National Sales Manager – Biscuits & Confectionery (Nigeria) at Olam Agri

Olam Agri is a market-leading, differentiated food, feed, and fiber agri-business with a global origination footprint, processing capabilities, and deep understanding of market needs built over 33 years. With a strong presence in high-growth emerging markets and products across grains & oilseeds, animal feed & protein, rice, edible oils, specialty grains & seeds, cotton, wood products, rubber and commodity financial services.

Olam Agri is at the heart of global food and agri-trade flows with more than 40 million MT in volume traded annually. Focused on transforming food, feed and fiber for a more sustainable future, it aims at creating value for customers, enabling farming communities to prosper sustainably, and strive for a food-secure future.

Role Overview

• The incumbent heads National Sales, Distributor Management and Trade Marketing for Biscuits & Confectionery category for Nigeria covering all Channels.
• The incumbent would be responsible for achieving Primary and Secondary sales KPIs by developing Category sales strategies, unlocking growth from Category Wholesale and coaching & leading the Biscuits & Confectionery sales team.
• The incumbent will be based in Lagos and will lead a dedicated Biscuits & Confectionery team of Regional Managers (RSM), Assistant RSMs, ASMs & SOs.
• This role reports to the Head of Sales, Caraway, Nigeria.

Key Responsibilities

• Sales Strategy:
  • Develop key growth pillars and sales strategies for the Category by mapping opportunities at Geography, Channel & Price-point level, and crystallize them into an actionable Annual Operating Plan (AOP) for the sales team.
  • Work with the Regional Managers to identify State and LGA-specific nuances and initiatives to drive disproportionate sales growth in key geographies
• Primary & Secondary Sales KPIs:
  • Undertake complete ownership of Biscuits & Confectionery monthly sales plan achievement (Primary and Secondary Volumes, Distribution and Secondary KPIs) across all channels of Nigeria.
  • Drive daily sales rhythm on distributor collections, invoicing and team working.
  • Oversee Van operations and identify ways to drive effectiveness of Van capacity utilization
• Trade Marketing:
  • Development and execution of monthly trade promotion initiatives aimed at driving primary and secondary off-takes targeted at Category wholesalers, Open market semi-wholesalers and Neighborhood stores.
  • Monitor and drive the execution for these initiatives through robust weekly reviews with regional teams.
  • Effectively utilize the Trade Spends budget to achieve category goals.
  • Oversee monthly reconciliation and timely trade payout settlements by liaising with Finance
• Distributor Management:
  • Design targeted programs to drive counter sales from top distributors.
  • Engage with the top distributors across Nigeria through field visits to identify & translate emerging trends into sales plans.
  • Oversee Distributor Management processes and identify ways to improve efficiency on Order Taking, Inventory Management, Range Availability and Supply / Delivery
• Sales Processes:
  • 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, Caraway Compass and HHD usage, Activation trackers, Monthly reporting, Trade claims, Damage & Shortage claims.
  • Continually monitor and strengthen commercial hygiene of sales reporting, trade claims, asset tracking
• RTM Development:
  • Continually evaluate and optimize the Biscuits & Confectionery RTM by developing deep channel, customer & category understanding via trade visits.
  • Monitor the Category redistribution aspects on a regular basis (Outlet Mapping, Coverage, Attendance, PJP Compliance, Bill Productivity) and identify plans to strengthen our distribution
• Team Management:
  • Lead & coach the field sales team members through in-market presence and role-model Olam values.
  • Work with Sales Development Head and HRBP – Sales to identify capability development needs of the Biscuits & Confectionery category team and embed regular training & up-skilling to improve effectiveness.
  • Lead the Sales DC (Development Center) and Assessment Center exercise to build talent pipeline.
  • Responsible for design and implementation of Sales Incentive plan
• Cross-functional Collaboration:
  • Liaise regularly with Plant team to ensure stock availability across SKUs and update production plans to incorporate changes in any SKU demand patterns.
  • Engage with the Logistics team to resolve any supply issues and implement interventions to improve distributor turn-around time.
  • Attend the monthly SNOP meetings and contribute by undertaking the SKU-wise Forecast preparation in coordination with the Demand Planner.
  • Collaborate with Marketing to roll-out Shopper interventions and Consumer Activation plans to dial-up Visibility, Shelf share and Tertiary sales on key focus products

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Requirements

Candidate Profile

• Minimum 15 years of FMCG work experience, with preference for those from leading Biscuits/ Confectionery companies (in-part or full).
• Preference for Tier 1, full-time premier institute pass-out MBAs (Master’s degree)
• Should have experience as a People Manager, and must have undertaken a Regional/ National Sales role in his/her career
• Candidate with extensive experience in Sales, Trade Marketing, Route to Market, and/or Sales Capability Development across multiple geographies/ countries
• Must have experience of designing & implementing Trade Activation programs for winning in Wholesale channel and demonstrated experience of rolling out initiatives to win share in competitive markets

How to Apply:

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