Cocoa Sales Director Central Europe

About the role:

Cocoa Sales Director Central Europe is accountable for all cocoa product sales volume & cocoa powder premiums in Central Europe i.e. Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, and Hungary (In total: 9 Countries)
Developing sales volume and increasing premium with the defined local, regional, and international customer base; plus managing inter-flows from Western Europe, Asia, and Africa are the essential responsibilities of this role.

• The incumbent is the main point of contact for the Cocoa Business within BC for all customers in CEE and takes full responsibility for the cocoa business & cocoa distributors in a professional manner.
• Indirectly manages BC sales force (FM & GM) for the sale of cocoa products within the region.
• Indirectly manages BC functions to achieve targets (Customer Service, R&D, Finance)
• Takes decisions to manage the complexity of cocoa regions in the most efficient way (Asia/Africa/Europe)
• Proactively supports the sales organization for additional opportunities outside the existing customer base.
• Acts as CEE’s ‘customers’ voice within Global Cocoa to ensure customer satisfaction and continuity of business relationships.

 

Key responsibilities:

• Develop a strategic plan for the region and be accountable for the execution of it to increase volume & premium.
• Develops a strong network of contacts within BC - Customer Care, Marketing, Sourcing, Finance, and Supply Chain - to support day-to-day business in the region and pro-actively support the sales team, distributors & customers.
• Be able to translate Cocoa Bean & Product markets to the sales team and customers about trends to support the purchasing strategies of the customers.
• Understand customer market, capability & position to create a business development plan per customer to drive growth.
• Indirect management of Sales teams to be successful in their job of selling cocoa products.
• Direct management of the team to achieve targets.
• Develop positive working relationships with key stakeholders on customers' side including, buying, technical, NPD, and supply chain departments, and recognize key decision-makers.
• Build strong relationships with Chocolate counterparts within the region as well as Cocoa Regions ie Asia/Africa/Europe.

 

About you:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Economics or commerce-related field.
• 10+ years of commercial working experience. Experience in a similar “commodity type” Industry will be a plus.
• Deep understanding of Terminal Commodity Markets.
• Commercial drive to make the deal in the interest of BC & customer.
• Relationship builder & team player.
• Proof of record on successful commercial achievement.
• Financial understanding of the business.
• Purchasing behavior and deep understanding of market complexities, market segmentation, and marketing elements, deep margin management understanding, and final decision maker on product pricing and strategy.
• Familiarity with the factory environment to understand differences between products, and cost impacts.
• Understanding combined Ratio: identification of combined ratio drivers and application of CR decisions into business decision-making, position management, market-price trend, competition prices & behavior.
• Supply chain & logistics: delivery channels, flow strategies, and understanding of supply constraints and risk mitigation approaches.
• Regular travel within the region and to BC locations (on average 60% of work time)