Sourcing Category Manager

GoLemon is an online grocery startup that delivers top-quality groceries and household essentials straight to customers doorsteps at low prices. Think of us as your go-to for convenient affordable shopping all with a simple tap on your phone.

Behind the scenes our Sourcing team shapes everything customers see on GoLemon: what we stock how we price who we source from and how our business grows. They ensure we list the right SKUs at the right prices with the right suppliers all while improving margins and delivering an exceptional customer experience.

If youve managed categories in FMCG retail or e-commerce or youve owned sourcing assortment or supplier relationships in a high-growth environment this role was made for you

When you join GoLemon you become part of the grocery e-commerce revolution in Nigeria! We deliver groceries to thousands of households and businesses within Lagos today - and were growing rapidly.

More about the role

As a Category Manager at GoLemon you will own the end-to-end strategy performance and growth of one or more product categories. Youll decide which products we carry where we source them from how theyre priced and how they grow balancing customer needs supplier performance margin delivery and operational efficiency.

Your role will span across strategy analytics supplier management commercial negotiation inventory planning and cross-functional collaboration. Youll work closely with the rest of the Sourcing team Inventory Fulfilment Marketing Finance and other Category Managers to bring your category strategy to life and deliver strong commercial outcomes.

You will combine data customer insights and market trends to build a category that customers love - and that powers GoLemons growth margins and long-term competitiveness.

Key responsibilities

Category ownership & strategy:

You will:

• Own the full product lifecycle for your categories: sourcing availability pricing supplier performance and margin delivery.
  
• Proactively understand consumer behaviour and needs.
  
• Collate market information for understanding competition trends consumer preferences and fine-tuning listing strategies.
  
• Spot emerging trends new opportunities and risks to keep your categories competitive and relevant.
  
• Support business decisions by formulating hypotheses structured problem solving analyse relevant data to verify hypotheses and prepare documentation to communicate the results with insights.
  

Supplier management & sourcing:

You will:

• Build and manage relationships with suppliers distributors producers and brand partners.
  
• Negotiate pricing terms delivery SLAs and return policies.
  
• Ensure supplier diversity and maintain strong fallback suppliers for major SKUs.
  
• Conduct periodic supplier assessments to maintain quality reliability and performance.
  
• Resolve supplier-related issues quickly to prevent losses protect product availability and ensure service quality.
  

Margin & pricing accountability

You will:

• Partner with the pricing team to ensure competitiveness while protecting margins.
  
• Track COGS profitability and spending trends proactively identifying ways to optimise.
  
• Drive margin improvement initiatives across sourcing and operations.
  
• Plan category-level promotions discount strategies and in-app merchandising to grow conversion.
  
• Analyse the performance of promotions to inform future decision-making.
  

Inventory & availability

You will:

• Set and periodically review reorder levels and safety stock for all SKUs.
  
• Collaborate with the inventory and fulfilment teams to maintain strong product availability with demand forecasting and predictions.
  
• Collaborate with the Inventory and Data teams on demand forecasting
  
• Monitor daily weekly and seasonal trends to anticipate and resolve potential stock issues.
  
• Conduct regular analysis across subcategories brands and SKUs to refine assortment.
  

Data reporting & insights

You will:

• Conduct regular analysis on subcategories segments brands sku based on consumer supplier and market information.
  
• Track and report weekly category performance: sales margins stock movement and supplier activity.
  

Requirements

Your experience & what it takes to succeed at this role

1. 3 years of experience in category management procurement supply chain or operations (FMCG retail or e-commerce experience preferred).
   
2. Owner mindset - who will think of their categories as their own business.
   
3. Experience in retail/FMCG understanding buying/supply dynamics preferable.
   
4. Able to work with others in a fast-paced team environment and to interact effectively with all levels of management.
   
5. Strong commercial acumen and deep understanding of consumer goods market dynamics.
   
6. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
   
7. Analytical and comfortable with data skilled in Excel/Sheets pricing analysis and performance tracking.
   

Benefits

Why join us

1. Grow with us as we build a company thats redefining grocery shopping and everyday convenience.
   
2. Work alongside a team that thrives where commerce data and operations meet and where bold ideas turn into real results.
   
3. Help us shape how categories are built how suppliers partner and how customers experience shopping at GoLemon.
   
4. Learn experiment and contribute to the innovative sourcing and market strategies that power our growth.
   
5. Be part of a team that values ownership collaboration and the kind of growth that benefits all of us.