Commercial Efficiency Manager - France / BeLux

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Meaningful Work From Day One

The Commercial Efficiency Manager ensures the efficiency of all commercial operations across France and BeLux. They act as the bridge between the Commercial, Finance, and Supply Chain organizations and support the Head of Sales and Leadership Team in identifying and implementing efficiencies in the key account and field sales actions. They are responsible for identifying continuous improvement initiatives across forecasting, reporting, customer service and commercial operations to simplify ways of working, improve productivity and enhance business performance. 

This role manages the RGM and Field Sales Analytics functions and is also responsible for orchestrating the end-to-end forecasting process, ensuring top-tier service levels to customers, and managing the financial impact of customer logistics. The successful candidate will lead the S&BP (Sales & Business Planning) process to align volume forecasts with operational capabilities while minimizing penalties and maximizing customer satisfaction. 

They are also responsible for implementing RGM and data-based decisions within the commercial divisions by ensuring access to the relevant information for the sales teams and providing the sales managers and the Leadership Team with data-based analysis and recommendations.

This is an office/hybrid role (4 days a week at Paris office, Fridays working from home)

What You Can Expect

Areas of Focus 

1. S&BP & Forecasting Leadership 

• Lead, coordinate, and implement the local S&BP process to ensure alignment between regional strategy and local execution. 

• Drive and lead the development of volume forecasts in collaboration with the Commercial team, ensuring forecast accuracy and strategic alignment. 

• Lead the coordination of daily, mid-month, and month-end landing projections to provide leadership with real-time visibility into sales performance. 

• Facilitate cross-functional decision making through the S&BP process 

• Oversee and coordinate the forecasting of promotional SKUs, and the OPF (promotion tracking file) in close collaboration with Trade Marketing, Procurement, Planning and Customer Service to ensure stock availability for marketing activations. 

• Prepare, update, and manage critical Sales by Customer/Channel, Gross to Net Reporting and other volume / values sales files, ensuring financial transparency. 

2. Customer Penalty & Dispute Management 

• Lead and coordinate the end-to-end customer penalty process, working across departments to validate and contest claims. 

• Ensure the Supply Chain department provides all necessary details and information required for accurate commercial planning. 

• Chair the Penalty Meeting with Finance, Customer Service, Supply Chain, Global Business Services and Legal to review status and strategy. 

• Act as the lead negotiator with customers regarding logistics penalties, seeking to minimize financial exposure for the company. 

• Partner with Customer Service and Supply Chain teams to ensure seamless delivery execution. Act as a key stakeholder in minimizing customer penalties and resolving logistics discrepancies, while overseeing the credit note and re-invoicing process managed by Customer Service.  

3. Reporting & Problem Solving 

• Develop and deliver daily sales reporting to enable "best-in-class" delivery performance and provide actionable insights for the sales organization. 

• Serve as the key leader in resolving delivery  (incl. customer pick ups) or order issues by navigating through Sales, GBS, and Supply Chain organizations. 

• Partner with GBS and sales teams to ensure seamless partnership invoicing workflow and budget follow-up, both for direct & indirect customers. 

4. Drive RGM / Customer Category Management adoption 

• Responsible for RGM within France 

• Supporting and coaching the RGM Manager  

• Roll-out RGM analytics to commercial, finance and marketing teams 

• Embed RGM in business management process 

5. Support sales development by managing the performance of the field sales teams 

• Overall responsibility for Field Sales analytics 

• Support and coach the On & Off Trade Field Sales Analysts 

• Provide the field sales teams and the management with accurate and updated reporting through the tracking of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). 

• Lead the implementation of innovative and optimised software and/or adjustments to reinforce the field sales teams added value. 

 What You Bring to the Table

• Education: University degree in Business Administration, Supply Chain, Finance, or a related field. 

• Experience: 5+ years business experience in the FMCG or alcohol beverage industry, ideally some combination of commercial and operational roles 

• Negotiation skills : strategic blend of sharp financial acumen, steadfast risk mitigation, and persuasive relationship-building to secure highly lucrative and resilient agreements with powerful retail partners. 

• Analytical Skills: Advanced proficiency in Excel and experience with ERP systems (e.g., SAP). Highly organized with prioritization skills 

• Communication: Strong oral and written communication skills with the ability to influence both internal stakeholders (Finance/Legal) and external customers. Confidence in presenting to Senior leadership. 

• Leadership: Proven ability to lead cross-functional meetings and manage complex processes with tight deadlines. Experience influencing others in moving towards a common goal Experience helping others grow and develop Project management: 

• Languages: Professional fluency in both French and English. 

Who We Are

We believe great people build great brands. And we know there is Nothing Better in the Market than a career at Brown-Forman. Being a part of Brown-Forman means you will grow both personally and professionally. You will have the opportunity to solve problems, seize opportunities, and generate bold ideas. You will belong to a place where teamwork matters and where you are encouraged to bring your best self to work.

What We Offer

Total Rewards at Brown-Forman is designed to engage our people to ensure sustainable and profitable growth for generations to come. As a premium spirits company, we offer equitable pay structures for individual and company performance alongside a premium employee experience. We offer a range of premium benefits that reflect our company values and meet the needs of our diverse workforce.

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