Category Senior Manager-Gold

About Job

Physical Gold is one of Digikala’s emerging and high-potential business areas, with significant opportunities for growth, market development, and building new customer propositions.

We are looking for a Category Senior Manager to take end-to-end ownership of the Physical Gold business and lead its growth, commercial performance, and operational development.

The primary mission of this role is to build and scale a sustainable, trusted, and profitable Physical Gold business, while strengthening Digikala’s position in the gold market. The role owns the business agenda across Growth, Commercial, P&L, Assortment, Pricing, Supply, Operations, Customer Experience, and Strategic Partnerships.

This position requires a strong combination of Business Leadership, Commercial Acumen, Market Expertise, and Execution Excellence. The Senior Manager will lead multiple teams and work closely with Product, Marketing, Finance, Operations, Supply Chain, Legal, Risk, Data, and other relevant functions to identify growth opportunities, develop new business models, and ensure effective execution.

Key Responsibilities

1. Business Ownership & P&L Management

• Own the end-to-end business performance and P&L of the Physical Gold business.

• Take accountability for key business metrics including GMV, Revenue, Gross Margin, Contribution Profit, Market Share, Customer Growth, and Repeat Purchase.

• Develop annual and mid-term business plans, targets, and growth ambitions for Physical Gold.

• Monitor Actual performance against Business Plan, Budget, and Forecast and identify key performance gaps.

• Identify and execute opportunities to improve Revenue, Margin, Cost Efficiency, and overall Unit Economics.

• Develop scenarios and recommendations around growth investments, commercial initiatives, pricing, and resource allocation.

• Establish clear performance management mechanisms and ensure accountability across the business.

2. Growth Strategy & Business Development

• Define and lead the growth strategy and roadmap for Digikala’s Physical Gold business.

• Identify new growth opportunities across customer segments, product propositions, channels, partnerships, and business models.

• Assess market opportunities and prioritize initiatives based on market potential, customer value, profitability, strategic fit, and execution feasibility.

• Develop Business Cases for new initiatives and lead them from opportunity identification through implementation and scale-up.

• Identify opportunities to expand Digikala’s presence and market share within Iran’s gold market.

• Monitor market trends, customer behavior, competitor activities, and structural changes in the gold market and translate them into actionable business strategies.

• Build strategic partnerships with key players across the gold ecosystem to strengthen supply, assortment, customer proposition, and competitive advantage.

3. Commercial, Assortment & Pricing

• Own the overall Commercial Strategy of the Physical Gold business.

• Define the appropriate assortment and portfolio strategy based on customer demand, market dynamics, margin potential, and inventory considerations.

• Develop and continuously optimize Pricing and Margin strategies considering gold price movements, competitive dynamics, customer behavior, and profitability objectives.

• Identify commercial opportunities to increase conversion, basket size, purchase frequency, and customer lifetime value.

• Ensure effective supplier and partner portfolio management and reduce dependency on individual suppliers or partners.

• Develop commercial mechanisms that balance Growth, Customer Value, Risk, and Profitability.

4. Operations, Supply & Customer Experience

• Ensure effective end-to-end execution across Supply, Inventory, Fulfillment, Delivery, and Customer Experience.

• Work closely with Operations and Supply Chain teams to build scalable and reliable operating processes for the Physical Gold business.

• Define appropriate inventory and availability strategies considering market volatility, customer demand, and working capital requirements.

• Identify operational bottlenecks, risks, and customer pain points and drive systematic improvements.

• Ensure that operational capabilities scale effectively alongside business growth.

• Establish appropriate controls and processes to maintain the security, authenticity, quality, and reliability expected from a gold business.

• Continuously improve the customer journey and strengthen customer trust throughout the purchasing and fulfillment experience.

5. Market, Risk & Business Governance

• Maintain a deep understanding of the Iranian gold market, including key players, market structure, customer behavior, pricing dynamics, supply ecosystem, and emerging trends.

• Identify business and operational risks associated with market volatility, supply, inventory, pricing, partners, and execution.

• Partner with Finance, Legal, Risk, and relevant stakeholders to ensure appropriate business controls and governance mechanisms.

• Develop scenarios and contingency plans for significant market movements or changes in business conditions.

