Channel Sales Manager

**Our client is a well-established importer and distributor of home appliances, personal care appliances, photographic equipment (cameras and lenses), device memory and storage.**

**Responsibilities**:
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Responsible for sales within the photographic and optics (cameras and lenses) channel to all related retail stores.
- To grow the South African market in sales and profit aligned to the company’s commercial strategy agreed with their distributor in South Africa
- To develop and position the company’s brands across these markets as differentiated, technology led brands:

- To grow market share, sales and profits sustainably, across the photographic and optics channels
- To leverage full retail potential for all product categories
- Manage all sales aspects of the company’s relations with their South African Distributors
- To lead retail commercial terms and negotiation, forecasting, execution plan and training teams, to drive sales performance in all channels and all markets
- Responsible for Product Sell into major networks
- Increase attachment rates within the photographic and optics space
- Creating and implementing sell out strategies in the retail environment
- Managing photographic and optics budgets
- Forecasting

**Main accountabilities and supporting activities**:
**Deliver sales results and profitability**:

- Elaborate the distributor forecast in detail of sell in by week and by store with activity plan
- Drive effective channel strategy execution and range implementation with distributors to maximise and optimise the company’s profitably in line with market goals
- Work with the Marketing, Retail, Online and Finance Teams to execute integrated Masterplan for the emerging markets
- Responsible for delivering monthly sales volumes and profitability
- Train and upskill the capability of the sales and demonstrator team to increase effectiveness and rate of sale per store - driving best practise across the region
- Drive distributor sales planning processes to increase forecasting accuracy and ensure monthly delivery of results

**Distributor Partnership and engagement in new markets**:

- Assess current distributor network and/or scope new partners
- Execute playbook of geographical expansion in all phases
- Lead complex negotiations with retailers around commercial terms
- Manage multi-channel Profit and Loss
- Develop Category Management plan by channel for each distributor
- Lead top to top meeting and quarterly business review
- Track monthly internal and external profitability with finance (Distributor Profit and Loss vs Company’s Profit and Loss)

**Company’s Brand awareness and communication plan**
- Develop the brand building investment plan together with Marketing and Sales teams
- Analyse the consumer insights and market data to take in considerations consumer behaviour in building the plan
- Forecast market share and market value
- Define target for category and penetration to be reached in 5 years
- Drive the conversation around the company’s plan with distributors and local stakeholders to be integrated within their plan

**Line Management of the Sales team in the distributor**:

- Manage and develop the distributors sales team to ensure capacity and capability to deliver the company ambition
- Lead the controlled retail with 3rd party, by defining demonstrators KPI’s for performance and measure weekly

**Legal Compliance**:

- Ensure contracts and legal agreements are in place and compliant to internal legal guidelines
- Ensure compliance with competition and bribery guidelines

**Other duties, as required**:

- Relish the opportunity to pick up new activities that fall broadly in the purpose of the role
- Fix things that you can see need fixing
- Identify problems and find solutions

**Qualifications and Experience required**:

- 5+ years of sales experience, preferably with distributors and 3rd party retailers (photo and optics being a distinct advantage)
- Past work experience with full accountability to sales forecast and negotiation
- Have a track record in working on a complex project with multiple stakeholders and stretching goals
- Track record of leading a key account with high performance objectives
- Experience in managing a small team and/or training

**Skills and Competencies required**:

- Excellent organisational and planning ability
- Strong Project management skills
- Excellent analytical skills
- Excellent communication skills
- Presentation skills - able to communicate confidently at all levels of the organisation and with external senior stakeholders
- Ability to work in a fast paced and challenging environment
- Team player - leading by example
- Adaptable/flexible - able to multi task
- Approachable
- Organised
- Strong communicator
- Willingness to travel in the market
- Strong motivatiion
- Passionate about the company’s technology