Sephora Business Development Assistant — North America (Alternance)
- Employment
- Internship
- Seniority
- Intern
- Department
- Merchandising, Buying & Planning
- Posted
- May 12, 2026
About Sephora
Sephora is a global leader in selective beauty retail and a flagship brand within the LVMH family. Sephora Collection is the company’s in‑house beauty line that offers accessible, performance-driven products across makeup, skin and hair care, fragrance and wellness. The brand combines an entrepreneurial, retail-driven culture with strong investment in talent development and omnichannel innovation.
Sephora — Business Development Assistant (Alternance) in Neuilly‑sur‑Seine: 12‑month apprenticeship supporting North America strategy and market activation.
Role & Responsibilities
- Act as the primary liaison between Sephora Collection central teams and the North American markets (USA & Canada), ensuring clear, timely communication of launches, assets and operational guidelines.
- Coordinate cross-functional requests with central departments (Product Marketing, Market Operations, Supply Chain, Regulatory, Training, Digital) to adapt global guidelines to local market requirements.
- Support category management for North American countries: assist in assortment construction, end‑of‑life decisions and local merchandising execution.
- Manage forecast reviews, track product comps and oversee sample flows; ensure effective sample distribution and follow‑up.
- Monitor country-level activations across assortment, trade, merchandising, digital, CRM, sampling and training to ensure correct execution.
- Produce regular performance reporting and post‑mortem analyses (launch performance, catalogue tracking, promo effectiveness), track KPIs and support budget follow‑up.
- Conduct competitive benchmarking and identify best practices and growth opportunities to share with central and local teams.
- Propose data-driven recommendations to improve commercial performance and local market relevance.
Qualifications
- Enrolled in a Bachelor's or Master's program in Business, Marketing, International Trade or a related discipline (required for alternance/apprenticeship).
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to coordinate across international, cross‑functional teams.
- Strong analytical rigour and experience producing or interpreting commercial reporting and forecasts.
- Capacity to prioritise tasks, manage multiple stakeholders and follow operational processes to completion.
- Fluent English (spoken and written).
Skills
Experience
Entry-level: suitable for a student or recent graduate seeking a 12‑month alternance/apprenticeship. Prior internships in retail, beauty, or commercial/marketing functions are a plus but not required.
Education
Enrolled in a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Business, Marketing, International Trade or equivalent (required for alternance).
Workplace
This position is based in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Île-de-France, France, within easy reach of Paris.
Benefits
Hybrid working arrangement; investment in training and personalised career development plans.
Culture
Sephora fosters a fast‑paced, entrepreneurial environment focused on innovation, diversity and inclusion. The company prizes creativity and continuous learning, offering structured development opportunities and collaborative, cross‑disciplinary teams.
About Cerulean
Cerulean is the definitive career portal for the global luxury industry. We match exceptional professionals with exclusive opportunities at the world's most prestigious brands. From haute couture and fine watchmaking to prestige beauty, hospitality, and boutique retail, Cerulean centralises luxury employment to help you find the career for which you were destined.
Frequently Asked Questions
The luxury industry is characterised by a diverse and nuanced nomenclature. Esteemed houses frequently employ proprietary terminology, and even within a single organisation like Sephora, titles may vary across global markets to reflect local conventions. To ensure absolute clarity, Cerulean assigns a standardised, industry-coherent canonical title to every listing. However, it is worth noting that this role is functionally synonymous with «Business Development Trainee — North America», «North America Market Development Assistant», «International Business Development Apprentice», «Regional Business Development Coordinator», and other variations. Our sophisticated search architecture anticipates these variations, ensuring that inquiries using related terms will seamlessly yield the exact roles you desire.