands across consumer categories such as Fashion, Beauty or Electronics.
• Deep understanding of the German retail, consumer and digital landscape.
• Highly proactive, energetic and hands-on approach to business development.
• Strong analytical capability and confidence working with performance metrics.
• C1 or native German speaker, with strong English communication skills.
• Based in Munich or willing to relocate.

 

Nice to Have

• Experience within e‑commerce, marketplaces, or related digital or socialx commerce environments.
• Familiarity with content-driven or innovative retail models.
• Experience working across multiple product categories.
• Comfortable operating in dynamic, evolving environments.

 

Contact Jay Thandi or Rowina Chakkar for more details. Visit www.solisrecruitment.com to learn more about our services or our eCommerce Recruitment page to learn about our services in this area.