VP & General Manager at Ecolab

Job Description

The incumbent will be responsible for developing and implementing the business strategies and objectives, jointly with the global divisions and functions, required to aggressively drive sales and profitability growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This individual will work closely with members of his/her management team to execute the overall business strategy, to improve market share and bottom line performance, and partner extensively with Regional and Global resources to ensure support to the businesses.

This individual is accountable for the Company adherence to its Vision, Mission and Values; this is achieved by ensuring that the different departments of the entity work for the common broader goal while concurrently exploring strategic growth opportunities and business process reengineering.

The scope of the role is Sub-Sahara Africa including West and Central Africa (entire Africa except North Africa), based in the Johannesburg office. The business is a significant part of the Ecolab Middle East and Africa (MEA) Region, with over 650 people and operating in close to 15 countries.

Main Responsibilities:

•  Responsible for leading the Management Teams of the company/s in SSA and assuring implementation of all guidelines set by the MEA leadership team through the management teams, leading the day-to-day activities of the country/s to provide continued growth in sales and profitability.
•  Keep leadership informed on country/s performance and recommend actions for improvement.
•  Leverage and collaborate with Global and Regional resources to drive productivity and capture business synergies.
•  Responsible for developing and proposing the annual budget and monitoring deviations from budget, taking corrective action to meet established goals. Coordinates preparation of annual business plan, with accountability for all financial targets in collaboration with divisions and functions.
•  Execute approved plans and programs to achieve objectives. Evaluate results to assure achievement of region plans and objectives.
•  Develop and retain talent to assure the accomplishment of current and planned objectives and provide leadership to enhance succession management.
•  Develop and maintain awareness of the competitive environment and market conditions to ensure that the region’s plans and strategies will be responsive to change, and will attain market leadership and maintain customer satisfaction.
•  Represent the country to major global and local customers and provide support for sales and marketing.
•  Ensure full local regulatory compliance with various governmental agencies.
•  Project a favorable company image to the business community, governmental bodies, and the general public, all stakeholders
•  Oversees, and intervenes as necessary, to address customer interests or concerns by actively identifying and resolving potential problems in a timely and cost effective manner.
•  Ensures a safe, healthy workplace for employees, whilst Health & Safety regulations and procedures are adhered to.
•  Be the chief compliance leader in the geography and ensure adherence to all Ecolab standards
•  The role is a part of the MEA leadership team and takes part in all major decision making and strategy development for the MEA region.

Qualifications:

•  Demonstrated strategic leadership capability and ability to shape a clear vision, translate the vision into strategies, actions and results.
•  Extensive and exceptionally strong business leadership experience and skills.
•  Experience in managing a $100 million+ business with P&L responsibility or full scale commercial operations, with experience in Business-to-Business environments with a solution selling orientation.
•  Have the potential to lead larger businesses in the next 3-5 years. Proven track record of leading and building a high performing team and delivering superb results through strong execution
•  Sub-Saharan Africa market experience and knowledge is preferable
•  Excellent interpersonal communication and presentation skills
•  Strong learning agility, flexible, adaptable, situationally responsive and globally savvy
•  Previous work experience in a large and highly matrixed organization
•  Strong customer orientation and understanding of sales and marketing processes
•  High-level numerical reasoning/analytical skills.
•  Experience with successful multinational companies
•  Passionate, high energy and drive for results and operational excellence.
•  Should have a broad cross-functional knowledge and supply chain understanding.