Sales Operations Manager, Costa Rica

Sales Operation Manager

With over 200 brands sold in nearly 180 countries, we're the world's leading premium drinks company. Bring your passion and use your curiosity as you explore, collaborate, and innovate to build brands consumers love. Together with passionate people from all over the world, you'll test new ideas, learn and grow, and unlock a brighter, more exciting future.

Join us to create a career worth celebrating.

Our Sales team love building links, connecting with customers to sell our much-loved brands in new and vibrant markets where they can thrive. They help sell our iconic brands across 180 countries every year.

We're operating across different markets, channels, and areas of expertise. Using your curiosity and passion, you'll make the most of consumer insight and digital platforms, reaching new customers, markets, and celebrations to help us achieve our growth potential. We'll support your learning and growth as you develop your career with us and work with people across our business to realize your fullest potential.

The Caribbean and Central America (CCA) market is a Diageo business unit that generates approx. £300m NSV. CCA is the most profitable market in LAC both in terms of absolute operating profit and margin. 90% of our NSV is USD invoiced.

CCA is a very dynamic market with many opportunities. Our geographical footprint covers 37 countries, where different languages are spoken and we have a population of 80m, 52m of whom are LDA+. Our model is a distributor based RTC with over 40 partners. We also handle several co-packing partnerships throughout the region, and Panama is home to our innovation technology center and principal warehousing operations.

The Scotch category accounts for approx. 70% of Total NSV, predominantly playing in the Premium and Super Premium segments; Diageo share of market in Scotch varies from 45% to 75% across the region – making us the number one player.

The Sales Operation Manager leads the commercial capability development and execution in our distributor salesforce. Drives markets to reach/exceed its Breakthrough execution goals. The role will focus primarily on engaging our commercial teams and our distributors to move from strategy to execution detailed.

The role will require interfacing with Commercial Manager and cross functional collaborators and ability to adapt outlet execution transformation to different Route to Consumer archetypes. Leads, coaches, and works with distributor teams to roll out and embed outlet execution standards.

Is an important impetus for organizational change, leading to the markets becoming obsessed with winning at the point of sale.

Role Responsibilities:

• Lead Outlet Execution Standards implementation in the market.
• Make decisions in conjunction with Marketing / CMO, Sales, Key Accounts, and local distributor to deliver our business plan, ensuring right optimization of investment and prioritization of execution activities.
• Influences commercial action planning to course correct benchmark performance with fact-based insights generated through execution data analysis.
• Raising and recommending solutions to critical issues as well as bringing to life key opportunities within the channels.

Financial Responsibility:

• This role does not have direct P&L responsibility but will be instrumental in driving NSV and Market Share growth targets through outlet execution.
• Ensure M&E is applied on all relevant investments as per the agreed amounts, provide inputs to build incentive/loyalty plans and prepare the post evaluations and findings related to this initiative.
• Manage own T&E budget and adhere to all related policies, not exceeding assigned budget.
• Implement CATMAN initiatives looking for growth and profitability from Retailers and Diageo through our distributors and in accordance with trade investment policies.

Leadership Responsibility:

• Mobilize commercial teams (Sales, Activation and distributors) and customers to flawlessly complete our Innovation Brand launches and Point of Purchase marketing programs.
• The incumbent needs to influence sales and customer marketing teams internally and mentor Distributor personnel to be responsible for the Commercial Standard agenda with passion.
• Great relationship builder with different collaborators internally and externally. They will be exposed to demanding senior leaders and thus needs to show confidence and drive at all levels.
• Lead the translation of strong thinking and understanding of shopper, category and channel/customer into propositions that win at the moment of choice.
• Win through Execution by leading the transformation of Outlet Execution with the in-market team. This will be achieved by taking an external lens and setting the bar high for us and our partners. This will cover all aspects of the Outlet Execution framework from bringing to bear Sophisticated Analytics to establishing segmentation & outlet standards.
• Lead capability agenda with the distributor partner to ensure that the right level of capabilities is in place to deliver the strategy.
• Lead the Commercial execution standard agenda for assigned markets supported by appropriate and required functions.
• Lead the shared strategic agenda and JCP for assigned markets in conjunction with Activation Executive, Commercial Manager and Distributor.
• Build and maintain high-level strategic alignment with Distributor’s Senior Management to create a high-performance organization and supervise distributor’s performance in all established execution benchmarks.
• Define JCP Standards and Universe with input/alignment of Commercial Manager, build JCP proposal with input from Commercial Manager, manage TS budgets for JCP in conjunction with distributors and support with JCP negotiations.
• Support new product introduction/innovation and complete commercial proposition for innovation and reserve through our distributors.
• Own and ensure Commercial Standards – Outlet Execution sign off process. Lead, coach and work with distributor teams to roll out and embed outlet execution standards.
• Responsible for ensuring outlet segmentation in key countries is reviewed and up to date at least annually to reflect market changes and business potentials.
• Support Channel Development managers in the minimum assortment review to ensure alignment with strategies and align and download to distributor teams.
• Annual definition and tracking of Targets & Execution KPIs (MAS, MPA), Cycle Brief and JCPs, including tracking tools (ISSY / TRAX Tool Targets & Tracking), contact and coverage plans.
• Be the catalyst for organizational behavioral change, leading to the markets and our partners continually improving their standards, capabilities, and business results.
• Support Commercial Manager on weekly performance review with the distributor.

Experience / skills required:

• Bachelor’s Degree required in Business or related field. MBA a plus.
• English and Spanish required.
• Minimum 5 years of experience at manager level in sales and/or customer marketing/trade marketing areas with specific experience of distributor-based businesses within a CPG company.
• Ability to work around and within a variety of different market conditions and demographic factors.
• Strong strategic thinking abilities, planning and analytical skills.
• Strong influencing, negotiation, and collaboration skills, with a range and adaptability of style.
• Good understanding of retailer and/or distributor strategy, operations and complex motivations of shoppers, consumers and customers is essential.
• Strong presentation skills.

Flexible Working Statement:

Flexibility is key to our success. Talk to us about what flexibility means to you so that you're supported to handle your wellbeing and balance your priorities from day one.

Rewards & Benefits Statement:

We recognize and value performance, offering our people a highly competitive Rewards and Benefits package including:

Diversity statement:

Our purpose is to celebrate life, every day, everywhere. And creating an inclusive culture, where everyone feels valued and that they can belong, is a crucial part of this.

We accept diversity in the broadest possible sense. This means that you'll be welcomed and celebrated for who you are just by being you. You'll be part of and help build and champion an inclusive culture that celebrates people of different gender, ethnicity, ability, age, sexual orientation, social class, educational backgrounds, experiences, approaches and more.

Our ambition is to create the best performing, most trusted and respected consumer products companies in the world. Join us and help transform our business as we take our brands to new heights and build new ones as part of shaping the next generation of celebrations for consumers around the world.

Feel inspired? Then this may be the opportunity for you.

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