Commercial Excellence Manager

Purpose of the Position:
The Manager Commercial Planning is a key leadership role within Commercial Operations, responsible for driving the end-to-end commercial planning agenda across channels, regions, and route-to-market models. The role ensures that commercial strategies are translated into effective deployment plans, supported by robust forecasting, performance management, governance, data-driven insights, and operational discipline.
This position acts as a strategic partner to Sales, Trade Marketing, Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain, IT/Digital, and regional stakeholders to ensure that commercial plans are aligned, executable, and continuously optimized. The role provides senior-level recommendations on sales performance, channel effectiveness, trade investment, RTM optimization, partner management, and commercial digitalization.
Key Accountabilities:
1. Commercial Planning, Forecasting & Deployment Governance:
• Lead commercial planning, forecasting, and deployment across channels and RTM models to ensure business priorities are effectively executed.
• Align cross-functional stakeholders to ensure readiness of commercial programs, campaigns, and business initiatives.
• Establish governance and planning processes that drive execution discipline and operational excellence.
2. Performance Management, Insights & Business Recommendations:
• Own the commercial performance management framework and ensure visibility of key business metrics.
• Generate data-driven insights and recommendations to identify opportunities, address risks, and improve business performance.
• Support leadership decision-making through performance reviews and business analytics.
3. Data Governance, Reporting & Single Source of Truth:
• Ensure accuracy, consistency, and governance of commercial reporting, dashboards, and performance scorecards.
• Lead the development and maintenance of reliable reporting and analytics capabilities.
• Act as the custodian of commercial data standards and reporting governance.
4. Route-to-Market & Commercial Optimization:
• Drive continuous improvement of RTM effectiveness, channel productivity, and resource utilization.
• Identify opportunities to optimize channel strategies, commercial investments, and operational efficiency.
• Support the development of omnichannel and digital commercial capabilities.
5. Commercial Programs, Trade Investment & Incentive Governance:
• Oversee governance and evaluation of commercial programs, trade investments, and incentive schemes.
• Ensure commercial investments deliver business value while maintaining financial discipline.
• Partner with Finance and business stakeholders to monitor KPIs, budgets, and business performance.
6. Inventory, Supply & Operational Planning:
• Ensure effective inventory planning, demand alignment, and operational readiness across channels.
• Partner with Supply Chain and Sales teams to manage inventory risks and support business continuity.
• Oversee key commercial operational processes to ensure efficiency and compliance.
7. Digitalization & Process Excellence:
• Lead commercial digitalization and process improvement initiatives to enhance business effectiveness and operational efficiency.
• Collaborate with IT, Digital, and business stakeholders to drive adoption of commercial systems and tools.
• Promote simplification, automation, and data-driven ways of working.
8. Leadership & Team Capability Building:
• Lead, develop, and coach the Commercial Planning team to deliver strong business partnership and execution excellence.
• Build organizational capability in planning, analytics, governance, and stakeholder management.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
9. Strategic Partnership & Stakeholder Management:
• Act as a trusted partner to commercial leadership by providing strategic insights and business recommendations.
• Drive alignment and decision-making through effective stakeholder engagement and governance forums.
• Influence cross-functional teams to deliver commercial objectives and business results.