National Sales Manager - Sri Lanka

The National Sales Manager — Sri Lanka is a lean, senior individual sales leader accountable for full multi-channel commercial delivery across General Trade (GT), Modern Trade (MT), eCommerce and the newly launching HoReCa (Out-of-Home) channel. Unlike a single-distributor market, Sri Lanka's commercial structure runs through a portfolio of established GT and MT customer relationships (6+ GT, 8+ MT) and eCommerce partners (3+), requiring hands-on senior account leadership.

The role also carries a green-field mandate: building HoReCa from zero — identifying, approaching and onboarding hotels, restaurants, cafés and catering accounts for the new Out-of-Home ready portfolio, in a channel with no existing route today. The role operates with a deliberately lean team structure, requiring strong individual ownership, cross-channel prioritisation and the ability to lead independently with minimal layers of support.

1. Multi-Channel Sales Strategy & Delivery

• Own end-to-end sales delivery across GT, MT, eCommerce & HoReCa, translating country commercial targets into channel-specific plans.
• Set and deliver volume, revenue, distribution and profitability targets for each channel.
• Prioritise resource and investment allocation across a lean structure to maximise overall business return.
• Monitor performance across all four channels and lead corrective action where needed.

2. General Trade & Modern Trade Account Leadership

• Directly lead commercial relationships with GT and MT customers (6+ GT, 8+ MT), negotiating trading terms, promotional plans and joint business plans.
• Drive numeric & weighted distribution, visibility and in-store execution across the existing customer base.
• Identify and unlock incremental growth opportunities within the established customer portfolio.
• Bring renewed commercial rigour and negotiation strength to existing trading relationships, even where channels are already at a decent level of maturity.

3. eCommerce Channel Management

• Manage and grow relationships with eCommerce partners (3+), embedding Lipton's portfolio in a fast-evolving channel.
• Develop channel-specific assortment, pricing and promotional strategies suited to online shopper behaviour.
• Track eCommerce sales performance, digital shelf presence and share of search/visibility.

4. HoReCa Channel Build-Out (New Channel Development)

• Build the HoReCa channel from the ground up: define target segments (hotels, restaurants, cafés, catering, QSR) for the new Out-of-Home (OOH) ready portfolio.
• Identify, prospect and approach prospective HoReCa clients; build and manage a structured sales pipeline.
• Design a differentiated go-to-market and commercial approach appropriate for HoReCa — pricing, contracts, service levels and equipment/vending where relevant.
• Establish the operating playbook, pricing architecture and servicing model for this channel, given it has no established route today.
• Convert prospects into signed accounts and manage onboarding through to sustained repeat business.

5. Commercial Negotiation & Trading Terms

• Lead all customer-level trading term negotiations, ensuring profitable and sustainable agreements across all channels.
• Apply Revenue Growth Management (RGM) principles to pricing, promotions and trade investment.
• Continuously benchmark trading terms against market practice to protect margin.

6. Sales Operations & Cross-Functional Coordination

• Given the lean team structure, personally coordinate closely with Supply Chain, Finance, Marketing and Customer Service to ensure order fulfilment, forecasting accuracy and service levels.
• Own forecast input for all channels, ensuring alignment with demand planning.
• Ensure disciplined, accurate sales reporting and channel performance tracking despite limited support resources.

7. Market Intelligence & Business Development

• Monitor competitor activity, channel dynamics and emerging trends across GT, MT, eCommerce and HoReCa.
• Proactively identify white space and new business opportunities, particularly in the nascent HoReCa channel.
• Bring an entrepreneurial, business-development mindset to a role that combines established account management with new-channel creation.

Stakeholder Management & Key Interfaces

Internal

• Country Manager — Sri Lanka & Bangladesh
• Marketing Team
• Trade & Shopper Marketing
• Finance Team
• Supply Chain Team
• Customer Service

External

• GT & MT Key Accounts (Owners / Buying Teams)
• eCommerce Platform Partners
• Prospective & Onboarded HoReCa Clients (Hotels, Restaurants, Cafés, Catering)
• Distribution / Logistics Partners

Skills & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in business, Marketing or a related discipline; MBA preferred.
• 8–12 years of FMCG sales experience, including direct key account management across General Trade and Modern Trade.
• Proven experience opening new channels or new business development — HoReCa/Out-of-Home experience strongly preferred.
• Strong negotiation skills and commercial/financial acumen.
• Demonstrated ability to operate independently in a lean structure, managing multiple channels simultaneously.
• eCommerce/digital channel exposure preferred.
• Excellent stakeholder management and executive presence, given senior, direct customer-facing exposure.
• Proven leadership experience in guiding teams, managing stakeholders, and delivering business outcomes in a dynamic environment
• Strong track record of winning new business, developing key customer relationships, and achieving revenue growth targets.
• Travel required: 40-50%