Strategic Accounts Manager – Exports and Duty Free

Diageo is a global leader in alcoholic beverages, producing and marketing a wide range of spirits and beers. Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL) is its subsidiary in Kenya, focusing on the local and export markets.

The Strategic Accounts Manager for Exports and Duty Free Business is responsible for accelerating sustainable and profitable growth for KBL's export operations across key African markets. This involves leading the creation and implementation of strategic customer and market plans, fostering high-value partnerships with distributors and key customers, identifying and leveraging new market opportunities, and establishing effective routes to market to enhance distribution, availability, and market share. As the primary commercial liaison with strategic export partners, the role oversees customer performance and joint business planning, coordinating various functions like Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance, and Customer Service to ensure superior execution and customer satisfaction. The manager will also provide leadership, coaching, and performance management to outsourced trade teams within their assigned markets.

1. Achieve revenue, volume, gross margin, and contribution targets across assigned African export markets and strategic accounts.
2. Develop annual and multi-year commercial plans aligned with KBL’s export growth ambitions.
3. Drive profitable portfolio and category growth through strategic market, customer, channel, pricing, and portfolio decisions.
4. Monitor performance by market, customer, brand, and channel, taking timely corrective action when necessary.
5. Develop robust forecasts, customer purchase plans, and commercial investment requirements.
6. Optimize trade investment and promotional expenditure for sustainable returns.
7. Build trusted, long-term relationships with strategic distributors, wholesalers, and customers.
8. Develop and execute Joint Business Plans (JBPs) with clear growth priorities, performance measures, investment commitments, and governance.
9. Lead commercial negotiations covering pricing, trading terms, payment conditions, minimum order quantities, and promotional investment.
10. Establish robust customer performance reviews and hold partners accountable for agreed commercial and execution standards.
11. Understand customer economics, needs, and growth opportunities, translating them into mutually beneficial plans.
12. Drive customer retention, account growth, and partner capability development.
13. Identify, evaluate, and prioritize new market, customer, and channel opportunities.
14. Develop market-entry strategies and business cases, including market attractiveness, route-to-market options, portfolio, pricing, economics, investment, and risk.
15. Identify, evaluate, and recommend potential distributors and strategic partners.
16. Design and continuously optimize route-to-market models to improve availability, coverage, cost-to-serve, and profitability.
17. Lead the commercial onboarding of new distributors, customers, and markets.
18. Build a strong pipeline of future growth opportunities beyond existing markets.
19. Track competitive activity, category trends, consumer/shopper dynamics, and regulatory developments to identify opportunities and threats.
20. Translate customer and market strategies into clear execution priorities across channels.
21. Agree upon and enforce execution standards for distribution, availability, visibility, assortment, pricing, and activation.
22. Collaborate with distributors and trade teams to expand productive coverage and strengthen in-market execution.
23. Track execution against agreed KPIs and use market data to identify gaps and drive corrective action.
24. Ensure promotions, innovations, and commercial initiatives are executed on time and in full.
25. Measure and evaluate major commercial activities to continuously improve effectiveness.
26. Provide leadership, direction, coaching, and performance oversight to outsourced trade representatives.
27. Translate market and customer priorities into clear individual and team execution objectives.
28. Conduct regular market accompaniments and coaching interventions to build selling, execution, and commercial capabilities.
29. Establish clear performance standards and ensure consistent accountability for results.
30. Work with distributor leadership to strengthen organizational capability, sales-force effectiveness, and succession planning.
31. Lead cross-functional coordination with Supply Chain, Customer Service, Finance, Marketing, and other functions to deliver customer commitments.
32. Ensure appropriate demand forecasting, product availability, order fulfillment, and on-time in-full (OTIF) performance for strategic export customers.
33. Partner with relevant functions to manage export documentation, customs requirements, Incoterms, freight, and regulatory compliance.
34. Ensure commercial activities comply with applicable customs, taxation, sanctions, duty-free, and product regulations.
35. Proactively manage customer credit exposure, overdue receivables, commercial claims, and other business risks.
36. Identify and flag commercial, operational, currency, regulatory, and credit risks, ensuring appropriate mitigation.
37. Maintain strong adherence to internal controls, policies, the Code of Business Conduct, and audit requirements.

1. Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in Business, Marketing, International Trade, Supply Chain, or a related field.
2. 5–8 years of commercial experience in exports, international business, FMCG, or consumer goods.
3. Proven experience in strategic account/distributor management, commercial negotiation, and international trade.
4. Strong commercial and financial competence, including forecasting, margin management, and performance analysis.
5. Strong relationship management and cross-functional leadership skills.
6. Solid understanding of export regulations, customs, Incoterms, and international logistics.
7. Fluency in English; proficiency in additional languages is advantageous.
8. Willingness to travel extensively.