General Manager-Sales

General Manager – Tradekings (South Africa) (FMCG)

The General Manager – South Africa (FMCG) will provide overall leadership for Trade Kings’ FMCG operations in South Africa, with responsibility for the complete country business, including Sales, Key Accounts, Route-to-Market, Supply Chain, Logistics, Finance and organizational performance.

The role will carry full accountability for the South African FMCG P&L and will be responsible for driving profitable growth, expanding distribution, strengthening customer relationships, improving operational efficiency and building a high-performance organization.

The General Manager will lead the business independently within the strategic direction and governance framework established by the Group.

Key Responsibilities

1. Overall Business and P&L Leadership

• Take full ownership of the South African FMCG business and its financial performance.
• Deliver agreed Revenue, Volume, Gross Margin, EBITDA, Working Capital and Market Share objectives.
• Translate Group strategy into a clear country business plan and execution roadmap.
• Balance growth, profitability, cash generation and long-term market development.
• Conduct structured monthly and quarterly business performance reviews.
• Identify business risks early and take timely corrective action.

2. Commercial and Sales Leadership

• Provide leadership to the Key Accounts Head and Provincial Sales Managers.
• Set clear channel, customer, regional and category growth priorities.
• Drive execution across Formal Retail, General Trade, Wholesale, Cash & Carry, Convenience and other relevant channels.
• Ensure achievement of sales targets by customer, province, category and SKU.
• Establish disciplined sales operating routines, performance reviews and field execution standards.
• Build a strong performance culture based on accountability, market presence and execution.

3. Formal Retail and Key Account Development

• Provide strategic direction for major national and regional retail accounts.
• Support and lead critical customer negotiations where required.
• Ensure customer plans deliver profitable and sustainable growth.
• Strengthen relationships with major retail groups, wholesalers and buying organizations.
• Drive Joint Business Planning with strategic customers.
• Improve listings, availability, promotional effectiveness, shelf presence and category performance.
• Ensure customer investments and trading terms generate acceptable returns.

4. Route-to-Market and Distribution Expansion

• Develop and continuously optimize the South African Route-to-Market model.
• Determine the appropriate balance between direct distribution and third-party distribution.
• Expand geographic coverage, outlet reach and numeric distribution.
• Identify underserved territories, channels and consumer segments.
• Appoint, develop and manage third-party distributors based on clear commercial and operational standards.
• Improve distributor capability, profitability, governance and performance.
• Drive productivity improvements in sales territories, delivery routes and customer servicing models.
• Reduce cost-to-serve while improving customer service and product availability.

5. Provincial and General Trade Development

• Guide Provincial Sales Managers in developing region-specific growth plans.
• Build strong execution capability across urban, peri-urban, township and rural markets.
• Expand the active customer base and improve call productivity.
• Monitor salesforce productivity, strike rates, drop sizes, outlet coverage and SKU penetration.
• Ensure field teams spend sufficient time in the market and maintain execution discipline.
• Develop sustainable distribution solutions for provinces and territories with limited current coverage.

6. Supply Chain and Operational Leadership

• Provide strategic leadership to the Head of Supply Chain & Operations.
• Ensure supply chain plans are aligned with commercial priorities and customer requirements.
• Drive strong Sales and Operations Planning discipline.
• Improve demand forecasting, inventory availability and replenishment planning.
• Maintain appropriate inventory levels while minimizing stock-outs, expiries, damages and obsolete stock.
• Ensure operational capacity supports business growth.
• Resolve cross-functional constraints affecting customer service and sales delivery.

7. Logistics, Warehousing and Customer Service

• Provide leadership and direction to the logistics and warehousing teams.
• Improve warehousing productivity, delivery performance and inventory accuracy.
• Optimize the distribution network, fleet utilization and delivery routes.
• Monitor cost per case, cost per delivery, vehicle utilization and delivery efficiency.
• Ensure On-Time-In-Full delivery and high customer service levels.
• Strengthen controls relating to stock handling, damages, returns, theft and operational losses.
• Ensure logistics operations comply with required safety and regulatory standards.

8. Financial Management and Governance

• Lead the annual budgeting, forecasting and business planning process with the Finance team.
• Ensure accurate and timely financial and management reporting.
• Review business performance by customer, channel, province, category and SKU.
• Drive gross margin improvement and disciplined cost management.
• Improve debtor management, collections and working capital.
• Ensure proper control of discounts, rebates, promotional claims, credit notes and customer deductions.
• Maintain strong governance, internal controls and compliance standards.
• Ensure commercial decisions are supported by sound financial analysis.

