Convenience Retail (CR) & Alliances Manager at Astron Energy (Pty) Ltd.

This position is responsible for:

• Growing alliance partners relationships / offers with various industry leading brands to improve the commercial offering to Astron Energy customers and consumers with the aim of growing profitable volumes. 
• Managing existing alliance relationships and ensuring partner governance
• Managing and supporting operations excellence in relation to all convenience retail and alliance offers.
• Leading various projects / programmes
• Developing and presenting business cases for endorsement to senior management. 
• Engaging across all levels in the organisation and represent Astron Energy to retail convenience partners.

KPIs:

• Definition and expansion of the retail CVP 
• Growth contribution of retail convenience to sales volumes, EBITDA targets and cost efficiencies
• Improvement in visibility and granularity of retail convenience performance metrics

Operational excellence

• Improvement in overall Brand Health through leveraging right fit per site convenience offers.
• Influence overall retail customer satisfaction index
• Convenience Industry comparative performance metrics and analysis of leading market trends
• Introduction of partnership brands and convenience propositions on sites e.g., Retail partner brands etc.
• Ensure optimal pricing through retail strategies and data integrity within internal POS systems
• Review known and new opportunities and provide recommendations for improvement in Margin & ROI
• Adherence to deadlines / timelines 
• Manage budget as per allocations

Financial Perspective

• Delivering volumes and earnings associated with all retail convenience propositions
• Provide required input into business planning and forecasting processes.
• Develop and report on monthly program performance for Leadership Team review.
• Endorse and approve business plan and related forecasts in line with convenience partner SLA and agreements.
• Monitors & approves revenue / opex / capex management performance relating to convenience partner offers e.g., opportunity costs, royalties, etc.
• Explore opportunities to optimize revenue whilst creating cost efficiencies including partner convenience models.
• Identify and assist with underperforming sites by enhancing performance through retail convenience offers.
• Annual budget or financial business dimensions that the job either directly controls or indirectly influences includes
• Annual CR revenue of R2.5b
• Annual CAPEX of ZAR 40ml

Customer Perspective

• Retail convenience business and customer relationship management
• Attend retail performance review meetings with retail convenience partners, Retailers, and internal teams.
• Manage SLA and query resolution associated with convenience value propositions.
• Cross functional interfacing with various support teams internal and external.
• Collaborate with regional territory teams to support the development of e-com sales.
• Develop local capabilities: team training on convenience and related value propositions.
• Manage and develop retailer & convenience partner relationships to enhance convenience proposition and attractiveness.
• Work closely with retail, Marketing, Finance, Legal and Procurement to develop robust contracting strategies and appraise ongoing contract performance consistent KPIs.

Business Excellence

• Manage and operationalise the CR & Alliance strategy within network
• Position retail convenience as the leading offer in the network.
• Responsible for delivering the retail convenience strategy within network.
• Plans, manages, and leads the execution of related customer value proposition projects and initiatives.
• Drive new volume growth and increase associated earnings.
• Manages a professional relationship between Retailers, partners with responsibility for ensuring compliance with the contractual agreements and Government regulations.
• Liaison with DSMs, BCs and support organisation in monitoring and measuring execution of convenience programs and initiatives.
• Assist with driving customer acquisition, retention and growth through on-site application of marketing, and a seamless customer experience, including enabling CRM, and ensuring programs are effectively implemented.
• Measure and report on on-site execution & performance of all marketing campaigns and assess against goals (KPIs).

Market Intelligence

• Monitors and benchmarks external trends including competitor activity, regulatory changes, industry trends and new business opportunities.
• Recommends process and policy updates to management to support business strategy and meet competitive market conditions.
• Anticipate changes in existing retail convenience operations and take action to defend and grow leading position.
• Track and monitor convenience trends and developments in other industry sectors and markets to identify best practices, synergies and risk.

People Management

• Manage the Astron Energy CR & Alliance team
• Plan, develop and execute the approved project plan
• Manage stakeholders and work with other interdependent project managers (Sirius, Mercury etc.)

Professional Qualification and Certifications:

• Graduate degree in the field of Business Management, Sales, Marketing, or related field.
• Convenience Retail will be advantageous.
• Minimum of 10 years’ Experience in Retail Convenience and fuels industry

Work Experience:

• Customer management with a good understanding of LSMs, customer behaviour etc.
• Contract Management
• Business development and relationship management.
• Retail convenience and fuels industry track record
• Development and implementation of convenience retail formats, merchandising, planograms etc.
• Analytical and project management track record
• Demonstrated Organizational and Commercial expertise
• Customer Value Proposition management
• Knowledge and skills requirements:
• Mastery level knowledge of pricing, merchandising, formats, planograms, GLA etc.
• Strong stakeholder management skills
• Good understanding of automation, back office, GLA, Admin, store requirements of trading
• Excellent people management skills
• Energetic, confident, dynamic personality and powerful influencer with an operations background and have a demonstrated history of creating and leading retail convenience.
• Needs to have a good financial & analytical background, strong problem-solving skills, knowledgeable in merchandising and have strong leadership skills. Ability to interact at most senior levels of external organizations.
• Lead convenience related projects & customer value proposition strategy development with external / internal teams.
• Clearly and concisely present key findings and proposals to senior leaders.
• Develop strong relationships with all convenience partners & operational teams.
• Have a deep understanding of retail convenience model constructs / fuel industry deal terms and creatively solve for complex situations to achieve objectives while mitigating risk.
• Regularly interface and negotiate with third party management teams.
• Collaborate across organizations including retail, legal, marketing, and others to ensure technical and business objectives are met.
• Ability to interpret the impact of customer relationship management information and recommend proposals to enhance convenience propositions.
• Leverage Customer Relationship Management information to streamline customer facing retail processes, build customer relationships, increase sales, improve customer service, and increase profitability.
• Adopts a consultancy approach to building innovative revenue partnerships through e-commerce, Customer relationship management, communications and marketing in a co-creating agile environment.
• Exhibit accountability, leadership and be a team player.

Application deadline:

• 29 June 2025