Sales Head – General Manager (FMCG) – Africa Markets
Industry: FMCG
Role purpose
The Sales Head – General Manager will lead and scale FMCG sales operations across Central Africa, with a strong focus on distribution expansion, volume growth, and high-performance team leadership. The role demands deep understanding of African trade channels, strong execution orientation, and robust people management skills in challenging, low-infrastructure environments.
Key responsibilities
Define and execute region-wise sales strategies aligned with overall business growth and profitability plans.
Lead, coach, and manage downstream sales teams including area managers, supervisors, and field sales representatives.
Build, appoint, and manage distributors, sub-distributors, wholesalers, and key accounts to ensure numeric and weighted distribution growth.
Drive Route-to-Market (RTM) design and execution, including territory coverage, outlet classification, and optimization of van and secondary sales operations.
Implement trade marketing schemes, visibility programs, and in-market promotions in coordination with marketing.
Monitor market dynamics, including pricing, competitor activities, and consumer trends, and recommend timely tactical interventions.
Coordinate closely with supply chain, logistics, and warehousing to ensure product availability, optimal inventory, and on-time deliveries.
Develop annual sales budgets, volume and value forecasts, and territory-wise business plans; track and report variances with corrective action plans.
Strengthen collections, enforce credit policies, and drive disciplined credit control across all channels.
Ensure adherence to company policies, local regulations, and statutory requirements in all commercial activities.
Provide regular MIS, dashboards, and performance reviews to the COO and leadership team, including KPIs by region, channel, and distributor.
Market exposure required
Proven experience in African markets, preferably within Central or sub-Saharan Africa.
Strong understanding of traditional trade, informal retail, open markets, and wholesale ecosystems.
Ability to operate effectively in low-infrastructure and volatile business environments.
Experience managing multi-currency, cross-border trade, and related commercial and risk controls.
Experience and qualification
10–15 years of progressive FMCG sales experience, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership/Head of Sales/GM role.
Demonstrated experience handling large, multi-level sales teams and distributor networks.
Mandatory proficiency in French or Swahili; working knowledge of English preferred.
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, or related field; MBA or equivalent postgraduate qualification preferred.
Key competencies
Strong leadership, execution capability, and entrepreneurial mindset.
Deep distributor, channel, and RTM management expertise across traditional trade and wholesale.
Excellent negotiation, communication, and stakeholder management skills with internal and external partners.
High cultural adaptability, resilience, and ability to work independently in diverse African markets.
Strong analytical, planning, and MIS orientation with comfort in using sales and reporting tools/CRMs.
Travel and work conditions
Extensive travel across Katanga, Lualaba, and other African markets as business needs require.
Field-oriented, hands-on role with significant time spent in market, at distributor premises, and on trade visits.
Expatriate assignment with on-ground leadership responsibility for sales, distribution, and trade execution in the region.
Intrested candidate forward resume dharmendra@karmaasolutions.com
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