To provide strategic leadership and direction for all commercial activities of the wheat and maize milling business, ensuring sustainable revenue growth, profitability, market expansion and customer satisfaction.
The Commercial Director is responsible for developing and implementing sales and marketing strategies, managing product pricing, overseeing customer relationships, identifying new business opportunities, coordinating demand forecasts with production, and ensuring effective distribution of flour, mealie-meal, bran and other milling by-products. The role requires strong commercial and financial acumen, an understanding of grain and milling markets, and the ability to translate business objectives into measurable sales, volume, margin and cash collection results.
Duties and Responsibilities
3.1 Commercial Strategy and Business Development
• Develop and implement the overall commercial strategy in line with the company's business plan and growth objectives.
• Identify opportunities to increase revenue, sales volumes, market share and profitability across all product categories.
• Conduct market research and competitor analysis to monitor flour and mealie-meal prices, market demand, customer preferences and industry developments.
• Identify and develop new markets, customer segments, distribution channels and geographical territories.
• Establish strategic relationships with wholesalers, retailers, supermarkets, bakeries, food manufacturers, institutions and bulk buyers.
• Develop commercial plans for the wheat and maize milling divisions, ensuring that each division achieves its approved sales and profitability targets.
• Evaluate opportunities for institutional supply contracts, bulk sales agreements, private-label products and strategic distribution partnerships.
• Advise management on market opportunities, competitive threats, pricing trends and commercial risks.
3.2 Sales Management and Revenue Generation
• Lead and manage the sales function to achieve approved monthly and annual revenue, volume and profitability targets.
• Develop sales budgets and establish targets for individual products, sales teams, customer segments and geographical territories.
• Oversee the sale of wheat flour, maize meal, bran and other products manufactured or traded by the business.
• Develop and maintain a strong customer base across wholesale, retail, industrial and institutional markets.
• Secure high-volume customers and negotiate long-term supply agreements within approved authority limits.
• Monitor daily, weekly and monthly sales performance against targets and implement corrective measures where necessary.
• Ensure effective management of sales pipelines, customer enquiries, quotations, orders and follow-ups.
• Develop sales incentive programmes, subject to management approval, to improve sales productivity and target achievement.
• Monitor customer buying patterns and identify opportunities to increase sales volumes and product penetration.
3.3 Pricing, Product Costing and Profitability
• Develop and recommend competitive pricing strategies for wheat flour, maize meal, bran and other milling products.
• Work closely with Finance and Production to establish accurate product costs and assess the effect of changes in grain prices, packaging costs, energy, transport and other production expenses.
• Monitor gross margins and contribution margins by product, packaging size, customer, sales channel and geographical market.
• Ensure that selling prices reflect market conditions while protecting the company's profitability.
• Review discounts, rebates, promotional offers and special customer pricing to ensure that they are commercially justified and properly authorised.
• Analyse product profitability and recommend corrective action for underperforming product lines.
• Monitor the financial impact of changes in milling yields, production efficiency and by-product recovery on product margins.
• Ensure that pricing decisions are supported by accurate costing, financial analysis and approved commercial policies.
3.4 Marketing, Branding and Product Development
• Develop and implement marketing strategies to strengthen the company's brands and increase market penetration.
• Oversee promotional campaigns, product launches, trade promotions and customer engagement initiatives.
• Ensure effective positioning of flour and mealie-meal products in target markets.
• Work with relevant departments to identify opportunities for new product sizes, packaging formats, product variants and value-added milling products.
• Monitor competitor brands, pricing, packaging, product quality perceptions and promotional activities.
• Develop marketing initiatives for wholesalers, retailers, supermarkets, bakeries and industrial customers.
• Evaluate the commercial return on marketing expenditure and promotional activities.
• Ensure that product claims, packaging information and marketing materials comply with applicable requirements and approved specifications.
3.5 Production Planning and Finished Goods Availability
• Coordinate with Production, Procurement, Warehousing and Logistics to align sales forecasts with production schedules and raw material availability.
• Ensure that customer orders are consistent with available finished goods, production capacity and delivery schedules.
• Monitor finished goods inventory to minimise stock-outs, overstocking, slow-moving products and avoidable losses.
• Review sales forecasts against actual demand and communicate changes in market requirements to Production.
• Monitor order fulfilment and ensure that customer commitments are met within agreed delivery timelines.
• Work with Production to identify opportunities to improve the commercial utilisation of milling capacity and maximise sales of available output.
