Customer Development Team Leader at Colgate-Palmolive

Scope of Responsibility:

The Customer Development Team Leader (CDTL) is responsible for sales, profitability and 5P's in-store execution for their business. The CDTL must develop and support the partnership between Colgate Palmolive (CP)/Direct Retailers and/or Service Providers (Direct Wholesalers, Indirect Wholesalers, Distributors and Merchandisers), helping to align our category and brand strategies and their shopper strategies at the POS (Direct and Indirect retailers) to increase demand and their support for our profitable growth through the right planning process.

The CDTL will develop business and profitable growth by:

• Customer/Service Provider Engagement

• Understand the trade environment

• Ensure in-store execution

• Develop strong Commercial Plan

Team Leadership

• Managing and setting the team’s objectives (within the local Go-to-Market, Sales Strategy and Global Customer Strategy framework) and ensuring that the team delivers the overall team mission and goals, while building CP’s & the Customer’s mutual business, and working together to satisfy target consumer/shopper needs

• Defining the specific roles of individuals within the team, promoting teamwork and ensure the team is motivated to deliver results

• Establishing specific KPIs and ensuring tracking methods and communication are in place, and setting specific action plans for each team member to support their achievement of the team KPIs

• Managing a monthly meeting in which the team’s mission and objectives are reviewed to ensure progress & alignment towards overall company goals, and where specific issues and KPI performance are discussed and action plans refined

• Providing coaching and feedback and ensuring adequate training to team members; evaluating performance and developing IDPs, advising on career paths and providing opportunities for development, acting as a role model and reinforcing desired behaviors

• Communicating the team perspective to subsidiary commercial and business planning processes

Customer(s) Expertise & Relationships

• Developing a thorough understanding of the values, strategies and policies of the customer and anticipating future direction and needs in order to set long term objectives for the team

• Fostering the development of retail environment and shopper expertise in order to identify opportunities and present compelling arguments in support of CP products & plans

• Developing a network of contacts throughout the customer organization in order to influence all decision points within the customer(s), improving understanding, increasing data access and ensuring frequent face-to-face contact: Buying, Merchandising, Marketing, Finance, Inventory Control, Distribution and Transportation, IT and Store Operations

• Identifying the short-term business needs and objectives of key contacts and helping develop and sell proactive business solutions across the full demand/supply chain

• Facilitating frequent Top to Top contact between Customer(s) and CP senior management to ensure strategic alignment

Business Development & Monitoring

• Preparing and conducting any annual negotiations. Supervising other types of negotiation (new products, shelf management etc) to ensure timely resolution

• Defining and executes customer investment strategy, striving for “pay for performance” and improved ROI.

• Implements and controls the Terms & Conditions framework for the customer(s).

• Ensuring team works with Customer Marketing and Consumer marketing to translate category plans by retail environment into customer business plans that deliver team objectives, focusing investment behind demand-generating activities

• Influencing the customers to grow sales, take fact-based decisions, and improve service by utilizing new techniques, tools, and information systems (e.g., category management, scanning, etc.)

• Consistently applying Category Management learning and techniques to day-to-day business, exploitation of new opportunities, and using Category Management as the context for all “selling stories”

• Ensuring team maintains accurate projections vs. plan of sales and spending associated with activities and manages total P&L performance in order to achieve targets

• Ensuring post-evaluation (through Direct Reports) of all promotions (results vs. objective, implementation accuracy etc), supporting with qualitative commentary, communicating results to the commercial team, and using the results of promotion evaluations to refine customer tactics

• Identifying opportunities to improve supply chain efficiency, gaining resource approval and agreeing specific plans with the Customer

In Store Execution

• Ensuring “winning at the shelf” is a top priority for the team, and that 5P tactics and demand marketing initiatives are executed with excellence at the point of sale

• Monitoring 5P execution performance (availability, pricing, share of shelf etc) and ensuring issues are quickly resolved by the team

Essential Job Requirements

Education:

• Bachelor Degree (Marketing, Commerce, Supply Chain)
• At least 8 - 10 years of tracked record of performance as measured by sales and share of market growth in the Fast Moving Consumers Goods, a good knowledge of both Direct trade (Supermarkets) and Indirect trade (open markets, wholesalers, groceries, etc) is necessary.
• Must have atleast 5 years management experience
• Excellent computer skills (Excel, Word, Powerpoint)

Should you not be contacted within 21 working days after your application, please consider your application unsuccessful.