Description: Our organization has been mandated to identify and suggest an ACE hardcore Sales professional to Head Sales of a fast growing food company with a vision to excel multifold in near term with variety of products being added to mainstream range with a singular focus on Consumer centric and value added products having health conscious range of offerings.

Role Purpose:

The Head - Sales will be a strategic and execution-focused leader responsible for conceptualizing, building, and scaling the sales and distribution ecosystem for food products from ground zero. The role carries complete Profit Center responsibility, encompassing topline growth, distribution expansion, pricing discipline, trade investments, and contribution margins.

The incumbent will play a pivotal role in establishing market presence, driving channel penetration, and building a sustainable and scalable sales organization aligned with the companys long-term growth ambitions.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Sales Strategy & Business Growth:

- Define and implement short-term and long-term sales strategies aligned with business objectives.

- Drive aggressive yet profitable revenue growth, market share expansion, and category penetration.

- Identify high-potential markets, regions, and channels for rapid scale-up.

- Translate business plans into annual operating plans (AOPs) with clear volume, value, and margin targets.

2. Distribution Channel Setup & Expansion

- Design and establish the entire distribution architecture from scratch, including:

a. Super Stockists

b. Distributors

c. Sub-distributors

d. Modern Trade / General Trade / Institutional channels

- Appoint, onboard, and manage channel partners with well-defined ROI frameworks.

- Build strong distributor economics while ensuring company profitability.

- Ensure optimal market coverage, outlet reach, and availability benchmarks.

3. Profit Center Ownership:

- Own end-to-end P&L responsibility for the Sales function.

- Drive contribution margins through pricing discipline, trade scheme optimization, and cost controls.

- Monitor and manage trade spends, discounts, promotions, and channel incentives.

- Ensure healthy receivables, working capital efficiency, and credit controls.

4. Team Building & Leadership:

- Recruit, mentor, and lead a high-performance sales organization, including Regional Sales Managers, Area Managers, and frontline teams.

- Define KRAs, incentive structures, and performance metrics aligned with business goals.

- Build a culture of accountability, ownership, and execution excellence.

- Coach teams on negotiation, distributor management, and market execution.

5. Market Execution & Trade Marketing:

- Ensure effective product placement, visibility, and merchandising in the trade.

- Collaborate with Marketing on launch plans, promotions, and GTM strategies.

- Provide market feedback on pricing, packaging, competition, and consumer insights.

- Drive successful product launches and ensure rapid distribution build-up.

6. Stakeholder Management:

- Work closely with Production, Supply Chain, Finance, and Marketing to ensure seamless execution.

- Act as the primary interface with key distributors, institutional clients, and strategic partners.

- Present sales performance, forecasts, and strategic plans to senior management and board.

Key Performance Indicators (KPI's):

- Revenue growth and achievement of sales targets

- Distribution reach and market coverage

- Gross margin and contribution profitability

- Trade spend effectiveness

- Distributor productivity and retention

- Receivables and working capital metrics

- Team performance and capability building

Candidate Profile:

Education:

- MBA / PGDM in Sales & Marketing from a reputed institute (preferred)

Experience:

- 18-20+ years of progressive sales leadership experience in Food / FMCG / Consumer Products

- Proven track record of setting up distribution networks from scratch

- Hands-on experience in scaling brands or new product lines

- Strong exposure to General Trade, Modern Trade, and Institutional Sales

- Demonstrated P&L and profit center ownership

Key Competencies & Skills:

- Strong strategic thinking with execution rigor

- Deep understanding of FMCG/food distribution economics

- Excellent negotiation and channel management skills

- Data-driven decision-making and financial acumen

- High energy, entrepreneurial mindset, and result orientation

- Ability to work in ambiguous, high-growth environments

Personal Attributes:

- Entrepreneurial and ownership-driven

- High integrity and governance orientation

- Strong leadership presence and influence

- Resilient, adaptable, and hands-on

Why Join?

- Opportunity to build and scale a food business from the ground up

- High-impact leadership role with complete ownership and visibility

- Platform to create a lasting sales and distribution engine

- Attractive compensation with performance-linked incentives

As this position is of Urgent nature, the client is keen to decide right candidate immediately. Those interested to be based in CHENNAI ONLY should respond with a structure profile indicating present compensation and notice period etc.