Job Opportunities at Mars

What are we looking for?

• Diploma or Grade 12
• Tertiary education in Sales & Marketing
• A minimum of 3 years work experience as an in-field sales professional in the FMCG industry
• Customer management skills
• Strong negotiation skills
• Good communication and interpersonal skills
• Possession of valid drivers license with a safe driving record.
• Ability to lift up to 40lbs, sit, stand, walk and kneel for long periods of time.
• Live within territory boundaries.

Context and Scope

• Execute the field sales operational plan in line with the Perfect store initiative as well as the quarterly cycle brief and account plans through engagement with the Mars Regional Sales Managers and the customer /channel they are accountable for.
• Develop a compelling instore execution plan, utilizing key insights generated by customer & category activation team.
• Identify specific key growth drivers (e.g.  WD, share of shelf, POI, assortment and product mix, promo), and optimize trade investment in line with the allocated spend per customer and store.
• Engage internal and third-party sales resources to ensure consistent delivery against KPI targets for:
• Customer promotional compliance
• Perfect store compliance
• Reduction of NSR by customer channel
• Execution of Front-end space
• Execution of NPI & Speed to Market
• Engage with sales partners and regional managers to formulate instore on the job training based on Perfect store execution standards for our sales partners field force.
• Manage a route cycle to ensure a breath of stores are visited to measure instore execution standards against the Perfect store KPI`s as well as provide detailed feedback and action plans to manage corrective behaviour.
• Review our sales partner’s coverage in conjunction with the regional managers to identify and coverage opportunities and agree next steps.

What will be your key responsibilities?

• To develop breadth of availability, visibility and distribution through excellence in execution across the Alternative Channel formats servicing Traditional trade as well as Modern Trade including, but not limited to: Petroleum, Franchise stores, Sub-distributors, Corporate accounts, Liquor & pharmacy outlets, according to the Sales Metrics set for the Channel.
• To manage, measure, support and motivate our Sales Partners to drive availability & quality execution in trade that meet the Growth Targets & Sales Metrics set out by our business including, but not limited to:  Our Perfect store initiative, distribution gap closures, Activity Compliance, Speed to Market, NSR’s and ADHOC drives.
• To have a key understanding of consumer / shopper Demographics, Data, & Trends to build compelling category & customer business solutions that add value to our Customers.
• Negotiate range, share of shelf, placement & POS directly with customers, while managing the efficient & effective implementation of the agreed activities with our Sales Partners that delivers Best in class customer service.
• Financial management of Costs (Travel, Communication, Meetings, In Store Trade Expenditure, Company assets)
• Manage our Sales Partners to ensure the correct product range, stock levels & freshness are available to support the infield execution plans and reduction of NSRs in the region.
• To build collaborative relationships internally with key stakeholder departments (Marketing, Trade Marketing and Customer Development) to influence the RTM solutions for the Alternative Channel
• To build collaborate relationships with the customer regionals, replenishers and or buyers for the relevant accounts being managed.
• To develop our breadth of availability, visibility and excellence in execution across the Alternative Channel formats (Petroleum, Sweet Specialty, Catering, Liquor & Pharmacy formats, Corporate and / or franchise accounts) according to the Sales Metrics set for the Channel.
• Ensure compliance of all relevant Q&FS standards.

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What are we looking for?

• Bachelors Degree with a minimum of 5-7 years’ experience in an FMCG sales environment.
• A minimum of 5 years experience in either Key Account Management or Category Management (retail environment)
• Working experience in a digital agency or eCommerce organization is preferred

Context and Scope

• Ecommerce is one of the fastest growing sub-channels of Mars Multisales business and Mars growth rate has outpaced the category growth in Ecommerce accounts. MS has performed very well, acquired good share with some e-tailers and, with the right portfolio and strategy, is well-poised to grow with the balance e-tailers.
• The incumbent will be accountable for profitable business growth across all accounts based out of Johannesburg or Cape Town and will be responsible for Ecommerce market share across all the portals including ROSSA markets. He/she will be working closely with all Customer Development Mangers, customer marketing managers and sales teams to meet objectives.
• Additionally, customer business development initiatives will be central to working with the key accounts and the incumbent will have to deploy category and shopper insights to fuel customer growth.

What will be your key responsibilities?

Strategic Planning – Chains & Category

• Build roadmap to leadership for Ecommerce Channel, strategize and implement programs/plans for development of sales of MS Brands in this channel.
• Customer Business Development through execution of category best practices and insights, and development of common strategic initiatives.
• Develop retailer wise portfolio & execution strategies to build category relevance.
• Drive activities & strategies that help market share gain for all MS Brands
• Business Delivery
• Achieve volume and sales targets through effective implementation of sales strategies, Identifying the key challenges and enablers:
• Create online digital P2P plan
• Sales planning/ stock requirement forecast

Brand activations

• ​ Influence Key stakeholders such as LM, Trade Marketing, Sales development, Marketing and Regional Category teams of Retailers to align and garner necessary support to meet growth ambitions in the mid to long term.

External Customer Engagement

• Develop a mutually beneficial JBP with Key customers with clearly defined KPIs and review mechanisms.
• Conduct regular reviews on the progress of JBP KPIs and agree on correctional steps with the customers.
• Develop customer engagement through initiatives like Joint Business Planning, Top 2 Top meetings, road shows, etc.
• Engaging with the Chains category Teams for Business planning and delivery, Promotion & Visibility planning and driving for Desired market Shares
• Build relationship and regular wiring for MS & Customer’s Management teams
• Drive partnership and negotiation with e-tailers customers to drive better brand online visibility leveraging on their banners, thematic campaigns and SEO.

Trade Spends Utilization

• Prioritization and deployment of available spends towards strategic focus areas and activities to drive traffic to online retailer sites.
• Track utilization and online effectiveness of trade spends deployed to promote our brands in partnership with our online retailers.
• Work closely with the activation team to develop an online Equitable Brand activation in line with the Brand strategy
• Perform ROI analysis and promotion plan optimization for key e-tailers to drive customer profitability.

Internal Customer Engagement

• Provide leadership to the organization by identifying trends, insights, and best practices for E-Commerce / digital.
• Work closely with Trade Customers and internal One Demand Team to develop solutions around:
• Create effective Path to purchase presence, through partnership with the One Demand team and our media partners.
• High class visibility elements on the ecommerce portals.
• Portfolio solutions to build & drive relevance of MS brands in categories
• Optimize cost to serve and profitably manage account visibility investments, and design and execute activation programmes.
• Closely work with S&F and Customer’s finance function to drive reconciliations as per the agreed Terms of Trades.

To plan and execute investment strategy in Key Accounts with focus on:

• Availability – Online presence
• Fill Rates
• Listing
• Visibility
• Activation
• Customer Relationship
• Work on Mars signature processes in the area of Account Management and Demand Planning