Category Manager – Toys (MENA)

About The Role & Team

Step into the world of Disney and take a leading role in shaping the future of iconic franchises such as Star Wars, Mickey & Friends, and Marvel within our Toys category. As our Category Manager for Toys in the MENA region, you’ll be at the forefront of driving both long-term vision and annual growth, steering commercial success across a dynamic portfolio of accounts. Your mission? To unlock new opportunities, forge powerful partnerships, and secure high-impact licensees that will elevate our brands and delight fans throughout the region.

Collaboration and relationship-building are central to this role, both within Disney and across the wider industry. You’ll actively cultivate and nurture strategic alliances with new and existing partners, leading joint business planning and regional contract negotiations to drive licensing sales growth across MENA. Channel your creativity and commercial acumen into innovative product development, leveraging your expertise in digital, social, and in-store marketing, consumer trends, and market insight to deliver standout strategies in a fast-paced environment.

If you’re ready to bring fresh ideas, agile thinking, and a passion for beloved heroes and legendary stories, this is your opportunity to make a lasting impact at Disney, where magic meets business.

This is a permanent position located at our office in Dubai, requiring four days of on-site attendance per week.

What You Will Do

• Partner with the Senior Category Manager and Category Director to help shape the future of Disney’s Hardlines Toys category and contribute to the department’s long-term vision by collaborating with diverse stakeholders at every stage, specifically focused on the MENA region.
• Utilise market trends, commercial expertise, and consumer insights to create and implement effective strategies across departments, concentrating on Hardlines Toys in the MENA market, while remaining agile to seize emerging opportunities and foster new partnerships.
• Take responsibility for the annual operating plan and quarterly forecasts for Hardlines Toys, clear objectives for valued licensees and collaborating with market leads, category specialists, franchise, marketing, product development, and finance teams to drive meaningful growth.
• Develop and nurture positive relationships partners, both established and new, leading engagement, strategic planning, and joint business initiatives to advance Disney’s Hardlines Toys portfolio in the region.
• Lead contract negotiations for designated Hardlines Toys accounts within MENA, ensuring all key decision-makers, from global to local teams, are well informed at every step.
• Work closely with creative teams and, where appropriate, the Global Interactive Experiences team to guide product development for Hardlines Toys relevant to the MENA region.
• Support marketing campaigns that enable partners and retailers in MENA to bring Disney magic to fans through memorable toys and collectibles.
• Champion the International Labour Standards (ILS) process, acting as the vital link between Hardlines Toys suppliers and Disney’s ILS team to uphold the company’s integrity and values within the MENA region.
• Generate innovative ideas by proposing new business solutions and leading research projects focused on uncovering scalable, high-impact opportunities in Hardlines Toys for the MENA market.
• Participate actively in market meetings, sharing expertise in the Hardlines Toys category, fostering collaboration, and ensuring Disney’s strategies are effective throughout the MENA region.
• Forge strong partnerships with Disney’s market teams in MENA, sharing critical updates, strategies, and franchise news, especially for Hardlines Toys, while staying attentive to local needs and celebrating market diversity. Use these connections to exchange best practices and drive collective success.
• Enhance partnerships with international Disney Consumer Products (DCP) teams by sharing knowledge and best practices to ensure Hardlines Toys licensing initiatives are best-in-class

Required Qualifications & Skills

• Degree level education in a related field or equivalent work experience 
• Experience within consumer products business 
• Proven experience of building effective relationships, leading and managing change and collaboration across departments to achieve financial targets and joint goals 
• Proven experience of developing the performance of a team 
• Financial acumen – an ability to translate numbers into a working plan 
• Ability to analyse data, construct practical conclusions and implement recommendations to achieve business targets 
• An ability to be agile to capitalise on the moment and identify new opportunities and target partners 
• Resilient and nimble in an ever-changing landscape  
• Computer literate including MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Keynote 
• Written and spoken English for business use, essential; other European languages, beneficial 
• A good eye for digital, social and brick and mortar marketing  
• Excellent commercial and strategic approaches to problem solving and innovation 
• Exceptional planning and organisation skills 
• Strong influencing skills with the ability to achieve buy-in at all levels 
• Forward thinking with the ability to take industry trends and translate them into something that drives growth for TWDC 
• Cultural sensitivity and an understanding of local markets across MENA
• English speaking skills, essential
• Arabic language skills, preferable

The Perks

• Private medical insurance & dental care
• Free Park Entry: the opportunity to enter any of our parks with your family and friends for free
• Disney Discounts: entitled to discounts on designated Disney products, resort F&B and ticketing
• Excellent parental and guardian leave

The Walt Disney Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We strive to be a diverse workforce that is representative of our audiences, and where all can thrive and belong. Disney is committed to forming a team that includes and respects a variety of voices, identities, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.