Senior Commercial Excellence Manager

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At Suntory Global Spirits, we craft spirits of the highest quality and deliver brilliant experiences to people around the world. Suntory Global Spirits has evolved into the world's third largest leading premium spirits company ... where each employee is treated like family and trusted with legacy. With our greatest assets - our premium spirits and our people - we're driving growth through impactful marketing, innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit. Suntory Global Spirits is a place where you can come Unleash your Spirit by making an impact each and every day.

What makes this a great opportunity?

As Suntory Global Spirits accelerates its global footprint, we are establishing our own commercial business in the UK. As one of the largest, most sophisticated spirits markets in the world, the UK offers significant potential for our portfolio of premium brands. We're building a world-class team to create a new and exciting business that is rooted in strong foundations, led by our values and long-term commercial ambition.
• Be part of the establishment & set-up of direct route-to-market project to elevate UK market to the next level.
• Exposure to a wide range of stakeholders, including senior leaders.
• Opportunity to contribute to driving commercial results and process improvement within a newly set up company.

With only a few seconds to win the shopper's choice for our brands, we believe that the excellence in execution at each point of purchase is a strategic initiative for our business. The Senior Commercial Excellence Manager will be responsible for enabling predictable achievement of commercial objectives across all channels in the UK.

The role supports the success of our commercial strategies through process improvements and commercial systems development. Enhancing our performance by using data, business intelligence and analytics that result in increased revenue and profitability. Partnering closely with sales leadership and cross-functionally to identify, develop and deploy standardised systems and process to ensure sales and margin targets are met.

Role Responsibilities

• Elevate the importance of winning in shopper and consumer's choice for our brands in the UK business
• Works with the sales leadership team to define the most effective and efficient route-to-market strategy to ensure sales coverage, outlets performance and merchandising at all relevant channels
• Builds the vision and plans to elevate brand visibility and win shopper's decision at the point of purchase for every relevant channel (off, on, prestige) while delivering compelling execution guidelines for the sales team
• Ensure the consistent 6P's tracking by point of purchase (off-premise) or consumption (on-premise):
• Align tracking priorities withing the regions in the market
• Defines the sales execution criteria for monitoring purposes (outlet standard definition with Commercial Mktg)
• Aligns on key sales reports to highlight execution format for performance monitoring.
• Consolidates gaps by region / country and execute plans to mitigate.
• Align key customer event execution strategy
• Oversee high quality content creation in areas of Data & Analytics, Revenue Growth Management, Supply Chain forecasting and outlet execution.
• Ensures integrity of Monthly Sales forecasting process with S&OP
• Works with commercial finance to effectively track the Trade (GTN) and BTL Investment
• Roll out targeted Regional Commercial capability training programs in partnership with Sales Director in Market and other leaders in the organisation
• Set up the foundation for UK organization achieving the highest ROI (shifting to conditional terms) aligned to its category strategies and that helps to justify the different investment levels between customers / channels
• Develop an approach to monitor and manage nett-nett prices and spread in order to mitigate trade term risk

Strategy and change management
• Be the voice of commercial excellence for UK aligning with global teams on best practice and overall approach.
• Support the creation of a long-term strategy roadmap to mature Commercial capabilities, analytical methodologies, and materials to drive competitive advantage--ensuring organization alignment, integration with enterprise business and technology initiatives, and organization adoption.
• Lead expansion and commercial acumen standards in connection with customer engagement on excellence on execution at point of sales and key RGM initiatives to deliver efficiencies to the business.
• Translate business needs of multiple constituents (Channel, Category, Region, account management, partners) into technical requirements and solutions.
• Enhance customer engagement, enabling sales leadership and improving sales knowledge and best practice sharing.
• Contribute to the development and execution of a CRM strategy for our new RTM organisation
• Drive operational impact in close collaboration with Marketing based on an informed and data-driven feedback-loop with UK commercial teams
• Support in updating UK portfolio strategy including category understanding, ambition and P&L by brand
• Deep dive analysis on our customers and competitors to ensure full understanding of the environment by the impacted teams
• Identify target customers for outlet standards preparations and prepare them, including execution targets
• Challenge process status quo to build higher level of sophistication as the market grows
• Point of contact between Corporate Commercial Excellence and UK market to develop internally based on best practices

Systems, process and tools
• Build and continuously reassure systems and tools integration across commercial functions. Upgrade the capability including skills and commercial processes to drive profitable growth and competitive advantage.
• Work with internal stakeholders and vendors to define Trade Terms & Conditions, conditionality and strategy per channel
• Oversee the use of Sales Force Automation software tool for the market
• Determine and steward cost / benefit to leadership and cross functional constituents regarding execution initiatives at point of sales
• Identify and manage external partners and budget as needed as well as aligning senior leadership and key stakeholders
• Steward Commercial tools and capabilities, as well as best practices, across all stakeholders (leadership, & distributor partners)
• Optimise the sales process by implementing Sales Excellence plans and initiatives that drive and standardize sales process compliance and best practices, while harvesting synergies across the organization and functions.
• Oversee the creation and maintenance of dashboards for sales performance management.
• Prepare documentation and train the commercial team in his/her area of responsibility activities
• Support the executive and commercial team in decision making activities

Qualifications
• Solid hands-on experience in Account management roles and 5-10 years' experience in Commercial excellence roles and able to demonstrate significant value added impact to the business
• Bias towards fact-based and analytical approach

Key skills and behaviours
• Broad skillset with good judgment and a mature, practical, strategic and creative mindset
• Understanding and perspective of the potential critical growth drivers of the business over the long-term
• Demonstrated ability, orientation and hunger to drive change and strive for continuous, improvement, with ability to influence others
• Proven ability to build and maintain strong, mutually beneficial relationships
• Experience and track record in driving premiumization; spirits industry experience preferred
• Ability to communicate concepts by adjusting messaging to the audience: executives, senior leaders, different functions
• Demonstrated success in cross-functional influencing
• Business, commercial and financial acumen
• Negotiation and conflict resolution skills; expert in communication and information management
• Self-reliant, a good problem solver and results-oriented, and comfortable working in a fast-paced environment
• Questions traditional assumptions about technology, products and markets, and also creates new opportunities and competitive advantages for the company
• Deals confidently with the unknown
• An innovative and progressive nature with a track record of entrepreneurship.
• Accountable for results and consistently solution-oriented
• Communication Skills: Ability to communicate complex information and implications both verbally, and in written presentations, utilising "storytelling techniques" to communicate a clear, compelling and cohesive story.

At Suntory Global Spirits, people are our number one priority, and we believe our people grow together in diverse and inclusive environments where their unique insights, experiences and backgrounds are valued and respected. Suntory Global Spirits is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, military veteran status and all other characteristics, attributes or choices protected by law. All recruitment and hiring decisions are based on an applicant's skills and experience.