Commercial Director

To provide strategic leadership and direction for all commercial activities of the wheat and maize milling business, ensuring sustainable revenue growth, profitability, market expansion and customer satisfaction.

The Commercial Director is responsible for developing and implementing sales and marketing strategies, managing product pricing, overseeing customer relationships, identifying new business opportunities, coordinating demand forecasts with production, and ensuring effective distribution of flour, mealie-meal, bran and other milling by-products. The role requires strong commercial and financial acumen, an understanding of grain and milling markets, and the ability to translate business objectives into measurable sales, volume, margin and cash collection results.

Job Summary

• Job Type: Full-time
• Location: Harare, Zimbabwe
• Category: Sales and Marketing
• Closing Date: 2026-10-31

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and implement the overall commercial strategy in line with the company's business plan and growth objectives.
• Identify opportunities to increase revenue, sales volumes, market share and profitability across all product categories.
• Conduct market research and competitor analysis to monitor flour and mealie-meal prices, market demand, customer preferences and industry developments.
• Identify and develop new markets, customer segments, distribution channels and geographical territories.
• Establish strategic relationships with wholesalers, retailers, supermarkets, bakeries, food manufacturers, institutions and bulk buyers.
• Develop commercial plans for the wheat and maize milling divisions, ensuring that each division achieves its approved sales and profitability targets.
• Evaluate opportunities for institutional supply contracts, bulk sales agreements, private-label products and strategic distribution partnerships.
• Advise management on market opportunities, competitive threats, pricing trends and commercial risks.
• Lead and manage the sales function to achieve approved monthly and annual revenue, volume and profitability targets.
• Develop sales budgets and establish targets for individual products, sales teams, customer segments and geographical territories.
• Oversee the sale of wheat flour, maize meal, bran and other products manufactured or traded by the business.
• Develop and maintain a strong customer base across wholesale, retail, industrial and institutional markets.
• Secure high-volume customers and negotiate long-term supply agreements within approved authority limits.
• Monitor daily, weekly and monthly sales performance against targets and implement corrective measures where necessary.
• Ensure effective management of sales pipelines, customer enquiries, quotations, orders and follow-ups.
• Develop sales incentive programmes, subject to management approval, to improve sales productivity and target achievement.
• Monitor customer buying patterns and identify opportunities to increase sales volumes and product penetration.
• Develop and recommend competitive pricing strategies for wheat flour, maize meal, bran and other milling products.
• Work closely with Finance and Production to establish accurate product costs and assess the effect of changes in grain prices, packaging costs, energy, transport and other production expenses.
• Monitor gross margins and contribution margins by product, packaging size, customer, sales channel and geographical market.
• Ensure that selling prices reflect market conditions while protecting the company's profitability.
• Review discounts, rebates, promotional offers and special customer pricing to ensure that they are commercially justified and properly authorised.
• Analyse product profitability and recommend corrective action for underperforming product lines.
• Monitor the financial impact of changes in milling yields, production efficiency and by-product recovery on product margins.
• Ensure that pricing decisions are supported by accurate costing, financial analysis and approved commercial policies.
• Develop and implement marketing strategies to strengthen the company's brands and increase market penetration.
• Oversee promotional campaigns, product launches, trade promotions and customer engagement initiatives.
• Ensure effective positioning of flour and mealie-meal products in target markets.
• Work with relevant departments to identify opportunities for new product sizes, packaging formats, product variants and value-added milling products.
• Monitor competitor brands, pricing, packaging, product quality perceptions and promotional activities.
• Develop marketing initiative…