Head of Exports

About the job
To lead the end-to-end RTM for Commercial exports of Danone products

10.1. Commercial Business Planning
- Conceptualize, present and implement the Danone Route to Market strategy to relevant stakeholders (Exco, Commercial and Marketing teams, and any external partners)
- Conduct ongoing assessments of existing and potential new markets and distributors, sourcing new prospects
- Actively support the due diligence and entry strategy including acquisition targets where necessary
- Co-ordinate the African Exports Team for effective delivery of year-on-year export growth
- Develop and maintain a product portfolio, RTM, promotional and pricing strategy by country, including new entry, local capacity and infrastructure
- Establish export and in-country infrastructures to accelerate the growth of new product offerings
- Consolidate the country and product business plans, and cascade the export strategic priorities
- Plan Monthly and annual volume requirements with weekly production planning to meet demand
- Close alignment and working with domestic team on shared Key accounts to implement activities
- Accountable for accurate forecasting of monthly delivery (net sales and volumes) for all countries, in close cooperation with the Demand and Finance team, as part of our monthly Rolling Forecast and GPS cycle

10.2. Distributor Management
- Manage the selection, setup, contractual agreements, performance and terms of distributors
- Set goals and manage the distributor activities against agreed targets
- Manage extreme complexity of several markets, cultures, tastes, ethnicities and distributors
- Participate in DANONE AFRICA projects to identify local production opportunities, JV’s and Distributors
- Manage the full value chain and partners to export the Danone portfolio within identified African countries)
- Develop 3rd party distributor agreements for existing and new product launches

10.3. Consumer Activation & Touchpoint Management
- Co-ordinate cross-functional teams (Marketing, R&I, Sales Development) to develop a unique product offering for the African market
- Support multi-country product trials, research and feedback in developing new products

10.4. Revenue Management
- Drive Nett Sales and grow volumes, value and profitability to achieve current targets
- Negotiate payment terms with Key Accounts and Distributors to ensure sustainable working capital
- Manage, approve and sign off on variances against budget within the team
- Strict adherence to the Internal Control policies, including but not limited to the correct sign-off procedures
- Manage & identify marketing spend in each country against budget

10.5. People Leadership
- Manage and motivate the team in the delivery of team objectives
- Create high performance and engaged teams, by role-modelling CODES behaviours every day
- Support the talent management and succession planning for the team
- Conduct internal performance management and IDP processes fairly and consistently, resulting in transparent succession planning and specific development areas while recruiting for vacancies within the team as needed
- Mentor and coach team members
- Act as a Member of the Commercial Leadership Team

10.6. Business Reporting
- Review and report on monthly Distributor reviews from the Business Development Managers
- Conduct quarterly business reviews with Exco and give an update on plans and progress
- Present monthly department feedback on the Department’s performance to the Commercial Director
- Review monthly financials and implement appropriate action plans

11. LEVEL OF COMPETENCE REQUIRED
- Category Growth Space & selling story development
- Uses Shopper insights by Channel to identify best fit Growth Spaces/Levers
- Tailors Growth Levers, Spaces by Customer & Channel, quantifies the Growth Spaces and builds a Long term category Plan
- Defines Picture of Success for all Category Tactics & across all Channels and models the profit impact for Customer & Danone
- Channel Strategy Development
- Identifies the ambition for Danone over the next 24 months in each Channel expressed in Sales, Margin, Share & numeric Distribution targets
- Identifies the long-term growth potential and builds Strategies for all Channels that define how growth will be achieved.
- Identified breakthrough initiatives for new approaches to Route to Market and Field Sales
- Profitable Revenue Growth Management
- Considers all investment/cost data and customer data to develop Guidelines for Portfolio/Pricing that can be executed with Customers
- Builds Pre & Post analysis of Promotions and develops actionable Guidelines on national Promotions that improve sales, profit & ROI%
- Makes quantifiable and actionable recommendations on Trade Terms by Customer to improve sales, margin & ROI%
- Consumer Journey Activation & Touchpoint Management
- Creates Channel specific Consumer Value Journeys, that identify the behavior of the most important Shoppers
- Develops Shopper Marketi