Sales Strategy Manager at Johnvents Foods Limited

Johnvents Foods Limited launched Johnvents Pure Cocoa Powder, an everyday beverage that provides 100% cocoa nourishment. It acquired and set up a cocoa product factory in Idanre for the production of Oluji Pure Cocoa Powder, Johnvents Chocolate drink, Cocoa Pops, Cocoa Cube, and other cocoa-based consumer products.About the job

The Sales Strategy Manager will be responsible for developing, implementing, and optimizing sales strategies that drive revenue growth, market penetration, customer acquisition, channel performance, and profitability for Johnvents Foods.
The role will translate business objectives and market intelligence into actionable sales plans, providing the sales leadership team with the insights, tools, targets, performance frameworks, and commercial strategies required to achieve sustainable growth.
The successful candidate will work closely with Sales, Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain, Trade Marketing, Distribution, and Business Unit teams to improve sales effectiveness and ensure that commercial decisions are data-driven.

Key Responsibilities

Sales Strategy & Planning

Develop and execute the annual and periodic sales strategy in alignment with Johnvents Foods' business objectives.
Translate company revenue and profitability goals into actionable sales plans.
Define sales priorities by product, territory, customer segment, channel, and route-to-market.
Develop strategies for market expansion, customer acquisition, channel development, and revenue growth.
Identify opportunities to improve sales productivity and commercial performance.
Support the development of annual sales budgets, forecasts, and targets.

Sales Performance Management

Establish and monitor sales performance metrics across sales teams, territories, channels, and products.
Analyse actual sales performance against targets and identify gaps.
Develop corrective action plans for underperforming territories, products, channels, and teams.
Provide management with regular sales performance reports and actionable insights.
Monitor sales productivity, conversion rates, customer acquisition, retention, and revenue trends.
Develop sales dashboards and management reports to improve visibility of commercial performance.

Market & Customer Intelligence

Conduct market analysis to identify emerging trends, customer needs, competitor activity, and growth opportunities.
Monitor competitor pricing, product launches, promotions, distribution strategies, and market positioning.
Analyse customer purchasing behaviour and identify opportunities for increased penetration and wallet share.
Segment customers and markets based on commercial potential.
Provide insights to support product, pricing, distribution, and promotional decisions.
Maintain an up-to-date view of the competitive landscape within the food and FMCG sector.

Route-to-Market & Channel Strategy

Evaluate and optimize Johnvents Foods' route-to-market strategy.
Develop channel-specific strategies for distributors, wholesalers, modern trade, traditional trade, institutional customers, B2B, and other relevant channels.
Assess channel profitability, coverage, penetration, and growth potential.
Identify distribution gaps and recommend strategies to improve market reach.
Develop territory and channel expansion plans.
Work with Sales and Distribution teams to improve customer coverage and availability.

Pricing & Commercial Strategy

Support the development of pricing strategies based on market conditions, competitive positioning, cost structures, and profitability objectives.
Analyse price movements and their impact on sales volume, revenue, and margins.
Recommend pricing actions, promotional structures, bundles, and commercial initiatives.
Evaluate the profitability of different customers, channels, products, and territories.
Work closely with Finance to ensure commercial decisions protect gross margins and profitability.

Sales Target Setting & Incentives

Develop data-driven sales targets for teams, territories, products, and channels.
Ensure targets are challenging but achievable and aligned with business capacity.
Support the development and review of sales incentive schemes.
Analyse incentive performance and recommend adjustments where required.
Ensure sales incentives encourage profitable and sustainable growth rather than volume alone.

Sales Forecasting & Demand Alignment

Develop and maintain accurate sales forecasts using historical performance, market trends, customer demand, seasonality, and planned commercial activities.
Work with Supply Chain and Production to align sales forecasts with inventory and production capacity.
Identify potential demand and supply gaps.
Monitor forecast accuracy and continuously improve forecasting methodologies.
Support the Sales team in managing demand fluctuations and market changes.

New Market & Business Development

Identify new markets, territories, customer segments, and sales channels.
Conduct commercial assessments of potential expansion opportunities.
Support business cases for new products, markets, and distribution models.
Develop strategies to increase penetration in existing markets.
Track market-entry initiatives and evaluate their commercial performance.

Sales Process & Productivity Improvement

Review existing sales processes and identify opportunities for improvement.
Develop standardized sales tools, frameworks, templates, and reporting structures.
Improve sales pipeline management and opportunity tracking.
Identify inefficiencies affecting sales productivity and recommend solutions.
Support the implementation and effective use of CRM and sales management systems.
Promote data-driven sales management across the organization.

Trade & Promotional Strategy

Work with Marketing and Sales teams to develop commercially effective trade promotions and sales campaigns.
Analyse the effectiveness and ROI of promotions.
Recommend promotional calendars based on seasonality, customer behaviour, and business priorities.
Monitor promotional execution and post-campaign performance.
Identify opportunities to improve trade spend effectiveness.
Ensure promotional activities support both volume growth and profitability.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Work closely with:

Sales

Sales targets, territory planning, performance management, pipeline development, and execution.

Marketing

Brand strategy, campaigns, product launches, promotions, and customer insights.

Finance

Budgeting, profitability, pricing, margins, sales incentives, and commercial analysis.

Supply Chain

Demand forecasting, inventory availability, distribution, and service levels.

Production

Production planning and alignment with market demand.

Business Leadership

Strategic planning, growth initiatives, market expansion, and business performance.

Qualifications & Experience

Education

Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business Administration, Economics, Finance, Statistics, Management, or a related discipline.
MBA or professional qualification is an advantage.

Experience

Minimum of 6years of experience in sales strategy, commercial planning, sales operations, business intelligence, category management, or related commercial functions.
At least 4 years in a strategic or managerial sales/commercial role.
Strong experience in FMCG, food manufacturing, consumer goods, retail, distribution, or related industries is strongly preferred.
Demonstrable experience using data and market intelligence to drive sales decisions.
Experience working with multiple sales channels and distribution models is advantageous.