Sales Manager at Komaza

Komaza is revolutionizing African forestry by unlocking the potential for small-scale farmers to serve booming wood markets. By combining high-scale operations with digital intelligence, we are currently planting commercial-grade forests at a rate of over 1 million trees with 5,000+ new farmers per year, making us Kenya’s largest industrial tree planter. We hold the only sustainable blueprint for meeting Africa’s $30B wood supply crisis - by leveraging farmers’ contribution of land and labor, Komaza can access nearly limitless land and establish a hectare of trees for far less than big plantations.

We have been recognized with numerous awards and investments, including The Climate Policy Initiative, The Nature Conservancy, Forbes, and Novastar Ventures.

About The Team

The Komaza Sales and Marketing team are responsible for taking our wood products to market and getting the best returns for our farmers’ hard work. We build long-term sustainable business relationships with different segments of customers, and go the extra mile to best meet their needs. As a team we also look at global and national trends and anticipate future demand based on the latest developments in the industry. Market research is done on a continuous basis to see where new opportunities may arise - be it in processing, export or product diversification.

About The Role

The Sales Manager will support the Sales Operations Director and Sales team to rapidly scale untreated and treated wood product sales in 2020 and build the foundation for exponential sales growth in the years to come. As a Sales Manager, you will ensure smooth operations of the Sales department. You will explore and refine sales tactics to systematically improve the skills and practices of a highly motivated and proactive Sales team. Key for this position is that you have the ambition to develop a best-in-class sales team and are keen to always improve yourself. The Sales Manager will spend significant time in the field, but also be a thought partner with the Sales Operations Director in order to design, build, pilot and continuously improve our offerings, systems and tools to support Komaza’s fast growth.

What You Will Do

The key outcomes of this role can be roughly categorized into the following:

Supervise The Sales Team

• Plan weekly and monthly activities with Sales Officers and monitor implementation
• Coach sales officers to improve their planning, prospecting and sales process activities by participating in their activities and providing constructive feedback.
• Support sales team with negotiations on prices, transportation arrangements, sales agreements, and longer-term relationship building
• Systematically collect feedback from Sales Officers and Customers to improve Sales Training Materials and Systems.
• Track and record activities and sales data for internal reporting.
• Co-create Sales Plans And Strategies With Sales Operations Director
• Work with Sales Operations Director to define monthly and quarterly priorities
• Analyse data and provide input to Sales Operations Director to develop and refine Sales Strategy and implementation priorities
• Collaborate with Design Associates to design, build and improve systems
• Manage Yard Sales Officers
• Supervise and support yard sales officers

What You Have

• Fluent Kiswahili for relationship-building and business transactions
• Experience in managing internal and external customer relationships and maintaining high professional communication standards in customer interactions
• 3+ years of work experience in a dynamic environment with a strong record of personal and professional development
• Knowledge of wood products or the construction sector is a plus
• 1+ years of team management experience, ideally in a leading sales organization with a record of growing sales staff

You’re Also

• High energy and enthusiastic
• Communicate clearly and proactively
• Ambitious and intellectually curious - you know how and when to seek feedback in the pursuit of continuous improvement
• Make connections with a wide range of people using a strong sense for relationship building
• Strong organisational, critical thinking, and communications skills with a structured approach to managing outputs
• Manage projects in a structured way using plans, budgets, and tools
• Leverage GSuite, and CRM pipeline tools to optimize productivity

What We Expect

You are a good fit for Komaza if you want to make a meaningful commitment to this role for a minimum of 2 years. This role is based at our headquarters in Kilifi, Kenya. The role offers competitive salary and benefits with potential for further career growth.

What’s in it for you?

Great vision without great people is irrelevant, Jim Collins wisely stated. If you share Komaza’s vision and want to help making it a reality, apply today! We offer a competitive remuneration package. You’ll get a chance to be part of an ambitious team in its early stages and have the opportunity for professional and personal growth, to further your career