National Sales Director

Job Description

Job Purpose The National Sales Director is responsible for leading and managing the company’s nationwide sales organization to achieve revenue, volume, distribution, market-share, profitability, and execution objectives. The position develops national sales strategy, strengthens Route-to-Market (RTM), drives distributor and field-force performance, expands outlet coverage, and builds a high-performing sales organization across all channels and geographic territories. Key Responsibilities 1. Sales Strategy & Business Planning - Develop annual and monthly national sales strategies aligned with company objectives. - Establish sales targets by brand, SKU, channel, region, province, and sales team. - Translate company growth objectives into actionable sales plans. - Identify new markets, channels, customers, and geographic expansion opportunities. - Develop short-, medium-, and long-term sales growth plans. 2. Revenue, Volume & Profitability Management - Deliver agreed sales revenue and volume targets. - Manage sales growth while protecting gross margin and profitability. - Monitor sales performance versus budget, target, and prior year. - Manage discounts, promotions, trade terms, and sales-related expenses within approved budgets. - Identify performance gaps and implement corrective action. 3. Route-to-Market & Distribution - Develop and continuously improve the national Route-to-Market strategy. - Manage Pre-Sales, Van Sales, Direct Delivery, Distributor and other applicable sales models. - Increase numeric and weighted distribution. - Expand active outlet coverage and improve sales-call productivity. - Ensure appropriate territory, route, and customer segmentation. - Optimize sales routes and sales-force deployment. 4. Channel Management - Develop channel strategies for General Trade (GT), Modern Trade (MT), Key Accounts, Wholesale, HoReCa and other relevant channels. - Set channel-specific targets and execution standards. - Strengthen relationships with key customers and strategic accounts. - Negotiate major commercial agreements within authorized limits. 5. Distributor Management - Select, evaluate and develop distributors where applicable. - Establish distributor targets and performance standards. - Monitor distributor inventory, sell-in, sell-out, coverage and productivity. - Ensure distributors maintain appropriate stock levels and working capital. - Conduct regular distributor business reviews. 6. Sales Execution - Establish national standards for outlet execution. - Ensure sales teams achieve targets for distribution, availability, visibility, assortment and promotion execution. - Conduct regular market visits and field audits. - Ensure new products are launched effectively across targeted channels and territories. - Monitor competitor activities and recommend appropriate commercial responses. 7. Sales Forecasting & Inventory Coordination - Prepare accurate rolling sales forecasts. - Coordinate with Supply Chain, Production and Procurement on demand requirements. - Monitor stock availability, out-of-stock situations, slow-moving stock and ageing inventory. - Balance inventory availability with healthy stock levels throughout the distribution network. 8. Sales Team Leadership - Lead the national sales organization and establish clear accountability. - Set KPIs for Regional Managers, Area Managers, Supervisors and sales teams. - Recruit and develop high-performing sales leaders. - Conduct regular performance reviews and coaching. - Develop succession plans for critical sales positions. - Build a strong performance-driven sales culture. 9. DMS, Data & Sales Analytics - Ensure effective utilization of the Distributor Management System (DMS) and sales reporting tools. - Monitor daily and monthly sales performance using reliable data. - Analyze sales by region, channel, customer, SKU and salesperson. - Monitor productive calls, strike rate, average order value, outlet coverage and route productivity. - Use data to improve territory planning and resource allocation. 10. Cross-Functional Leadership - Work closely with Marketing and Trade Marketing on promotions, product launches and channel activation. - Coordinate with Finance on customer credit, collections, trade spending and profitability. - Work with Supply Chain and Logistics to maintain service levels. - Coordinate with HR on recruitment, training, performance management and sales-force development. - Provide management with market intelligence and recommendations.

Job Requirements

• Candidate requires to hold at least Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Sales Management or a related field, with around 10–15 years of FMCG sales experience, including at least 5 years in a senior national or regional sales leadership position.
• The candidate should have strong experience in GT, MT, distributor management, RTM development, field-force management, sales forecasting, commercial negotiation and sales analytics. Strong leadership capability and a proven record of managing large sales organizations and nationwide distribution are particularly important.