• Ensure business decisions balance Growth, Profitability, Customer Trust, and Risk Management.

• Establish clear management reporting and business review mechanisms to provide visibility into performance, risks, and opportunities.

6. Cross-Functional Leadership

• Act as the Business Owner for Physical Gold across Digikala and create alignment among all relevant functions.

• Partner closely with Product, Marketing, Finance, Operations, Supply Chain, Data, Legal, Risk, and Customer Experience teams.

• Translate business priorities into clear cross-functional roadmaps, initiatives, owners, timelines, and KPIs.

• Lead complex initiatives involving multiple stakeholders without relying solely on direct organizational authority.

• Resolve cross-functional dependencies and ensure timely execution of strategic priorities.

• Prepare business updates, strategic recommendations, and decision-making materials for Senior Leadership.

7. Team Leadership & Organizational Development

• Lead and develop the teams responsible for the Physical Gold business.

• Define clear organizational priorities, ownership, performance expectations, and ways of working.

• Build a high-performing team capable of supporting the business through its different stages of growth.

• Coach and develop managers and key talents within the organization.

• Establish a strong culture of Ownership, Customer Centricity, Data-Driven Decision Making, and Execution Excellence.

• Ensure the organizational structure and capabilities evolve in line with the growth and complexity of the business.

Key Success Measures

Success in this role will be assessed through a combination of the following indicators:

• Growth in GMV, Revenue, and Market Share

• Achievement of P&L and profitability targets

• Improvement in Gross Margin and Contribution Profit

• Growth in active customers, repeat purchase, and customer retention

• Improvement in conversion and customer experience metrics

• Successful launch and scale-up of new growth initiatives

• Expansion and quality of supplier and strategic partner ecosystem

• Inventory efficiency and product availability

• Operational reliability and reduction of business risks

• Quality and speed of strategic and commercial decision-making

• Execution of strategic roadmap and key business priorities

• Team capability development and overall team performance

Qualifications

Experience

• Minimum 10 years of relevant professional experience, including at least 5 years in senior business, commercial, category, or general management roles.

• Proven experience in owning and scaling a business, large category, or commercial function with direct accountability for business results.

• Strong experience in P&L management, business growth, commercial strategy, and business planning.

• Proven experience leading multiple teams and managers in complex organizations.

• Strong knowledge and understanding of the Iranian gold market, its ecosystem, key players, commercial dynamics, and customer behavior.

• Experience in E-commerce, Marketplace, Retail, Fintech, or other high-growth consumer businesses is highly preferred.

• Experience developing new business opportunities, partnerships, or business models from concept to scale.

• Proven track record of working effectively with Senior Leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Business, Management, Economics, Engineering, Finance, or related fields; MBA is considered a plus.

Technical & Functional Skills

• Strong understanding of P&L, Unit Economics, Margin Management, and key business drivers.

• Strong commercial judgment and ability to identify and prioritize growth opportunities.

• Deep understanding of Pricing, Assortment, Supply, and Commercial Management.

• Strong analytical capabilities and ability to make decisions based on data, market insights, and business judgment.

• Ability to develop Business Cases, evaluate investments, and assess trade-offs between Growth, Profitability, and Risk.

• Strong understanding of customer behavior and digital commerce dynamics.

• Ability to structure complex and ambiguous business problems and translate them into executable plans.

• Strong understanding of the Iranian Physical Gold market and its operational and commercial complexities.

Leadership & Behavioral Competencies

• Strong Business Ownership with end-to-end accountability for results.

• Strong Business and Commercial Acumen with the ability to balance Growth, Profitability, Customer Experience, and Risk.

• Strategic thinking combined with strong execution capability.

• Ability to operate effectively in fast-paced, complex, and ambiguous environments.

• Strong leadership capability and experience in building, managing, and developing high-performing teams.

• Strong stakeholder management and ability to influence across organizational boundaries.

• High level of Integrity, Trustworthiness, and Accountability, particularly given the nature of the Physical Gold business.

• Strong communication, negotiation, and executive presentation skills.

• Ability to make high-quality decisions under uncertainty and changing market conditions.

• Strong outcome orientation and willingness to take full ownership of business performance.