Commercial Head - ExportPG Consulting

• Establish business priorities to meet the customers' requirements.
• Maintain positive relationships with key stakeholders, to create and maintain Sonata's visibility in the market
• Manage the translation of the commercial strategy into business targets, budgets and tangible plans.
• Partner with other HODs to drive commercial performance.
• Oversee all sales contracts with major clients to ensure Legal Consistency and liability coverage
• Forging and maintaining strong relationships with key contacts in existing and new customers (Overseeing the customer service function for the company).
• Build a Database of existing clients with all contact/vessel information – likewise for potential customers operating in the our serviced geographies.
• Identify competitor activity in the region – which would include contracts / rates / clients.
• Establish and manage a solid sales support team to seamlessly manage sales from pricing to payments. Sales support team to be an effective single point of contact for all issues from the time sales team closes a sale and sends email with offer.
• Ensure commercial team is on top of all containers in transit to ensure minimum transit time from dispatch to loading to transhipments to arrival.
• Ensure to be on top of sales planning for the month to plan for containers and all related filings to ensure no dispatches are missed for the month.
• Ensure appropriate systems in place for original documents to be sent to customers without errors and misses.
• Proactively make recommendations which can improve processes and systems to help the business commercially.
• Proactively address customer complaints by taking up with relevant stakeholder for solution and redressal.
• Develop weekly, monthly, quarterly & annual business reports/plans, in conjunction with Unit Heads.
• Assisting the Finance Department in the proactive management of debtors and reporting of the same. Weekly check, post and confirm the sales in ERP.
• Support commercial market opportunities identified by Sales team, sales agents. 18 Have regular contacts with all Shipping Line Commercial Heads, Account Managers and ensure the best freight and routing for Sonata shipments.
• Lead non-RCN procurements and play a key role in purchase planning for cartons, pouches, crates, pallets. Ensure all purchases are negotiated to the best rate before putting for management approval

Qualifications & experience

• Degree in Business, Commercial or Finance
• 15+ years experience in similar field with at least 5 years leading the commercial team
• Nigerian native languages (Hausa, Tiv, Idoma, etc), strong English skills.

Skills:

• Proven management experience from the terminal or shipping industry or alternatively related industry within transport or supply chain management 1 Experience handling end to end operations cutting across warehousing, logistics, sales and business performance management is preferred
• Strong communication skills with the ability to communicate across the organization.
• Trustworthy, ambitious, and able to work independently and in teams.
• Excellent interpersonal skills as well as written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong commercial acumen and business understanding. Ability to manage both internal and customer relationships.
• Ability to use data and KPIs to assist in management decisions.
• 7 Fully comfortable with ERP & CRM platforms, Google Drive applications and MS Office.

Must have:

• Expert Knowledge of exports from Nigeria, strong hold on documentation and process thereof
• Should have been an executor and guide in exports to countries outside West Africa (we export to US, Europe and so the male/female has to have experience in exports from Nigeria to these countries)
• Should be a hands-on in Excel and reporting.
• Should be a master at figures and facts
• Should come with a good knowledge of imports too.