Job Description

Sales & Marketing Head – Beverages & Food

Location: Kenya

Reporting to: Customer Response Team (CRT) – HEAD

Direct Reports: Regional Sales Teams and Sales Admin-Ops Team

Role Summary

The Sales & Marketing Head – Beverages & Food will lead the commercial agenda for these two high-growth value streams, owning end-to-end accountability for sales performance, category growth, market share, and brand health.

This role integrates sales, marketing, and trade execution under one unified strategy — ensuring that our clients products reach customers efficiently, competitively, and with a compelling value proposition.

The ideal candidate is a commercial leader with strong FMCG experience, equally comfortable in boardroom strategy and frontline execution, capable of managing diverse teams and driving cross-functional collaboration.

Key Responsibilities

1. Commercial & Category Leadership

• Define and execute the commercial strategy for the Beverages and Food value streams, aligned to our client growth and profitability goals.
• Own the category P&L — delivering volume, market share, and margin improvement.
• Lead annual business planning, including pricing, trade investment, distribution, and marketing budgets.
• Drive category innovation and portfolio expansion in collaboration with R&D, Production, and Supply Chain.

2. Sales & Route-to-Market Excellence

• Lead the sales organization (regional heads, key accounts, and trade teams) to deliver targets across General Trade (GT), Modern Trade (MT), and HoReCa.
• Strengthen route-to-market models, focusing on distribution coverage, efficiency, and cost-to-serve optimization.
• Drive sales execution discipline, daily meetings, forecasting, and performance dashboards.
• Implement customer segmentation and performance management systems to enhance accountability and focus.

3. Marketing & Brand Development

• Partner with Category Leads (Marketing) to develop integrated marketing plans and brand activation calendars.
• Ensure consistent brand positioning and communication across touchpoints — ATL, digital, and trade marketing.
• Track marketing ROI and ensure promotional investments drive measurable business outcomes.
• Support innovation launches and coordinate cross-functional go-to-market readiness.

4. Trade Marketing & Channel Management

• Oversee trade marketing strategy — from price-pack architecture to visibility and promotion plans.
• Build joint business plans with distributors and key customers.
• Strengthen merchandising standards and category presence in-store.
• Ensure alignment of channel strategies with consumer and category priorities.

5. Team Leadership & Capability Building

• Lead and coach a multi-functional commercial team (sales, marketing, and trade).
• Build performance-driven culture grounded in accountability, speed, and collaboration.
• Develop succession plans and strengthen leadership capability within CRT.

6. Data, Insights & Governance

• Drive a data-led decision culture, using dashboards and BI tools for forecasting and performance tracking.
• Ensure disciplined reporting, pipeline visibility, and accurate market intelligence.
• Partner with Finance and Transformation Office to align commercial targets and track impact.

Requirements

Ideal Candidate Profile

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, or related field; MBA preferred.

Experience:

• 12–15 years of FMCG commercial experience, including at least 5 years in a senior sales or marketing leadership role.
• Proven record of managing multi-category portfolios (preferably beverages, food, or consumer staples).
• Strong exposure to Kenyan and East African markets, both General and Modern Trade.
• Experience integrating marketing strategy with sales execution for profitable growth.
• Demonstrated success in leading large teams, driving performance, and managing change.

Competencies:

• Strategic thinker with strong commercial and financial acumen.
• Hands-on operator who thrives in fast-paced, entrepreneurial environments.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills.
• Data-driven decision-maker with digital and analytical fluency.
• High integrity, discipline, and team orientation.

Benefits

Benefits:

• Vehicle + Fuel Card
• Driver

• Define and execute the commercial strategy for the Beverages and Food value streams, aligned to our client growth and profitability goals.
• Own the category P&L — delivering volume, market share, and margin improvement.
• Lead annual business planning, including pricing, trade investment, distribution, and marketing budgets.
• Drive category innovation and portfolio expansion in collaboration with R&D, Production, and Supply Chain.
• Lead the sales organization (regional heads, key accounts, and trade teams) to deliver targets across General Trade (GT), Modern Trade (MT), and HoReCa.
• Strengthen route-to-market models, focusing on distribution coverage, efficiency, and cost-to-serve optimization.
• Drive sales execution discipline, daily meetings, forecasting, and performance dashboards.
• Implement customer segmentation and performance management systems to enhance accountability and focus.
• Partner with Category Leads (Marketing) to develop integrated marketing plans and brand activation calendars.
• Ensure consistent brand positioning and communication across touchpoints — ATL, digital, and trade marketing.
• Track marketing ROI and ensure promotional investments drive measurable business outcomes.
• Support innovation launches and coordinate cross-functional go-to-market readiness.
• Oversee trade marketing strategy — from price-pack architecture to visibility and promotion plans.
• Build joint business plans with distributors and key customers.
• Strengthen merchandising standards and category presence in-store.
• Ensure alignment of channel strategies with consumer and category priorities.
• Lead and coach a multi-functional commercial team (sales, marketing, and trade).
• Build performance-driven culture grounded in accountability, speed, and collaboration.
• Develop succession plans and strengthen leadership capability within CRT.
• Drive a data-led decision culture, using dashboards and BI tools for forecasting and performance tracking.
• Ensure disciplined reporting, pipeline visibility, and accurate market intelligence.
• Partner with Finance and Transformation Office to align commercial targets and track impact.

• Strategic thinker with strong commercial and financial acumen.
• Hands-on operator who thrives in fast-paced, entrepreneurial environments.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills.
• Data-driven decision-maker with digital and analytical fluency.
• High integrity, discipline, and team orientation.

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, or related field; MBA preferred.
• 12–15 years of FMCG commercial experience, including at least 5 years in a senior sales or marketing leadership role.
• Proven record of managing multi-category portfolios (preferably beverages, food, or consumer staples).
• Strong exposure to Kenyan and East African markets, both General and Modern Trade.
• Experience integrating marketing strategy with sales execution for profitable growth.
• Demonstrated success in leading large teams, driving performance, and managing change.