For one of our clients, we are looking for a Sales Director Foodservice for Western Europe. It concerns a leading and growing food company with international footprint, especially across Europe.
The Western European region consists of the following sub-regions: Nordics, Benelux (= the ‘home market’), DACH, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, UK & Ireland plus international key account management (=retail & B2B). Each sub-region is led by a local Country Manager with his/her sales organization beneath him/her, in total the team consists of 60 FTE. The Sales Director Western Europe manages a revenue of € 250mio.
Due to its strong growth, the company is looking for a Sales Director who will lead the professionalization of the organization in the region:
* (From a business point of view) Approaching the foodservice channel (and its various sub-channels) in a more thoughtful, strategic way, in order to make the right choices/priorities (which may differ per country or cluster of countries) and as such further grow the business in a future-oriented way.
* (From a talent/organizational point of view) Lifting the sales organization to a higher level, by guiding the country organizations through the change and - where necessary - making changes in the teams/organization. In this context, it is important to have an eye for talent and their development, with a view to succession management. It is also important to make the organization more KPI-driven, underpinned by data & insights.
Profile:
* Strong career track in sales/commercial roles up to international level.
* Solid experience with foodservice
* Experience with the agri industry is a clear plus, given the dynamic supply chain behind
* Proven capability of leading (commercial) transformations, bringing an organization to the next level, both from a strategic and talent perspective.
* Combination of sales drive with the ability to work cross-functionally in a collaborative manner with other departments like marketing, supply chain, finance, HR, etc., and with other regions.
* Experience, or at least affinity, with a family-owned company is a plus. Fit with a company that is hands-on, down-to-earth & entrepreneurial, with a positive can-do mentality.