Commercial Operations Manager (International)

Job Description

We are seeking a Commercial Operations Manager to join our team. This role requires the holder to be the key link between the sales force, customers, and SHS Divisions in order to achieve and exceed our joint sales and profit objectives, and build a secure relationship for the long term. You will be the face of the International Business Unit within each of the three SHS Group Divisions (Drinks, Food and Household), representing the interests of the International team to facilitate international revenue growth and deliver the strategic plan.

Key Responsibilities/Duties

• Build a strong relationship with all SHS Group Divisions (Drinks, Food and Household), manage all Group brand portfolios with existing business to meet sales and profit objectives.
• Build and maintain a strong relationship with each Divisional Commercial Operations Lead and Sales Director to ensure alignment between the international sales plan and the Divisional plan.
• To understand SHS Divisional strategic goals to help build and create a three-year joint strategic plan for SHS International.
• Work in partnership with the international sales force to constantly review our customers’ demands and requests to negotiate optimum profit and loss return for SHS, and ensure alignment with any revenue parameters set by the Divisions.
• Collation and challenge of sales force forecasts where requested, and evaluation against own forecasts to improve accuracy, and enhance working capital financed stock on hand. Manage all systems related to forecasting, including CBP and Divisional meetings/requirements.
• Attend all Divisional demand review meetings to align each Division to the YTG demand signal, and the business opportunities and risks, both from a volumetric and revenue perspective.
• Proactively review international stock holding and challenge buffer stock where required, and address international BBE/SLOBs to minimise stock clearance and write-off risks.
• Champion international needs with the marketing and NPD teams within each Division to ensure the right international range, under each Divisional process.
• Manage the onboarding of new customers alongside the Sales team, including new account set up, CBP inputs and pricing set up.
• Project manage the development of new products into a market or the introduction of products into a new market, including Divisional gate processes, artwork development, operational requirements, customs and customer services requirements.
• With a revenue growth mindset, ensure adherence to or betterment of the revenue parameters set by the Divisions (% P spend, NSV, TGM, rate), proactively identifying outliers and either applying cost of goods increases or removing trading terms to recalibrate, working in association with the revenue planners in each Division.
• Put into place adequate controls to minimise any grey stock recycling back into the UK market.
• Develop and maintain an international sales toolkit to facilitate international sales by securing relevant Divisional information (e.g. promotional gants, new product briefings, brand updates and market intelligence, etc).
• Influence and implement the strategic brand plans across all customers and markets you are operating in.
• Attend and conduct regular reviews with each SHS Division and lead internal reviews, orchestrating clear activities, priorities and areas of focus for each brand/Division, using pyramids to illustrate focus needed.
• Keep Customer Solutions fully apprised of all promotional activity, new customer set up, new product launches and other special stock requirements.
• Communicate and articulate the clear brand plans to our virtual teams in Manderson House and Belfast offices.

Experience/Qualifications

Essential Qualifications

• Education – ideally to degree level.

Essential Experience

• Customer excellence.
• Great communication skills, both written and oral.
• Great project management skills.
• Planning and organisation skills.
• Process and performance excellence.
• Teamwork.
• Numeracy and literacy.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to prioritise workload.
• Organised and tenacious in taking ownership of tasks and seeing them through to conclusion.
• Demonstrates strong process in all of their work.
• Excited by and adapts quickly to change.

Skills

• Personal gravitas, with proven influencing and negotiating skills, and the ability to network effectively.
• Strategic thinker with the ability to marry organisational and customer goals, and achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to present information clearly and persuasively at any level.
• Collaborative approach.
• Confident, results-driven, self-motivated, hungry for success.
• Committed to continuous improvement, developing self, team and processes.
• Positive, solutions-focused, with excellent problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Integrity and trustworthy.