Commercial Manager - Foods

Overview

The Commercial Manager plays a pivotal role in driving business growth and operational excellence through strategic planning, sales development, and distribution management. This position focuses on delivering the Annual Operating Plan (AOP) by aligning internal teams for seamless execution of growth initiatives and maintaining accurate forecasting through PepsiCo’s S&OP processes.

Responsibilities

What you will be responsible for:

• AOP Delivery: Partner with the Commercial Director to create and execute the Annual Operating Plan, ensuring optimal resource allocation and achievement of growth objectives.
• Sales & Go-to-Market Strategy: Develop and implement robust sales strategies in partnership with distributors, targeting key channels such as National Key Accounts (NKA), Local Key Accounts (LKA), independent supermarkets, and emerging business channels.
• Distribution & Business Development: Expand market reach through the introduction of new SKUs and development of emerging channels, including Away From Home (AFH) and sub-distribution networks.
• Strategic Customer Management: Work closely with distributor and internal PepsiCo teams to co-lead the Annual Joint Business Planning (JBP) cycle with top customers, leveraging cross-function support to provide top accounts with relevant data and insights, commercial & marketing plans, and customer-specific initiatives to grow the categories where PepsiCo Foods is present.
• Review & Analysis: Regularly evaluate customer programs and performance metrics, providing actionable insights during monthly S&OP reviews.
• S&OP Coordination: Co-lead S&OP meetings to address operational issues and secure volume forecasts with actionable outcomes.
• Capability Building: Coach and lead distributor sales teams to ensure market execution excellence.
• Budget Management: Oversee trade spend and D&A budgets with periodic reviews to ensure ROI and effective investment tracking.
• Stewardship & Controls: Enforce compliance with Global Control Standards (GCS) and execute key control processes to mitigate risks.

Qualifications

What you will need to have:

• University graduate, preferably in Marketing, Business Administration or Economics, or any relevant field
• Minimum 8 years of FMCG Sales experience, preferably with experience in Distributor Management and Customer Management (Key Accounts and Regional/Local Accounts)
• Strong Sales career person who is confident, intelligent, articulate with strong ability to influence both internal and external partners and stakeholders