Field Sales Development Leader – Mars Snacking: Coast Region, Kenya
As a Field Sales Development Leader at Mars, you would be responsible for leading and motivating a dynamic team of field sales representatives across the Lake and Rift Region, ensuring excellent execution of all field sales initiatives and the delivery of our agreed targets and perfect store ambitions. In this role, you will act as a pivotal leader in driving growth, securing optimal points of distribution, and maximizing display quality. You will also collaborate closely with distributor partners to ensure our iconic Mars Snacking brands are always available to delight our consumers.
What are we looking for?
- Ideally, you’ll hold a Bachelor’s degree, with an MBA being a distinct advantage.
- You will bring a minimum of 8 years of experience in field sales operations or customer management, including robust experience in line management and leading field sales teams.
- A proven track record in successfully building brands and launching new products within the market.
- Strong commercial acumen and the ability to develop structured, logical, and data-driven proposals while understanding wider business and financial consequences.
- A collaborative leader who aligns with the Mars Leadership Competencies, with a strong focus on planning and aligning, setting priorities, driving results, and building and developing highly effective teams.
What would be your key responsibilities?
- Provide regional leadership and performance management, driving your sales team to deliver top-line financial performance and meet volume and value-based sales targets.
- Drive the penetration of new products through exceptional in-store execution, partnering closely with Category Management on trade activities.
- Lead coverage expansion plans by continuously re-evaluating service solutions and staffing requirements to optimize sales frequency and product availability.
- Deliver, manage, and measure PICOS (Picture of Success) execution plans, engaging directly with Distributor Partners to implement in-store strategies.
- Manage sales team operational activities, overheads, company assets, and execution of Journey Plans (PJPs) to optimize productivity and meet set KPIs.
- Support the distributor demand planning process to improve forecast accuracy by analyzing qualitative and quantitative customer and sales insights.
- Drive distributor operational efficiency, managing quality & food safety standards, financial compliance (AR, payables, P&L), and Joint Business Plans (JBP).
- Lead capability building and development across both Mars Wrigley and distributor sales teams by identifying skills gaps and implementing targeted training.