Customer Development Team Leader at Colgate-Palmolive

Scope Of Responsibility

• The Customer Development Team Leader is responsible for net sales, Gross to Net, profitability and market share objectives for the Pharmacy & Lifestyle Channel . The CD Team Leader plays a leadership role in driving profitable growth by ensuring marketing, selling, financial and supply chain guidelines are utilized to the greatest effect by the customer development team to optimize business opportunities. He/She is responsible for all aspects of engaging with and building strong relationships with customers to secure strategic and collaborative partnerships.

Essential Job Functions

• Customer Development
• Implement customer strategies that are consistent with the broader organisational vision. Ensure that these strategies take into account a range of internal factors such as category and brand strategy as well channel and retail environment strategy. Also integrating external factors such as supplier/vendor capacity and capability, customer strategy and executional guidelines, competition, economic environment, etc into the development and implementation of growth driving solutions and tactics.
• Ensure “winning at the shelf” is a top priority for the team, and that 5P tactics and demand marketing initiatives are executed with excellence at the point of sale
• Ensure that overall strategies are translated into specific short term and long term operational objectives (e.g., targets for distribution, volume, profitability, merchandising, trade stock holding levels, and market share) and priorities.
• Working with the CD function, constantly review and update the go-to-market strategy in a manner that provides a proper level of service aligned with the business strategy, design and implement terms and conditions that will drive the business and improve efficiencies.
• Driving the goal alignment process with the customer in order to identify the most important areas of focus and key priorities, in alignment with the overall strategy for the South Africa region and ensure annual joint business plans are developed
• Maintain transparent/fair, performance-based terms & conditions and consistent discretional investment that delivers against revenue growth management principles and deliverables
• Optimise resources and leverage trade spending across channels, categories, and brands/products given Colgate's strategic direction
• Monitor sales performance, gross to net, and working capital and take action to improve performance
• Ensure accurate and timely demand plans
• Management
• Establishment of and overall leadership of the customer development function
• Driving the goal alignment process with key stakeholders in order to identify the most important areas of focus and priorities, in alignment with the overall strategy for the South African region and all functions
• Assist the development of people in the organisation through effective implementation of the performance management system, including individual objective setting, coaching and feedback, training & development activities, and recruiting and succession planning.
• Financial
• Understanding and managing the Key Financials for the Pharmacy & Lifestyle Customer Development team. This includes, and is not limited to, P&L management, credit to cash management
• Monitoring performance, gross to net, margin improvement, volume growth and working capital and taking action to improve performance
• Receivables management: ensure that terms are consistent with in-market practices, and those receivables terms are fair, based on standard in-market terms and required inventory coverage.
   

Essential Job Requirements

• A minimum of a Bachelor's degree or NQF equivalent is required. Postgraduate coursework in Business and/or a Master’s in Business Administration is desirable.

Required

• A track record of performance as measured by sales and SOM growth, with at least 5-10 years of increasing sales and customer management responsibility, preferably with a FMCG
• Previous experience working in a complex environment which will include but not limited to Pharmacy (Clicks & Dischem), eCommerce, third party service providers
• Functional Customer Management and Field Sales operational experience.
• A proven demonstration of the skill set as detailed in the below competencies.
   

Desired

• International business experience in business unit management, sales and/or customer development prefered but not essential
• Finance and analytical skills