Business Manager- Kenya

Role Profile

We are looking to bring on board an ambitious and commercially aware candidate as a Business Manager. The individual will be tasked with the end-to-end management of a specific warehouse and market as a single business unit. He/she will be responsible for the execution of the organization’s strategy in the market including accountability of the P&L, budget, market and business performance, operations and people management.

Key Responsibilities:

• Business Unit Performance: Responsible for P&L management for the warehouse and market while driving profit maximization for the business unit. Oversee the business unit performance management and ensure the attainment of all organizational KPIs for the unit. Account for any performance decline and devise ways to improve the same.
• Revenue Generation: Work collaboratively with the commercial and purchasing teams to spearhead revenue generation in the market including advisory on product pricing to generate business margins. Liaise with the sales team to drive product penetration and uptake in the market including the formulation of effective sales and marketing strategies.
• Strategy Execution: Communication of the business strategy in the market and ensure execution against the set KPIs as per the strategy. Ensure the team understands and buys into the strategy. Support the development of the pricing strategy and product pricing based on market understanding, competitor analysis and customer feedback.
• Operations Optimization: Oversee end to end operations of Warehouse Management and Dispatch all logistics of last mile delivery to Customers as per set SOPs. Proactively support the development and review of SOPs based on the gaps identified to maximize operations effectiveness.
• Inventory Management: Work closely with the Fulfillment Supervisor to facilitate proper inventory management, stock control and loss prevention. Collaboratively formulate and implement measures to safeguard the inventory in the warehouse.
• Compliance: Drive compliance to the laid down SOPs for the warehouse, operations and HR whilst ensuring proper team training and appreciation. Ensure legislative and regulatory compliance of the business unit including Health and safety compliance of the business unit. Undertake frequent operations audits to evaluate the level of compliance, operational gaps and hindrances for immediate action.
• Budget Management: Develop and present the annual budget for the specific business unit; Monitor and oversee its utilization including budget control, accounting as well as reconciliation.
• Market Intelligence & Business Advisory: Oversee frequent market surveys and analysis to identify opportunities the business can capitalize on, understand competitor activities and appreciate customer dynamics. Escalate customer feedback to the management to ensure course correction where necessary.
• People Management: Support staff recruiting for the business unit, training, supervision and appraising of staff. Work closely with the HR team to execute key HR functions in the unit including policy implementation, performance management, disciplinary, evaluations and training.

Minimum Requirements & Key Skills:

• A Bachelor’s degree in business or a related field;
• A minimum of 6 years in operations management and driving business performance in a retail or FMCG background;
• P&L management background;
• Experience setting up and growing markets as well as driving numbers is preferred;
• Experience handling end-to-end operations cutting across warehousing, logistics, sales and business performance management is preferred;
• Appreciation of the business environment, key priorities and a keen sense of what needs to be done for the business to succeed;
• Proven ability to manage cross-functional teams with indirect reporting lines to drive the execution and achievement of business objectives and strategy.