Category Manager Asian & Tribal Arts

At Catawiki, every day brings the extraordinary! Whether it’s Daniel Ricciardo’s Formula 1 Car, a Woolly Mammoth’s Skeleton, Lady Gaga’s Jumpsuit or Usain Bolt’s running shoe, we encounter exceptional objects every day.

We’re a one-of-a-kind marketplace for buying and selling special objects. Each week, more than 100,000 unique items are auctioned, all carefully curated by our passionate in-house experts.

Having sold over 25 million unique objects, our mission is to become the world’s most popular destination for special objects. As a growing, diverse and sustainable scale-up, we proudly live by three core values. If these values resonate with you, we’d love to explore how you can join us.

• Taking ownership and driving impact
• Being open to change and feedback
• Being passionate about our mission and our customers.

Asian & Tribal is one of the most culturally rich and commercially complex categories within Collectables. It spans Asian Art, Tribal & Ethnographic Art, and related subcategories where heritage, craftsmanship, provenance, and collector trust are critical. The category attracts a diverse global buyer base ranging from emerging collectors to highly specialised, repeat buyers, and requires strong judgement, commercial sharpness, and leadership to balance growth with quality.

This is an opportunity to lead an established category with real depth, a strong expert team and clear headroom for growth. You will set the commercial direction, turn opportunity into focused execution and build a category that grows in both scale and quality. It is not a role for maintaining the status quo: you will make choices, create momentum and take ownership of the outcomes.

As Category Manager, you own the category strategy and commercial performance. You lead and develop an international team of Experts, build strong external networks with sellers and institutions, and ensure a high-quality buyer experience that reinforces trust and repeat engagement.

This role is based in the Netherlands with a hybrid setup. You are expected to work from the Amsterdam office two days per week to collaborate closely with other Category Managers, Commercial teams, and key stakeholders.

The Opportunity

• Shape a clear growth plan for a category with global reach, cultural credibility and significant untapped commercial potential.
• Improve the category mix, auction performance and seller portfolio – choosing where to invest, what to stop and how to turn insight into measurable action.
• Build a stronger, more repeatable pipeline of high-quality sellers alongside Sales and Business Development, while representing Catawiki credibly in the market.
• Create a high-performing, engaged team that combines specialist expertise with commercial ownership, pace and accountability.

What You’ll Do

• Build, own and execute the strategic growth plan for Asian & Tribal. Set a clear ambition, identify the few growth bets that matter most and translate them into practical, time-bound execution.
• Own the category P&L and commercial outcomes. Use data to make firm calls on where to invest, improve or stop – balancing growth, margin, quality and operational stability.
• Steer the full auction-performance funnel: supply quality and mix, curation pace, pricing and reserve-price strategy, sell-through, cancellation and buyer experience.
• Shape auction planning around seasonality, market dynamics, collector behaviour and seller portfolios, with a focus on increasing repeatable high-quality supply and long-term buyer trust.
• Work closely with Sales and Business Development to build and convert a stronger seller pipeline. Develop your own external network and represent Catawiki with credibility among sellers, dealers, institutions and professional networks.
• Lead, coach and develop an international team of Experts. Set clear expectations, create ownership and follow through on performance, development and accountability.
• Create focus and pace in a complex environment. Prioritise clearly, make decisions with imperfect information and address resistance or underperformance directly and constructively.
• Influence Marketing, Operations, Product, Commercial and other Category teams to unlock growth opportunities. Build alignment where it helps execution, but do not wait for consensus to move the business forward.
• Stay close to global Asian & Tribal market trends, pricing dynamics, collector demand and competitive movements, turning relevant insight into action.

What You’ll Bring

• A strong commercial track record in category management, marketplace, retail, sales or another complex, customer-led business. You have owned meaningful commercial outcomes, not only supported them.
• Experience building and executing a growth strategy, including planning, budgeting, pricing and P&L management. You can explain the commercial logic behind your decisions and measure whether they worked.
• A data-led, action-oriented approach. You can move from dashboards and ambiguous signals to a clear diagnosis, a prioritised plan and accountable follow-through.
• Proven people-leadership experience. You know how to coach specialists, set a high bar, create engagement and handle difficult performance conversations when needed.
• Commercial curiosity and entrepreneurial energy. You actively look for opportunities, test assumptions and keep learning – particularly where the market or customer behaviour is changing.
• Decisiveness and resilience in a fast-paced, high-expectation environment. You are comfortable making trade-offs, defending a point of view and adapting when evidence says the approach needs to change.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills. You can influence across seniority levels and functions, communicate concisely and bring people with you through change.
• A hands-on mindset balanced with strategic thinking. You are willing to get close to the detail when needed, while building systems and capability that allow the team to scale.
• Comfort working with Google Suite or similar tools.
• Interest or background in Asian Art, Tribal Art or Collectables is a plus. Deep expertise can grow on the job; commercial leadership, judgement and the ability to build trust are essential.

What Success Looks Like

• A focused, credible category growth plan is in motion, with clear priorities, owners, milestones and leading indicators.
• The team understands what good looks like and works with greater clarity, ownership and commercial pace.
• Auction quality and commercial discipline are more consistent, with deliberate choices on supply mix, pricing and reserve-price strategy.
• A stronger pipeline of repeat, high-quality sellers is being built with Commercial partners and through your own market network.
• Stakeholders experience you as a clear, constructive business owner who moves decisions into action and communicates progress honestly.

Where You’ll Be

This is a hybrid role based in the Netherlands. You will work from the Amsterdam office at least two days per week to collaborate with fellow Category Managers, Commercial teams, and key stakeholders.

What We Offer

A category with cultural depth, global reach, and significant commercial potential. You will have real ownership, the space to shape strategy and execution, and the opportunity to lead and develop a strong expert team. You will work alongside ambitious international colleagues in a collaborative environment with clear expectations, strong development opportunities, and a focus on sustainable growth.

Why You’ll Love Working with Us

• Create a visible impact by working at scale in a global organisation serving millions of customers across 80+ categories. In our flat structure, every role has a broad scope and directly impacts both our customers and the business.
• Learn and grow through our Learning & Development initiatives, including clear development plans and mentorship programmes to support your career progression.
• A culture of connection defines us. We’re a passionate, diverse team of 800+ Catawikians representing 60+ nationalities. We foster an inclusive and queer-friendly environment where everyone is encouraged to bring their full self to work.
• Celebrate life’s moments with us. You’ll receive a €100 Catavoucher when you join, a €50 Catavoucher on your birthday, and an extra day off each year to “Pursue Your Passion”. We also offer additional leave for key work anniversaries and important life events. Benefits may vary by location.

Our Offices and Way of Working

Our vibrant offices in Amsterdam and Lisbon are designed to inspire collaboration. Most Catawikians operate in a hybrid setup, combining office-based and remote work, with a minimum of two days per week in the office, unless a role is explicitly stated as fully remote or fully office-based.

Interested?

Apply with an English CV and Cover Letter. By applying, you agree to Catawiki’s Applicant Privacy Policy. If you’re excited about this role but don’t meet every requirement, we still encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.