• An established manufacturer of specialized agrochemicals is seeking a Commercial Manager to manage and oversee commercial interests within the South African geographical scope, ensuring the achievement of financial targets and sustainable customer satisfaction.

Minimum requirements for the role:

• Must have a B.Sc. Agric degree or similar; an MBA is an advantage
• Minimum 5 years’ strategic management experience within the Agricultural Chemical environment
• Strong commercial experience and understanding is required
• Must have excellent attention to detail and be capable of understanding the context and impact of the market and sales
• Must have a valid driver’s license and reliable transport

The successful candidate will be responsible for:

• Managing relationships with Distributor Heads, Head Office staff, and team members within the relevant geographical scope.
• Managing Sales staff activities within the relevant geographical scope.
• Delivering on growth expectations in the relevant geographical scope, while continually analyzing the region to identify opportunities and making proposals.
• Setting budgets per sales area in line with the business budget.
• Acting as a Director on shareholding boards and providing the boards with advice.
• Managing and analyzing forecasts by customer and tracking forecast accuracy.
• Aligning forecasts with the budget.
• Improving the company’s forecast accuracy.
• Monitoring Price/Volume/Sales/GP (actual vs forecast vs last year) to achieve the budget.
• Aligning Commercial and Supply Chain operations.
• Collaborating closely with the Marketing Department to align on projects.
• Implementing agreed Marketing Plans.
• Collaborating with Marketing on client incentives.
• Creating strategies to maximize the development of high-margin products.
• Gathering Marketing Intelligence by interacting with distributors and agents to obtain information about competition and the market.
• Adhering to all HR policies, procedures, and requirements to ensure sound people practices.
• Managing the team’s daily activities.
• Developing employees based on identified training needs in accordance with the Workplace Skills Plan.
• Ensuring general discipline in the department and taking corrective action on all misconduct incidents.
• Conducting Performance Appraisals as per company policy.
• Ensuring the Department is fully staffed with appropriately experienced employees.
• Regularly analyzing opposition pricing for the region.
• Determining pricing per product and developing pricing strategies.
• Managing tender approvals and overseeing costing management.
• Monitoring tender volumes and pricing as per tender submissions.
• Maintaining monthly price lists.
• Delivering Quarterly and Annual Sales and GP budgets in the relevant geographical region.
• Analyzing and tracking sales performance against the budget.
• Developing and executing the Sales and Distribution Strategy for the territory.
• Setting consignment stock thresholds and managing consignment stock levels where applicable.
• Identifying high-value product or label gaps in the market and developing Business cases for their development.
• Providing technical support through training of distributor agents, agent/farm visits, field visits, and farmer days.
• Managing complaint handling and liaising with the Technical Department.