Sales Operations & Sales Capability Manager for Gulf

Role Overview

Sales Operations & Sales Capability Manager for Gulf at Mondelēz International. This role is based in the Gulf region and serves the Middle East and North Africa markets.

Company Overview

Mondelēz International operates across the Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan with headquarters in Dubai, UAE. The company employs more than 2,600 staff across seven plants and six commercial offices. Key brands include Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate, Milka, Oreo and belVita biscuits, Barni Cakes, Tang powdered beverage, Chiclets and Trident gum, and Halls candy. The company is a market leader in snacking categories across the region, which also includes Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Canada.

Role Purpose

Implement operational capabilities and support operational elements for the market. You will drive commercial excellence across the sales organization by managing and optimizing Route-to-Market strategies, Right Store execution, Sales Capability Building, and Sales Development. This role serves as a critical link between commercial strategy and field execution, ensuring the sales force is equipped, directed, and developed to maximize market coverage, in-store execution, and profitable growth.

Key Responsibilities

Route-to-Market

• Design, adopt, and align appropriate Route-to-Market models with assigned distributors to deliver coverage ambition in a profitable manner.
• Develop creative Route-to-Market solutions that enable profitable achievement of coverage targets across diverse market and channel landscapes.
• Leverage industry best practices in route-to-market design and continuously benchmark against leading standards.
• Evaluate and optimize distribution models (direct, indirect, hybrid) to ensure cost-effective market reach.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (Finance, Supply Chain, Marketing) to align Route-to-Market strategies with overall business objectives.

Right Store

• Define and implement Right Store principles to ensure the sales force calls on the right stores, at the right frequency, with the right time spent, and with the right capability.
• Calculate and set territory and outlet coverage and visit frequency targets.
• Monitor performance and take corrective action as needed.
• Select and prioritize retail environments to operate in, aligned to the company's strategic priorities.
• Optimize resource allocation based on store value, potential, ability to influence, and cost to serve.
• Direct the sales force toward the biggest commercial opportunities through data-driven territory management.

Sales Capability Building

• Design and deliver training programs to build sales force capability in Right Store execution, territory management, and in-store selling.
• Champion Right Store strategy, tools, and KPI tracking across the sales organization.
• Coach and develop field teams on effective territory management, priority setting, and corrective action planning.
• Translate category strategies and "big bets" into actionable priorities for retail environments and trade partners.
• Foster a culture of continuous learning and performance improvement within the sales team.

Sales Development

• Communicate and cascade priorities for different retail environments and customer segments.
• Drive sell-out and secondary sales performance through effective planning, execution tracking, and data stewardship.
• Develop and maintain dashboards and reporting frameworks to monitor sales development KPIs and distribution metrics.
• Identify growth opportunities and recommend interventions to maximize net revenue and market share.

Digitalization

• Maintain data sanity at the regional data hub.
• Lead the development of Power BI dashboards to access data by all stakeholders to the minutest detail.
• Steer the development and project management of identified digitalization projects and enhancements.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field.
• 8–10 years of experience in Sales Capabilities for distributors and internal stakeholders, Sales Operations, Commercial Excellence, Route-to-Market, or related FMCG/CPG roles.
• Relevant certifications preferred.

Skills & Competencies

• Strategic Thinking: Ability to design and implement Route-to-Market and coverage strategies aligned with business goals.
• Analytical Acumen: Strong data analysis skills to evaluate store potential, coverage efficiency, cost to serve, and sales performance.
• Commercial Awareness: Deep understanding of FMCG/CPG sales dynamics, retail environments, and distribution channels.
• Leadership & Coaching: Proven ability to train, coach, and develop sales teams and field managers.
• Stakeholder Management: Effective collaboration with distributors, cross-functional teams including Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain, and CP&A.
• Project Management: Ability to manage multiple workstreams (Route-to-Market, Right Store, Capability Building) simultaneously.
• Communication: Strong ability to translate strategy into clear, actionable priorities for diverse audiences.
• Power BI: Advanced capability in Power BI dashboarding and data visualization.

Additional Information

• Travel: Travel across Gulf markets as required.
• Relocation: No relocation support available.
• Employment Type: Regular.
• Equal Opportunity: Mondelēz International is an equal opportunity employer and considers all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or preference, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.