9. Portfolio, Category and Market Development

• Develop category and portfolio growth strategies relevant to the South African market.
• Identify consumer, channel and geographic growth opportunities.
• Recommend portfolio changes, pack-price architecture and product innovation opportunities.
• Lead the commercialization of new products and brands.
• Ensure pricing reflects market conditions, brand positioning, customer requirements and profitability objectives.
• Monitor competitors, customer developments and changing consumer behavior.
• Partner with Group Marketing and relevant functions to improve brand visibility and consumer demand.

10. Organizational and People Leadership

• Lead the South African management team as one integrated business leadership team.
• Clarify accountabilities and eliminate functional silos.
• Build capable successors for critical leadership and management positions.
• Coach and develop the Key Accounts Head, Provincial Sales Managers, Operations Head, Logistics Head and Finance leadership.
• Establish measurable performance expectations for all functions.
• Promote a culture of ownership, urgency, transparency and execution.
• Address performance gaps decisively and recognize exceptional performance.
• Strengthen employee engagement, retention and organizational capability.

11. Cross-Functional Business Delivery

• Ensure effective coordination among Sales, Key Accounts, Operations, Logistics, Finance, Marketing and HR.
• Resolve conflicts between commercial demand, inventory availability, service capacity and financial considerations.
• Establish one aligned business forecast and operating plan.
• Lead cross-functional projects relating to distribution expansion, cost reduction, service improvement and business growth.
• Ensure all functions remain aligned around customer service, profitability and market expansion.

Key Performance Indicators

Financial Performance

• Net Revenue versus Target
• Volume Growth
• Gross Margin
• EBITDA and Operating Profit
• Operating Expenses versus Budget
• Working Capital
• Debtor Days and Overdue Receivables
• Inventory Days
• Cash Flow Delivery

Commercial Performance

• Market Share Growth
• Sales Growth by Channel, Customer and Province
• Key Account Performance
• Numeric and Weighted Distribution
• Outlet Coverage
• Active Customer Growth
• SKU Penetration
• New Product Performance
• Trade Investment ROI
• Customer Profitability

Sales Execution

• Provincial Sales Target Achievement
• Sales Representative Productivity
• Call Completion and Strike Rate
• Average Drop Size
• On-Shelf Availability
• Visibility and Merchandising Compliance
• Perfect Store Execution
• Promotional Execution
• Sales Forecast Accuracy

Supply Chain and Logistics

• Customer Service Level
• On-Time-In-Full Delivery
• Product Availability
• Inventory Accuracy
• Stock-Out Rate
• Expiries, Damages and Obsolescence
• Warehouse Productivity
• Fleet and Route Productivity
• Logistics Cost per Case
• Cost-to-Serve

Organizational Performance

• Management Team Performance
• Employee Productivity
• Talent Retention
• Succession Coverage
• Employee Engagement
• Compliance and Control Performance
• Safety Performance

Candidate Profile

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Commerce, Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain or a related discipline.
• MBA or relevant postgraduate business qualification would be advantageous.

Experience

• 15–20 years of progressive FMCG experience.
• At least 7–10 years in senior commercial, country management, business unit leadership or general management roles.
• Proven experience carrying full or substantial P&L responsibility.
• Strong experience in South African FMCG markets.
• Demonstrated success in both Formal Retail and General Trade.
• Experience managing national key accounts and geographically dispersed sales teams.
• Strong understanding of direct distribution and third-party distributor models.
• Experience leading supply chain, logistics and finance functions directly or through senior functional leaders.
• Proven record of expanding distribution and building businesses in competitive markets.
• Experience in confectionery, snacks, food, beverages or other high-frequency consumer categories would be advantageous.

Skills and Attributes

• Strong general-management and business leadership capability.
• Commercially strong, with a deep understanding of sales execution and Route-to-Market.
• Financially competent and comfortable managing a complete business P&L.
• Able to lead experienced functional heads without becoming overly involved in routine functional activities.
• Strategic thinker with a strong bias toward implementation.
• Highly visible in the market and close to customers, distributors and frontline teams.
• Decisive and willing to challenge existing structures and practices.
• Data-driven, commercially analytical and financially disciplined.
• Strong negotiator and stakeholder manager.
• Entrepreneurial, resilient and comfortable operating in a growth environment.
• Able to build organizational capability and hold senior managers accountable.

Reporting Line and Authority

The General Manager – South Africa (FMCG) will report to the designated Group Executive or Director.

The following functions will report directly to the General Manager:

• Key Accounts
• Provincial and Regional Sales
• Supply Chain and Operations
• Logistics and Warehousing
• Finance
• Trade Marketing or Country Marketing, where applicable

The role will have the authority to recommend changes to the Route-to-Market model, customer strategy, organizational structure, distributor network, operating expenditure and capital requirements within approved Group governance frameworks.

Confidential Document - © Trade Kings