Sales & Marketing Head – Beverages & Food

Sales & Marketing Head – Beverages & Food
Location: Kenya
Reporting to: Customer Response Team (CRT) – HEAD 
Direct Reports: Regional Sales Teams and Sales Admin-Ops Team
Role Summary
The Sales & Marketing Head – Beverages & Food will lead the commercial agenda for these two high-growth value streams, owning end-to-end accountability for sales performance, category growth, market share, and brand health.
This role integrates sales, marketing, and trade execution under one unified strategy — ensuring that our clients products reach customers efficiently, competitively, and with a compelling value proposition.
The ideal candidate is a commercial leader with strong FMCG experience, equally comfortable in boardroom strategy and frontline execution, capable of managing diverse teams and driving cross-functional collaboration.
Key Responsibilities
1. Commercial & Category Leadership
•    Define and execute the commercial strategy for the Beverages and Food value streams, aligned to our client growth and profitability goals.
•    Own the category P&L — delivering volume, market share, and margin improvement.
•    Lead annual business planning, including pricing, trade investment, distribution, and marketing budgets.
•    Drive category innovation and portfolio expansion in collaboration with R&D, Production, and Supply Chain.
2. Sales & Route-to-Market Excellence
•    Lead the sales organization (regional heads, key accounts, and trade teams) to deliver targets across General Trade (GT), Modern Trade (MT), and HoReCa.
•    Strengthen route-to-market models, focusing on distribution coverage, efficiency, and cost-to-serve optimization.
•    Drive sales execution discipline, daily meetings, forecasting, and performance dashboards.
•    Implement customer segmentation and performance management systems to enhance accountability and focus.
3. Marketing & Brand Development
•    Partner with Category Leads (Marketing) to develop integrated marketing plans and brand activation calendars.
•    Ensure consistent brand positioning and communication across touchpoints — ATL, digital, and trade marketing.
•    Track marketing ROI and ensure promotional investments drive measurable business outcomes.
•    Support innovation launches and coordinate cross-functional go-to-market readiness.
4. Trade Marketing & Channel Management
•    Oversee trade marketing strategy — from price-pack architecture to visibility and promotion plans.
•    Build joint business plans with distributors and key customers.
•    Strengthen merchandising standards and category presence in-store.
•    Ensure alignment of channel strategies with consumer and category priorities.
5. Team Leadership & Capability Building
•    Lead and coach a multi-functional commercial team (sales, marketing, and trade).
•    Build performance-driven culture grounded in accountability, speed, and collaboration.
•    Develop succession plans and strengthen leadership capability within CRT.
6. Data, Insights & Governance
•    Drive a data-led decision culture, using dashboards and BI tools for forecasting and performance tracking.
•    Ensure disciplined reporting, pipeline visibility, and accurate market intelligence.
•    Partner with Finance and Transformation Office to align commercial targets and track impact.
Ideal Candidate Profile
Education:
•    Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, or related field; MBA preferred.

Experience:
•    12–15 years of FMCG commercial experience, including at least 5 years in a senior sales or marketing leadership role.
•    Proven record of managing multi-category portfolios (preferably beverages, food, or consumer staples).
•    Strong exposure to Kenyan and East African markets, both General and Modern Trade.
•    Experience integrating marketing strategy with sales execution for profitable growth.
•    Demonstrated success in leading large teams, driving performance, and managing change.
Competencies:
•    Strategic thinker with strong commercial and financial acumen.
•    Hands-on operator who thrives in fast-paced, entrepreneurial environments.
•    Excellent communication and influencing skills.
•    Data-driven decision-maker with digital and analytical fluency.
•    High integrity, discipline, and team orientation.
Benefits: 
•    Vehicle + Fuel Card
•    Driver