Karen Noronha
JES Travel Retail
United States
1
Certification
22
years of professional experience
Senior Beauty and travel retail commercial leader with 20 years of experience managing multi-country P&L’s, retail operations, account management and category expansion across MEA and Travel Retail channels. Proven track record delivering retail sales targets exceeding 250M AED annually, consistently delivering growth, forged strong airport partnerships, optimizing brand visibility, and driving consumer engagement. Led teams of up to 40 professionals, to elevate service delivery, retail standards, and brand storytelling. Skilled in commercial negotiations, budgeting, forecasting, reporting, VM, coordination, marketing activation and cross functional execution. Recognized for emotional intelligence, strong analytical and communication skills, flexibility, and effective cross-cultural team management in fast-paced retail environments.
Work History
Senior Account Manager
2 Years 1 Month- Delivered analytical market insights for 50+ retailers and 250+ store openings annually, guiding client expansion and market development strategies while reporting key trends.
- Produced 12 quarterly reports across MEA, Europe, and India, enabling 10+ clients to make data-driven decisions with greater efficiency and strategic clarity.
- Accelerated client acquisition (35%) and improved retention (25%) through targeted sales and marketing for the GTR-exclusive job board.
- Provided advisory services to 8 global distributors and brands, improving operational efficiency by 20% through targeted process improvements.
- Built strong stakeholder relationships across distributors and retail partners through clear communication, accountability and influence.
Category Buying Manager
7 Months- Delivered the beauty category strategy – buying and merchandising for a 20K sqm new store to completion.
- Delivered monthly sales toward an annual budget of 266M AED, achieving a 56% total category margin.
- Managed a 120+ brand portfolio and partnered with 42 suppliers to negotiate growth strategies, marketing plans and staffing support. (Managed a premium beauty portfolio including Chanel, Estée Lauder, LVMH brands, L’Oreal Group, Hermes, Puig brands, Shiseido Group, Coty, Huda Beauty, Diptyque, Charlotte Tilbury, Clarins, Sisley, La Prairie and others.)
- Secured 85% of targeted marketing budget within the first 3 months post-store opening for the following year.
- Commercialized in-store retail sets to drive activation revenue. (lightbox visuals, HPPs, SPGs, digital loops & screens)
- Built and executed a beauty marketing calendar aligning campaigns with key festivals, cultural moments and new product launches.
Travel Retail Consulting Manager
2 Years- Launched the first GTR-exclusive job board in 4 months, onboarding 50+ clients and posting 300+ roles in year one.
- Led 18 consulting projects across 12 markets, driving client expansion and revenue growth. Ensured consistent execution across projects.
- Led the digital marketing (SEO, LinkedIn, email) that boosted site visibility by 45% and increased client acquisition by 20%.
- Ran competitive paid advertising campaigns achieving a 25% higher lead-to-conversion rate and improved return on investment.
- Developed the JES Travel Retail Awards submission service, submitting entries for various travel retail awards.
Regional Key Account Manager
3 Years 5 Months- Managed 9 regional travel retail accounts across the MEA with full P&L ownership, delivering on sell-in and sell-out targets and maintaining 2% Makeup ranking across duty free doors.
- Managed 15.4M AED sell out and 10.3M AED sell-in budgets annually. Increased year-on-year growth from 42% like for like in 2018 to 27% organic in 2019.
- Grew cosmetic market share to 20% and delivered positive EBITDA from a negative baseline.
- Conducted regular field visits to major airport doors to monitor execution, ensure retail standards, evaluate BA productivity, and assess opportunities to maximize retail sales and profitability.
- Led a diverse team of up to 20 beauty consultants, supporting performance education, onboarding, and service delivery to elevate brand experience.
- Coordinated with VM, Marketing and Supply Chain to implement brand activations; animations and merchandising aligned to global guidelines.
- Secured incremental space and improved brand visibility through negotiation with Duty Free operators in Abu Dhabi (Terminal 3), Bahrain Duty Free and Cairo (Terminal 3) delivering 30%, 45% and 50% sales uplifts.
Brand Manager
2 Years- Managed a fragrance and cosmetics portfolio of 10 beauty brands, driving an annual sales turnover of 35M AED.
- Oversaw fragrance and cosmetics operations across the 28 Paris Gallery stores, with weekly point-of-sale visits to monitor execution and support sales management.
- Rolled out brand activations in line with NPD that witnessed an incremental sell-out by 10-15% to the business.
- Oversaw the end-to-end design of 8 new fragrance in-store counters and displays, enhancing consumer engagement through innovation.
Regional Brand Manager
1 Year 2 Months- Managed the exclusive distribution portfolio of niche fragrance, fashion watch, and jewelry brands, generating AED 10M in annual turnover.
- Managed a team of 10 brand consultants, overseeing recruitment, training and driving customer service, brand representation, and strong sales performance.
- Opened 2 new points of sale at Dubai Duty Free in Concourse A and Concourse D in the fragrance category in 2014.
- Proactive in rolling out brand animations for fragrance and drove promotions for watch brands, following brand standards and optimizing resource allocation.
- Led productive business plans along with brand partners overseeing budget, logistics and supply chain operations together with store teams.
Category Manager
2 Years 8 Months- Managed the fashion ready-to-wear, luxury watches, fine jewelry, accessories – sunglasses and SIG portfolio for the luxury multi-branded space at Sharjah International Airport.
Regional Merchandise Planning Manager
1 Year 5 MonthsBuying and Merchandising roles
4 YearsEducation
Master's Degree - Sociology
Bachelor of Arts - Sociology & Anthropology
Skills
Business development
Schedule management
Excellent negotiation skills
Partnership development
Accomplishments
I will add these later
Certification
Fashion Retail Management | National Institute of Fashion Technology
Languages
English
Native or Bilingual
French
Limited Working
Hindi
Limited Working
Timeline
Senior Account Manager
JES Travel Retail
06.2024 - CurrentRead More
Category Buying Manager
TRSS
09.2023 - 04.2024Read More
Travel Retail Consulting Manager
JES Travel Retail
08.2021 - 08.2023Read More
Regional Key Account Manager
LVMH/ Benefit Cosmetics
03.2017 - 08.2020Read More
Brand Manager
Paris Gallery
02.2015 - 02.2017Read More
Regional Brand Manager
Paris Gallery
11.2013 - 01.2015Read More
Category Manager
Avolta (ex Dufry Group)
03.2011 - 11.2013Read More
Regional Merchandise Planning Manager
Landmark Group
10.2009 - 03.2011Read More
Buying and Merchandising roles
Brand House/ Pyramid Retail
01.2005 - 01.2009Read More
St. Xavier's College of Arts
Bachelor of Arts from Sociology & Anthropology
Read More
University of Bombay
Master's Degree from Sociology
Read More
CORE COMPETENCIES
- Retail Sales Management
- Brand & Category Management
- Multi-Country Operations (MEA)
- Multi-Store Operations
- Travel Retail Partnerships
- Team Leadership & Development
- P&L Ownership
- Financial Acumen
- Forecasting and Budgeting
- Sell-out & Sell-in Management
- Negotiation & Vendor Management
- Brand Visibility & VM Execution
- Retail Activation & Marketing Campaigns
- Store visits following standards compliance
- Beauty Consultant Management
- Cross Functional Collaboration (VM, Marketing, Customer Service, Education, PR & HR)
- Reporting & Retail Analytics
- Market & Competitor Analysis
- Space & Location Optimization
- New Store set up