HR Business Partner

Workplace Circumstances

• Environment: Office
• Languages: English, Khmer
• Location: Phnom Penh

Position Summary

This role makes the frontline sales force a competitive advantage: the right reps and Frontline Sales Managers (FSMs) hired, productive quickly, performing consistently, and led by managers who deliver both revenue and profit.

• Purpose. Revenue depends on thousands of small-outlet visits executed well every day. The HRBP ensures the Commercial Department has the people, managers, and organization to deliver its revenue and profit plan. This means owning the frontline talent system end to end (hire, ramp, perform, develop) and advising Commercial leadership on every major people and organization decision.
• The ideal candidate has supported a large frontline sales force before and is credible with sales leaders in the field, not only in the office.
• Working conditions: Frequent travel to provinces, including overnight trips and occasional early-morning route visits.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Strategic partnership with Commercial leadership (15%)
• Act as the Commercial Director's primary advisor on people and organization; sit on the Commercial leadership team and attend monthly and quarterly business reviews.
• Translate the annual commercial plan (revenue, volume, numeric distribution, outlet coverage, gross margin) into a people plan: headcount, route coverage, capability, and people cost.
• Maintain a sales force workforce model: outlets per rep, reps per FSM, vacancy and attrition assumptions, and the revenue cost of reps still ramping.
• Lead organization design for sales structure changes, such as new regions or channels, route re-cuts, pre-sell versus van sales, and direct versus distributor coverage.
• Partner with Finance and Sales Operations on sales incentive schemes; review them for motivation, fairness, affordability, and compliance, and help FSMs explain them. Plan economics stay with Sales and Finance.
• Bring people data into commercial decisions, for example linking vacancies, tenure, and FSM turnover to route and territory results.
• Attract and hire the right frontline talent (20%)
• Define success profiles for rep and FSM roles based on what top performers here actually do (e.g., route discipline, rapport with shop owners, basic sales math, reliability, resilience).
• With Talent Acquisition, run a structured high-volume hiring process: channels that work in Cambodia (Facebook and Telegram groups, provincial networks, referrals, universities and vocational schools), practical assessments (shop-owner role-play, ride-along, numeracy test), and structured interviews.
• Build pipelines ahead of demand so priority routes are not left uncovered.
• Select FSMs on people leadership, not just personal sales results; build a promotion path from rep to senior rep to FSM with a readiness assessment.
• Track quality of hire (90-day retention, time to productivity) by source and by hiring manager, and fix what the data shows.
• Where reps are employed by distributors, set hiring standards and support distributors to apply them [confirm scope].
• Onboard and ramp new hires (15%)
• Design a 30-60-90 day ramp program for reps: product and brand knowledge, sales systems (e.g., handheld or SFA app), outlet call standards, and ride-alongs with top performers.
• Agree staged ramp targets and incentive treatment for new reps with Sales and Finance.
• Equip FSMs to deliver the field portion with checklists, coaching guides, and day 30, 60, and 90 check-ins.
• Run a separate transition program for new FSMs: moving from seller to manager, team P&L basics, coaching, and performance conversations.
• Measure ramp time and early attrition by hiring cohort, and improve the program each cycle.
• Manage performance and remediate (20%)
• Design a sales-specific performance framework with balanced measures: revenue and volume versus target, profitability and mix, distribution, call compliance, strike rate, collections, and conduct.
• Build a remediation program for struggling reps and FSMs:
• Early-warning triggers (e.g., two consecutive months below [X]% of target, or falling call compliance).
• Diagnosis of the cause: skill, motivation, route or territory, or supply and pricing issues.
• A tailored plan (coaching, retraining, route adjustment) and, where needed, a time-bound improvement plan.
• Fair, documented outcomes consistent with Cambodian labor law.
• Escalate underperformance caused by territory, stock, or pricing to Commercial leadership rather than treating it as individual failure.
• Lead talent reviews and calibration for the Commercial Department to identify top performers, high potentials, and at-risk talent.
• Manage sales force employee relations cases (e.g., cash handling, stock discrepancies, customer complaints, misconduct) with fair investigations.
• Build FSM capability and retain talent (15%)
• Deliver an FSM development program covering field coaching, route and territory management, team performance conversations, and profitability levers (price, mix, trade spend, credit, cost to serve).
• Maintain succession plans for FSM roles and above.
• Create career paths that let strong reps grow without having to become managers (e.g., senior rep grades, key outlet specialist roles).
• Analyze attrition drivers (pay and incentive payout, manager, workload, travel) using exit and stay interviews, and act on them.
• Run field-friendly engagement pulses and recognition tied to commercial priorities.
• Partner with Product & Brand (10%)
• Serve as HRBP for Product & Brand at all levels, from brand assistants to marketing leadership.
• Lead organization design, workforce planning, hiring, and talent reviews for marketing roles.
• Build capabilities such as consumer insight, brand P&L management, digital marketing, and trade marketing.
• Strengthen Brand and Sales collaboration: shared forums, launch readiness (sales force trained before a launch), and rotations between sales and marketing to widen the commercial bench.
• Employee relations, compliance, and governance (5%)
• Apply Cambodian labor law and company policy consistently, including contract types, probation, working hours for field staff, NSSF, seniority payments, and termination.
• Ensure field allowances (fuel, phone, per diem), incentives, and deductions are documented, fair, and compliant.
• Manage the Commercial HR budget and keep sales force data in the HRIS accurate.

Languages

• Khmer - Fluent is required
• English - Good is preferred

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Human Resources, Business, Psychology, or a related field, HR certification or a master's degree is an advantage.

Work History

• HRBP or senior HR generalist supporting a large sales force in FMCG, beverages, telecoms, consumer finance, or distribution for 5 to 10 years is preferred

General & Technical Skills

• Working knowledge of Cambodian labor law and NSSF requirements.
• Understanding of general trade sales KPIs (e.g., numeric distribution, strike rate, lines per call, drop size) and how FSMs influence team profitability.
• Strong Excel and people analytics skills; experience with an HRIS.
• Hands-on experience with high-volume frontline hiring, onboarding programs, and performance improvement processes.
• Exposure to sales incentive schemes and sales organization design.
• Experience in sales, sales operations, or a field role is a strong plus.

Soft Skills

• Commercial acumen: understands how the business makes money and speaks the language of sales and marketing.
• Data-driven judgment: uses people and sales data to diagnose problems and prove impact.
• Influence and credibility: challenges senior leaders constructively and earns trust from FSMs and reps.
• Coaching: builds manager capability rather than solving every problem personally.
• Field presence: spends real time in markets and outlets, not just at head office.
• Fairness and courage: handles underperformance and misconduct firmly, consistently, and respectfully.
• Pace and resilience: delivers in a fast, target-driven environment.
• Fluent Khmer and professional English, spoken and written