• Coordinate the sale and distribution of bran and other milling by-products to appropriate markets.
• Escalate production constraints, raw material shortages and distribution challenges that may affect sales performance.
3.6 Distribution and Logistics Management
• Develop and oversee an effective distribution strategy for all milling products.
• Ensure that products reach customers efficiently, reliably and at competitive distribution costs.
• Monitor delivery performance, transport costs, customer service levels and order fulfilment.
• Coordinate with Logistics and Warehousing to optimise delivery routes, vehicle utilisation and distribution planning.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of distributors, agents, depots and other distribution channels.
• Identify opportunities to reduce distribution costs while maintaining acceptable customer service standards.
• Ensure that finished products are handled, stored and transported appropriately to protect product quality and packaging integrity.
• Monitor delivery-related customer complaints and implement corrective action.
3.7 Customer Relationship Management
• Build and maintain strong relationships with key accounts, wholesalers, retailers, supermarkets, bakeries, food manufacturers and institutional customers.
• Negotiate supply contracts, pricing arrangements, payment terms and service agreements within approved limits.
• Monitor customer satisfaction, retention and repeat business.
• Ensure that customer complaints, shortages, delivery disputes and product-related concerns are resolved promptly in collaboration with relevant departments.
• Identify opportunities to grow revenue from existing customers through increased volumes and additional product lines.
• Monitor customer demand patterns and provide insights to improve production and distribution planning.
• Ensure that customer commitments are realistic and aligned with the company's operational capabilities.
3.8 Credit Management and Debtors Control
• Work with Finance to implement and enforce approved customer credit policies and credit limits.
• Monitor debtor balances, overdue accounts, customer exposure and collection performance.
• Ensure that sales teams actively support the collection of outstanding customer accounts.
• Review the creditworthiness of new customers and recommend appropriate credit terms in consultation with Finance.
• Ensure that sales growth is supported by sound credit management and sustainable cash flow.
• Recommend credit restrictions, revised payment terms or suspension of supplies for customers with unacceptable credit exposure, in accordance with company policy.
• Monitor bad debt risks and report material concerns to management.
• Ensure that customer credit terms and commercial agreements are properly documented and authorised.
3.9 Financial Planning, Budgeting and Reporting
• Prepare the annual commercial budget, sales forecasts and business development plans.
• Monitor actual performance against revenue, volume, gross margin, distribution cost and operating expense budgets.
• Prepare and present weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual commercial performance reports to management.
• Analyse variances between actual and budgeted performance and recommend corrective action.
• Monitor sales revenue, gross profit, product margins, customer profitability and collection performance.
• Work with Finance to evaluate the financial viability of major customer contracts, promotional campaigns and new market opportunities.
• Identify opportunities to improve commercial returns, reduce selling costs and optimise working capital.
• Provide management with reliable market intelligence, demand forecasts and commercial risk assessments.
3.10 Compliance, Quality and Risk Management
• Ensure that commercial operations comply with applicable laws, regulations, company policies and contractual obligations.
• Work with Quality Assurance and Production to ensure that products supplied to customers meet approved quality and specification requirements.
• Ensure that product labelling, packaging information, weights and marketing claims comply with applicable requirements.
• Monitor commercial risks arising from grain price volatility, supply disruptions, competition, customer concentration and credit exposure.
• Ensure appropriate controls over customer contracts, discounts, rebates and sales transactions.
• Promote ethical conduct, accurate reporting and the prevention of fraud, unauthorised commitments and conflicts of interest.
• Escalate material commercial, regulatory and reputational risks to management.
Qualifications and Experience
• Bachelor's degree in Sales and Marketing, Business Management, Commerce, Finance or a related field.
• An MBA or postgraduate qualification in Business Administration, Strategic Management or Marketing will be an added advantage.
• At least 8–10 years of relevant commercial, sales or business development experience.
• Experience in wheat milling, maize milling, grain trading, food manufacturing or FMCG distribution is a MUST.
• Proven track record in achieving sales growth, managing commercial budgets, improving profitability and expanding market share.
• Demonstrated experience in pricing, product costing, distribution management, customer credit and key account management.
• Experience managing sales teams and developing effective sales and marketing strategies.
• Strong understanding of grain markets, milling products, food distribution and the commercial drivers of manufacturing profitability.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidate must email their updated resume and proof of qualifications to vacancieshr81@gmail.com on or before 31 October 2026. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.