National Category Manager, Sales (General Manager) at Olam International

Olam International is a leading food and agri-business supplying food, ingredients, feed and fibre to over 19,800 customers worldwide. Our value chain spans over 60 countries and includes farming, processing and distribution operations, as well as a sourcing network of 4.8 million farmers. Through our purpose to 'Re-imagine Global Agriculture and Food Systems', Olam aims to address the many challenges involved in meeting the needs of a growing global population, while achieving positive impact for farming communities, our planet and all our stakeholders. Headquartered and listed in Singapore, Olam currently ranks among the top 30 largest primary listed companies in terms of market capitalisation on SGX-ST.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: National Category Manager, Sales (General Manager)

Location: Iganmu, Lagos

Description
Packaged Foods:

• Olam PFB manufactures and markets a range of branded packaged food products to consumers across multiple African markets. 
• Over the last decade, the PFB business has established regional brand and market leadership positions in multiple consumer categories across targeted markets in West Africa. 
• Packaged Foods Business portfolio currently counts eight key brands that are marketed to more than ten South and West African markets. 
• Our R&D teams, working closely with marketing, have helped us surprise and delight our consumers through differentiated and innovative products. 
• The consumer categories we are present in West Africa include Tomato Paste, Instant Noodles, Instant Beverages, Biscuits, Confectioneries, Edible Oil, Pasta, and Dairy.

Job Description

• National Category Manager heads Sales (GM Sales) and Trade Marketing for Beverages category for Nigeria covering all channels. 
• The incumbent would be responsible for developing the category sales strategies, undertake channel development and coach & lead the Beverages sales team to achieve the sales AOP plans & KPIs. 
• The incumbent will be based in Lagos and will lead a dedicated Beverages team of Regional Managers, Assistant RSMs, ASMs & SOs. This role reports into the Vice President - Sales, Nigeria.

Key Deliverables

• Develop sales strategies for Nigeria Beverages category by identifying trade insights and growth opportunities to drive incremental volume growth. 
• Contribute to Annual Operating Plan (AOP) exercise development by identifying medium to long term growth pillars to position Olam to gain share in a competitive and ambiguous environment
• Undertake complete ownership of Beverages monthly sales plan achievement (Volume, Distribution and Secondary KPIs) for all channels of Nigeria. 
• Oversee Van operations with the help of National Fleet Manager and identify ways to drive effectiveness of Van capacity utilization
• Develop a robust trade promotion plan via a nuanced approach of brand, pack, channel and geography strategy and cascade to regional teams with granular plans & milestones. 
• Monitor and drive the plan execution through robust weekly reviews with regional teams
• Collaborate with Marketing to roll-out Shopper interventions and Trade Activation plans to dial-up Visibility, Shelf share and Tertiary sales
• Continually evaluate and optimize the Beverages GTM by developing deep channel, customer & category understanding via trade visits
• Effectively utilize Trade Spends budget to achieve category goals. 
• Oversee monthly reconciliation and timely trade payout settlements by liaising with Finance
• Continually monitor and strengthen commercial hygiene of sales reporting, trade claims, asset tracking
• Establish and embed a daily Sales Ops rhythm with the help of Sales Enablers and Performance score cards. 
• Leverage Sales Analyst to drive reporting Systems including DSRs, Retail cards, Activation trackers, Monthly reporting, Trade claims, Damage & Shortage claims
• Monitor the Category redistribution aspects on a regular basis (Outlet Mapping, Coverage, Attendance, PJP Compliance, Bill Productivity) and identify plans to strengthen our distribution
• Oversee Distributor Management policies and identify ways to improve efficiency on Order Management, Stock Management, Credit Management and Profitability. Build rapport with top distributors across Nigeria and continually engage with them to identify & translate emerging trends into sales plans
• Lead & coach the field sales team members through in-market presence and role-model Olam values. 
• Work with the National Capability Lead to identify ongoing capability development needs of the Beverages category team and embed regular training & up-skilling to improve effectiveness. 
• Lead the annual Sales DC (Development Center) exercise to build talent pipeline
• In-charge of Field-force Sales Incentive plans and R&R programs

Requirements

• Candidate with extensive experience of Sales, Trade Marketing, and/or Route to Market & Sales Capability Development across multiple geographies/ cities
• Must have experience of designing & implementing Trade Activation programs and demonstrated experience of rolling out initiatives to win share in competitive markets
• 12+ years of work experience in leading Foods & Beverages company. Preference would be given to those who have demonstrated experience – in part or full – of Beverages industry
• Tier 1 Premier Institute MBA preferred.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.