Permanent - Senior Commercial Officer (SCO) - Cape Town - South Africa

We are seeking a strategic and commercially driven Senior Commercial Officer to lead revenue growth, margin expansion, and market expansion across South Africa.

This role will own the full commercial engine — including natonal sales, key accounts, distributor management, trade markeing, and marketing development — with a focus on sustainable, profitable growth.

The ideal candidate combines high-level strategic capability with strong execution discipline and experience scaling FMCG or regulated consumer products.

Key Responsibilies

1. Commercial Strategy & Revenue Growth

• Develop and execute 3-year commercial growth strategy
• Drive revenue, gross margin and EBITDA targets
• Lead national and regional sales planning
• Identify vertical and horizontal product expansion opportunies
• Evaluate new category and new market entry feasibility

2. Key Accounts & Contract Governance

• Oversee major retail and wholesale relationships
• Lead high-level contract negotiations
• Structure pricing, rebates, and promotional agreements
• Protect margin integrity across accounts
• Ensure trading terms are commercially sustainable

3. National Sales & Field Execution

• Lead National Sales Manager and regional structures
• Drive sell-in and sell-through performance
• Improve forecasting accuracy and stock flow discipline
• Optimise territory coverage and rep productivity
• Build performance culture across regions

4. Trade Marketing & Brand Commercialisation

• Align marketing spend with revenue outcomes
• Approve promotional calendar and incentive programs Drive activation excellence in key retail environments
• Ensure commercial ROI tracking on campaigns

5. Financial & Operational Alignment

• Own commercial budget and forecasting process
• Improve working capital cycles
• Monitor debtor days and credit exposure
• Partner with finance on margin and cost controls
• Align operations with commercial demand planning

6. Team Leadership & Structure Development

• Build scalable commercial organisation
• Recruit and develop high-performance leaders
• Implement KPI dashboards and reporting discipline
• Establish clear accountability across teams

Key KPIs

• Revenue growth % (domes􀆟c & export)
• Gross margin % improvement
• EBITDA contribution
• Key account retention and expansion
• New market entries per year
• Working capital efficiency
• Forecast accuracy

Required Experience

• 10+ years in FMCG or regulated consumer categories
• Proven experience leading national sales teams
• Strong key account negotiation experience
• Exposure to export / Pan-Africa distribution preferred
• Experience scaling multi-category portfolios
• Financial literacy (margin modelling, forecasting, budgeting)

Preferred Attributes

• Strategic thinker with execution focus
• High commercial IQ
• Comfortable in high-growth environments
• Strong negotiation and influence capability
• Entrepreneurial mindset