Cocoa Sales Director Central Europe

Cocoa Sales Director Central Europe

Location: Łódź

At Barry Callebaut, we are on a journey to transform the cocoa and chocolate industry. As the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products, our actions truly shape the future of our industry. We are a business-to-business company, serving the entire food sector, from the cocoa bean to the finest chocolate product. We are a company with a purpose, we believe in doing well by doing good and reinvesting in the communities we operate. We have a long-standing commitment to sustainability and our goal is to shape a sustainable cocoa and chocolate future. We are headquartered in Zurich, and have more than 12,000 passionate Employees working in more than 40 countries worldwide. We are very proud of who we are and what we do. And of course, we are always looking for talented people to help us have a positive impact on our industry and beyond!

About the role:

Cocoa Sales Director Central Europe is accountable for all cocoa product sales volume & cocoa powder premiums in Central Europe i.e. Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, and Hungary (In total: 9 Countries)
Developing sales volume and increasing premium with the defined local, regional, and international customer base; plus managing inter-flows from Western Europe, Asia, and Africa are the essential responsibilities of this role.

• The incumbent is the main point of contact for the Cocoa Business within BC for all customers in CEE and takes full responsibility for the cocoa business & cocoa distributors in a professional manner.
• Indirectly manages BC sales force (FM & GM) for the sale of cocoa products within the region.
• Indirectly manages BC functions to achieve targets (Customer Service, R&D, Finance)
• Takes decisions to manage the complexity of cocoa regions in the most efficient way (Asia/Africa/Europe)
• Proactively supports the sales organization for additional opportunities outside the existing customer base.
• Acts as CEE’s ‘customers’ voice within Global Cocoa to ensure customer satisfaction and continuity of business relationships.

Key responsibilities:

• Develop a strategic plan for the region and be accountable for the execution of it to increase volume & premium.
• Develops a strong network of contacts within BC - Customer Care, Marketing, Sourcing, Finance, and Supply Chain - to support day-to-day business in the region and pro-actively support the sales team, distributors & customers.
• Be able to translate Cocoa Bean & Product markets to the sales team and customers about trends to support the purchasing strategies of the customers.
• Understand customer market, capability & position to create a business development plan per customer to drive growth.
• Indirect management of Sales teams to be successful in their job of selling cocoa products.
• Direct management of the team to achieve targets.
• Develop positive working relationships with key stakeholders on customers' side including, buying, technical, NPD, and supply chain departments, and recognize key decision-makers.
• Build strong relationships with Chocolate counterparts within the region as well as Cocoa Regions ie Asia/Africa/Europe.

About you:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Economics or commerce-related field.
• 10+ years of commercial working experience. Experience in a similar “commodity type” Industry will be a plus.
• Deep understanding of Terminal Commodity Markets.
• Commercial drive to make the deal in the interest of BC & customer.
• Relationship builder & team player.
• Proof of record on successful commercial achievement.
• Financial understanding of the business.
• Purchasing behavior and deep understanding of market complexities, market segmentation, and marketing elements, deep margin management understanding, and final decision maker on product pricing and strategy.
• Familiarity with the factory environment to understand differences between products, and cost impacts.
• Understanding combined Ratio: identification of combined ratio drivers and application of CR decisions into business decision-making, position management, market-price trend, competition prices & behavior.
• Supply chain & logistics: delivery channels, flow strategies, and understanding of supply constraints and risk mitigation approaches.
• Regular travel within the region and to BC locations (on average 60% of work time)

Benefits

Sharing the costs of sports activities

Private medical care

Foreign language classes

Professional training & courses

Life insurance

Remote work opportunities

Fruits

Integration events

Retirement pension plan

Corporate library

Leisure zone

Extra social benefits

Pre-paid cards

Christmas gifts

Employee referral program

Psychological helpline

Cafeteria Program

Free consultation with a lawyer

Benefits

• Sharing the costs of sports activities
• Private medical care
• Foreign language classes
• Professional training & courses
• Life insurance
• Remote work opportunities
• Fruits
• Integration events
• Retirement pension plan
• Corporate library
• Leisure zone
• Extra social benefits
• Pre-paid cards
• Christmas gifts
• Employee referral program
• Psychological helpline
• Cafeteria Program
• Free consultation with a lawyer