Customer Director SA

Brief Description

You are accountable for growing sales across South Africa in line with the company’s growth strategy. In close collaboration with Categories you will drive the customer and shopper (channel) strategy needed to achieve our growth targets in General Trade and Modern Trade alongside building new channels. You bring the voice of the customer to the table, driving customer marketing, investment strategies and developing initiatives to knit the organisation together to ensure excellent customer experience and instore execution delivery. You leverage customer insights to spot innovation potential across our categories. You are dedicated towards improving the capability of our sales management team and making the company a great place to work

Role Description and Duties:

• Lead the execution of a sales strategy which is aligned with the route to market priorities set by categories and delivers their growth targets
• Work closely with key customers to strengthen our relationships and go to market plans, monitor competitor activity, and identify opportunities to increase sales
• Drive the customer and shopper marketing agenda in line with building brands in store objectives.
• Recommend insights priorities and select agencies to work with from roster
• Develop an investment strategy for customers, categories and channels which delivers effective trade spend and pricing strategy
• Lead the customer joint business planning process, negotiating all aspects of trading terms and oversee engagement with major distributors and key accounts
• Recommend innovation relevant to channels pack format, promotion, activation, etc.
• Monitor promotion effectiveness (ROI) and take corrective action where required
• Manage key account and sales operations teams to ensure sales and execution targets are met and service levels are maintained (as defined by ROAR metrics)
• Set the trade category management agenda and establish initiatives to embed category management capability
• Develop sales talent through formal initiatives and maintain our talent pipeline including Equity requirements.
• Drive programs that deliver field force automation, mobility and improved access to sales intelligence
• Work with Supply Chain, providing input into the P, S&OP process
• Closely monitor and manage customer KPIs, striving to protect customer profit pools

Competencies

• Influencing Others - you are customer relationship obsessed. Sales is in your DNA, but you have a holistic understanding of the broader business to continuously challenge them to put the customer first
• Owning It - you are adept at managing Modern Trade, General Trade and direct to consumer sales within the South African environment
• Driving Long Term Results -you are fixated on hitting targets, and delivering service to the categories with an ability to rapidly align a team around a goal
• Developing Myself and Others - you build the best field force by creating an environment where individuals thrive
• Staying a Step Ahead - you have a comprehensive understanding of innovations that will elevate our game

Minimum Requirements:

• Over 7 years’ experience negotiating and building strong relationships with customers and suppliers
• Experience in both Modern and General Trade
• Experience of managing the sales P&L (gross margin) and achieving distribution, revenue and market share targets