Specialist - Area Omnichannel.Commercial Operations SA

Specialist - Area Omnichannel.Commercial Operations SA

Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Job Description

Mission/ Core purpose of the Job

• To implement operational plans, performance standards, and partner and distributor management processes that drive effective distribution, customer acquisition, and retention strategies in alignment with the overall Prepaid strategy.
• The role ensures the execution of commercial plans by managing channel partners and distributors ( across direct indirect) to drive growth and superior customer experience in defined clusters, and across assigned geography.
• Omnichannel: Hybrid capability critical – ability to flex between channel (indirect) distribution partner and management of direct partner across the geography.

Key Activities & Responsibilities

Channel Planning & Sales Execution

• Contribute to portfolio-level planning (quarter to quarter) aligned to segment and Consumer goals. Refine and update tactical plans on a weekly basis.
• Execute sales, promotional, and visual merchandising strategies in the general trade.
• Monitor competitor activity and advise on local tactical response.
• Manage partner relationships (informal) to drive acquisition, activation, and customer experience.
• Forecast stock, POS, and merchandising material needs; influence distribution of aforementioned.

Field Operations & Compliance

• Supervise channel partner and distributor and ensure daily/weekly call cycle compliance.
• Support training execution of channel partner and distributor as per regional calendar.
• Conduct daily inspections in general trade. Manage escalation resolution based on observations.
• Drive adherence to policies, PPPs, and merchandising guidelines.

Stakeholder Engagement & Customer & Channel Partner Experience

• Build and maintain strong relationships with internal teams (Marketing, General Trade Channel) and external trade partners.
• Align execution with BU-wide strategy and customer needs.
• Act as liaison between in-trade realities and head office plans.
• Ensure channel partner readiness and consistent delivery to customer needs.
• Improve customer satisfaction through proactive issue resolution and service enhancements.
• Embed continuous improvement in channel partner support and trade execution.

Performance Monitoring & Insights

• Track and report on KPIs across both direct and indirect including sales performance, stock levels, and channel partner compliance.
• Analyse customer and channel partner trends to inform interventions.
• Provide timely reporting to stakeholders and ensure audit readiness.

General Governance, Policies and Procedures

• Ensure effective implementation of (and compliance towards) all company policies, processes, and procedures. Put effective methods and standards in place in alignment with aforementioned.
• Manage and provide solutions to escalations that have multiple processes / functions impact on critical path of service delivery
• Continuously review key risks, issues and dependencies and set mitigation actions. Proactively flag and escalate issues and manage impacts on resources, cost and productivity.

Budget & Cost Control

• Provide input into regional budget planning in relation to channel partner execution requirements.
• Identify cost-saving and revenue-generation opportunities.
• Streamline systems and processes to reduce operational costs.

People and Culture

• Provide technical, procedural and policy guidance to staff, colleagues , partners and vendors
• Manage own performance and identify training needs.
• Enable and model healthy employee relations and collaborative teamwork.
• Manage diversity, develop, and embed an Employment Equity plan for the business area.
• Contribute to building a culture of continuous evaluation and improvement. Drive a culture of high performance, accountability and consequence management.
• Act as an ambassador for the team by living the Brand values and vital behaviours and changing and influencing employees’ behaviour.

Job Outcomes / Results

• Territory-level execution of sales and marketing strategies
• Partner performance management and store call compliance oversight
• Accurate forecasting and distribution of stock and POS material
• Channel reports and feedback loops
• Operational cost control and efficiency
• Customer and partner satisfaction metrics
• Distributor satisfaction metrics

Education, Skills and Experience

Education

• 3 year Degree / Diploma in Commerce (Marketing / Communication) or related
• At least 3 years experience in an area of specialization, with experience in supervising others.
• Experience managing or supporting multiple channel partners.
• Exposure to both informal/ General Trade sales environments
• For Omnichannel: Proven ability to manage dual-channel models across large geographies
• Prior experience in a supervisory or lead field role preferred
• Experience working in a medium organization

Skills

• Procedures and processes
• Products and Services
• Systems training
• Channel partner management
• Route-to-market execution
• General channel understanding
• People supervision or team leadership
• Territory coverage planning
• Promotional campaign execution
• Basic data analytics and reporting
• Communication & negotiation