Seeking a commercially astute individual with strong financial acumen, sound risk management skills, and a resilient, driven character. Experience across the African, Indian Ocean Island, and Middle East markets will be highly advantageous.
Responsibilities:
- Manage a team of Business Development Managers to deliver revenue, margin, and profit targets aligned to key business budgets.
- Ensure pricing discipline, profitable deal structuring, and debtor control, supported by monthly performance reviews and corrective actions.
- Oversee commercial governance including contracts, rebates, approvals, and risk identification to protect revenue and margins.
- Partner with Finance on budgeting, forecasting, and cost management, including participation in quarterly review cycles.
- Escalate key risks with clear mitigation plans and financial impact assessments.
- Act as the primary link between the BDM team and senior leadership, providing clear reporting on performance, trends, and risks.
- Use data and performance insights to drive decision-making and improve team output.
- Lead training, coaching, and capability development to strengthen commercial and sales effectiveness.
- Drive a high-performance culture through structured performance management and continuous improvement.
- Improve operational efficiency by streamlining processes, leveraging tools, and enhancing overall team productivity.
Requirements:
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Business, Commerce, or a related field.
- Minimum 6+ years’ experience in a Commercial Manager role within the FMCG sector.
- Proven experience in export trading across ocean and air freight, preferably within African, Middle East, and Indian Ocean Island markets.
- Willingness and ability to travel extensively, including travel cycles twice per quarter.
- Experience managing multiple brands or product portfolios simultaneously.
- Strong experience in analytics, reporting, and data interpretation using QlikView and Qlik Sense.
- Proficiency in French, Portuguese, or Spanish will be advantageous but is not essential.
- Valid driver’s licence and passport.
- Strong computer literacy, including MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and file management within Windows environments.