Commercial Manager – Asia and Africa

Commercial Manager – Asia and Africa

Main Purpose of Job:

The Commercial Manager will drive Angostura’s expansion across diverse growth and emerging markets in Asia and Africa (e.g., India, China, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa). The role focuses on new market entry, expanding growth in existing and untapped markets, pursuing and managing high-growth distributor partnerships, and developing new business models (e.g., co-packers, joint ventures) aligned to growth opportunities. The Commercial Manager is responsible for revenue achievement, profit growth, volume expansion, distributor management, and compliance with all relevant trade regulations.

Key Accountabilities and Responsibilities:

Commercial Strategy & Market Growth 

• Develop and execute commercial strategies to aggressively grow market share in Asia and Africa.
• Identify, appoint, and manage new distributors in untapped African and Asian markets.
• Monitor and manage performance, including exits or termination of non-performing distributors to transition toward new or larger distribution partners.  
• Drive expansion in high-growth markets (e.g., India, South Africa, China, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Southeast Asia). 
• Build and implement market-entry strategies for underdeveloped territories. 
• Develop strategic pricing, promotion, and distribution strategies for diverse economic conditions. 

Distributor & Stakeholder Management 

• Manage distributor day-to-day relationships, including negotiation of annual distribution contracts, distributor incentives, forecast management, stock management, depletions reporting, and pricing structures. 
• Conduct Quarterly Business Review Meetings with Key Markets and regular business meetings with emerging markets. 
• Work closely with distributors and business analysts to monitor in-market insights, consumer trends, and competitor activity towards adjusting commercial strategies accordingly.
• Build trade marketing campaigns suited for fragmented retail channels.  
• Build duty-free and travel retail channels as key growth drivers.  
• Lead pricing, rebate, and margin negotiations with local partners.  

Compliance & Risk Management 

• Ensure compliance with import, excise, advertising, and labelling laws. 
• Ensure full compliance with alcohol regulations in restricted markets.  
• Monitor market risks related to regulations, political environment, and consumer sentiment.  

Sales Performance & Financial Management 

• Accurately report on monthly sales and depletions performance and provide market intelligence to management along with in-market wins, issues, challenges, and proposed solutions. 
• Work with business analysts and financial analysts to manage quarterly order book to ensure markets submit purchase orders in a timely manner, ensuring all orders remain on track towards meeting forecasted orders. 
• Work with distributors and internal business partners to develop revenue and volume-based budgets for the region by SKU, ensuring growth and expansion remain high priority. Provide balanced volume forecasts to optimize cash flows and inventory levels. 
• Carefully monitor A&P investments and expenditure by market, ensuring budgets are managed in line with approved market plans. 

Planning, Reporting & Performance Tracking 

• Develop and continually review annual joint business and market plans with distributors, including development and review of annual volumes, marketing plans, marketing investments, and strategic partnerships. 
• Review and present regional plans bi-annually, ensuring a direct nexus between plans and strategic commercial goals. 
• Ensure performance tracking with quarterly distributor scorecards. 

Supply Chain & Quality Assurance 

• Collaborate closely with distributors, and with internal supply chain teams to forecast demand, optimize inventory allocation, and maintain stable stock supply to all markets. 
• Carefully monitor stock levels at distributor warehouses, and at Angostura’s 3PL monthly to ensure stock supply remains stable. 
• Work closely with in-house quality assurance teams to ensure products are delivered in a compliant manner in line with in-market regulations and market mandatories. 
• Coordinate with logistics teams to ensure smooth product availability. 

Brand Visibility & Premium Positioning 

• Develop premium brand visibility including but limited to luxury hotels, restaurants, and bars. 

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in business, Marketing, International Development, or Supply Chain Management. 
• MBA or Executive Program in Emerging Markets Strategy or Global Trade (preferred). 
• 8–12 years in FMCG/beverages in growth markets, with experience in both Africa and Asia preferred. 
• Proven success in market entry, distributor onboarding, and driving double-digit growth. 
• Experience in premium brand positioning in fragmented retail ecosystems. 
• Flexible: Ability to travel to markets for prolonged periods (planned and unplanned) 
• Advanced training in Market Expansion, Distributor Onboarding, and GTM strategy. 
• Certification in International Trade/Logistics (advantageous due to customs complexity). 
• Fluency in English; French (for Africa) or Mandarin (for Asia) strongly preferred.
• Experience with new market entry, GTM strategy, and double-digit growth delivery in emerging economies.
• Strong cross-cultural management and negotiation skills. 

Required knowledge/skills/abilities:

• Strong negotiation and account management skills. Strong commercial acumen and ability to build long-term distributor partnerships.
• Deep knowledge of European spirits and beverages markets.
• Analytical skills for revenue, pricing and profit margin optimization.
• Strong Excel skills; familiarity with BI tools (e.g., Power BI and ERP systems (e.g., SAP).
• Excellent presentation and storytelling skills to convey insights clearly to senior stakeholders.
• Ability to work effectively with cross-functional and cross-regional teams.
• Proactive mindset with ability to identify issues and propose solutions.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver high-quality outputs under tight deadlines.
• Strong regulatory knowledge and compliance understanding in alcohol trade.
• Excellent relationship-building skills with government authorities, distributors, and luxury hospitality players.
• Strong entrepreneurial drive with ability to thrive in volatile and fragmented markets.
• Exceptional distributor and channel management skills.
• Problem-solving mindset to overcome infrastructure, supply chain or any other challenges.
• Ability to foresee hurdles and challenges and address them directly with solution-oriented approach. 
• Cross-cultural leadership and collaboration skills.
• Fluency in English; French or Mandarin desirable.

Kindly submit applications 

 on or before October 12, 2025