Channel Development Manager

Role:

The role is responsible for channel expansion, distribution optimization, execution of approved business plans, cross-functional coordination, and team leadership to ensure sustainable revenue growth, market penetration, and strong customer partnerships.

Accountabilities:

1. Channel Growth Mapping: Develops and obtains approval for growth mapping plans across non-traditional channels including institutions, hotels, hospitals, business offices, and restaurants by identifying potential accounts, evaluating channel opportunities, and developing expansion initiatives ensuring sustainable channel growth and increased market penetration.

2. CDA Negotiation: Oversees the process of CDA negotiation with key customers by evaluating commercial terms such as discounts, visibility investments, and promotional support, aligning proposals with company policies and budgets, and securing agreements ensuring maximum profitability. Supports PI-managed accounts CDA renewal through providing customer data, business insights, and commercial recommendations to support CDA development and negotiations.

3. Business Planning & Profitability: Supports the Food Services Director to develop profitable annual business plans for assigned channels by analyzing channel dynamics, evaluating business drivers, identifying growth opportunities, and recommending commercial initiatives ensuring alignment with business objectives and revenue targets.

4. Annual Activation Calendar: Manages the annual activation planning process with customers, Marketing, and Account Managers by reviewing the proposed promotional calendar, evaluating customer and business priorities, and aligning promotional activities and investments to maximize commercial impact and ROI.

5. Sponsorship Evaluation: Evaluates customer sponsorship and commercial investment proposals submitted by customers requesting support such as discounts, signing bonuses, or other commercial investments by assessing sales potential, account importance, expected return on investment, and business impact, recommending appropriate support levels and obtaining required approvals ensuring commercial investments contribute to channel growth and business profitability.

6. Customer Credit Management: Oversees customer credit requirements by monitoring credit limits and outstanding exposure, assessing business needs and customer payment capacity, and preparing business cases for credit exceptions through Finance to enable customer orders while maintaining appropriate credit controls.

7. Budget Optimization: Oversees channel budgets by allocating approved funds across key commercial initiatives such as promotions, customer development agreements, visibility programs, and market development activities, reviewing actual spend against approved budgets, evaluating return on investment, and approving budget reallocations where required ensuring effective utilization of resources and achievement of channel growth objectives.

8. Cross-Functional Coordination: Coordinates with internal support functions including Finance, BTD, and other departments to facilitate line extensions, credit limit approvals, product availability, and operational requirements ensuring timely execution of commercial and channel development initiatives.

9. Performance Monitoring: Monitors accounts performance and leads the team in maintaining compliance with CDA terms and approved commercial frameworks by utilizing tools such as CDF, reviewing forecasts, and tracking execution performance ensuring business results remain aligned with approved plans and objectives.

10. Customer Classification & Segmentation: Oversees customer classification and segmentation within the Customer Master File (CMF) by reviewing customer business activities, and channel suitability to identify accounts requiring reclassification between channels such as Catering switching to Institutional Food Service channel, coordinating account transfers with Sales teams, and monitoring post-classification activity ensuring accurate channel segmentation.

11. Team Management: Sets targets for the team, manages activities according to priorities, develops subordinates, appraises their performance and motivates them to meet business objectives, and approves team vacation requests.