Procurement & Commercial Manager - #1170358

JOB DESCRIPTION

Procurement & Commercial Manager

Department: Procurement & Commercial

Reports To: General Manager / Managing Director

Direct Reports: Procurement / Purchasing Team

Industry: Supermarket / Retail / FMCG

1. JOB PURPOSE

The Procurement & Commercial Manager is responsible for driving the company’s procurement, supplier management, product assortment, pricing, promotions, and commercial profitability.

The role is accountable for ensuring that the business consistently has the right products, at the right quality, at the right price, in the right quantity, and at the right time, while maximizing gross margin and maintaining healthy inventory levels.

This is a commercially critical management position. The successful candidate must balance customer expectations for competitive prices with the company’s need to achieve sustainable margins, efficient inventory turnover, strong supplier terms, and healthy cash flow.

The Procurement & Commercial Manager will work closely with Management, Store Operations, Finance, Warehouse, Marketing, and Sales to ensure that procurement and commercial decisions support the overall business strategy.

2. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

A. PROCUREMENT & SOURCING

• Develop and implement the company’s procurement strategy for grocery, FMCG, household, personal care, beverages, and other daily essential products.
• Plan purchasing based on sales history, demand forecasts, seasonality, promotional activities, lead times, and inventory levels.
• Source products from competitive and reliable suppliers.
• Evaluate and appoint suppliers based on price, quality, reliability, payment terms, delivery capability, product range, and commercial support.
• Ensure continuous availability of key and fast-moving products.
• Develop alternative sources for critical products to reduce supply risk.
• Review and optimize the supplier base regularly.
• Ensure purchasing decisions are commercially justified and aligned with company objectives.

B. SUPPLIER NEGOTIATION & MANAGEMENT

Lead negotiations with suppliers to secure the best overall commercial terms, including:

• Purchase prices
• Volume discounts
• Promotional discounts
• Rebates and incentives
• Credit/payment terms
• Delivery terms
• Minimum order quantities
• Free goods / bonus quantities
• Listing and promotional support
• Product returns
• Damaged and expired product arrangements
• Marketing contributions
• New product introduction support

Maintain professional and strategic relationships with key suppliers while continuously challenging the business to obtain better commercial value.

Conduct regular supplier performance reviews and take corrective action where suppliers fail to meet agreed standards.

3. COMMERCIAL & PROFITABILITY MANAGEMENT

The Procurement & Commercial Manager will be responsible for ensuring that procurement decisions contribute directly to company profitability.

Key responsibilities include:

• Establish and monitor target gross margins by product/category.
• Review purchase costs and selling prices regularly.
• Monitor supplier price changes and their impact on margins.
• Recommend selling prices based on purchase cost, market pricing, competition, customer sensitivity, and target margins.
• Identify opportunities to improve gross margin without negatively affecting sales volume.
• Monitor price competitiveness against key competitors.
• Identify products that are high-volume but low-margin and develop appropriate commercial strategies.
• Identify high-margin products and opportunities to increase sales.
• Review commercial performance by category, supplier, brand, and SKU.
• Report major margin risks and opportunities to senior management.

The manager must not focus only on achieving the lowest purchase price. The objective is to maximize total commercial value and sustainable profitability.

4. CATEGORY MANAGEMENT

Take ownership of the commercial performance of key product categories.

Responsibilities include:

• Review sales and profitability by category.
• Determine appropriate product assortment.
• Introduce new products based on customer demand and market opportunities.
• Remove or replace consistently underperforming products.
• Analyze SKU productivity.
• Monitor category growth and profitability.
• Review brand and supplier performance.
• Identify opportunities for private-label or exclusive products where commercially viable.
• Ensure the assortment remains relevant to the supermarket’s target customers.

5. PRICING MANAGEMENT

Develop and maintain an effective retail pricing strategy.

• Monitor competitor prices on key essential products.
• Establish pricing guidelines and recommended selling prices.
• Review prices following supplier cost changes.
• Ensure price increases are commercially justified.
• Protect margins while maintaining competitive pricing.
• Identify key-value items where competitive pricing is particularly important to customer perception.
• Review pricing discrepancies and margin leakage.
• Work with Finance and Store Operations to ensure correct implementation of approved prices.

6. PROMOTIONS & TRADE ACTIVITIES

Plan and manage commercial promotions in cooperation with Marketing and Store Operations.

• Negotiate supplier-funded promotions.
• Develop promotional plans based on customer demand and sales objectives.
• Ensure adequate inventory is secured before promotions.
• Negotiate promotional discounts, rebates, and supplier contributions.
• Monitor promotional sales performance and profitability.
• Conduct post-promotion analysis.
• Identify promotions that generate sales but unnecessarily destroy margin.
• Ensure promotional activities are commercially sustainable.

7. INVENTORY & WORKING CAPITAL

Maintain the right balance between product availability and inventory investment.

• Establish appropriate minimum, maximum, and reorder levels.
• Monitor stock coverage and inventory turnover.
• Minimize stock-outs of essential products.
• Reduce overstock and slow-moving inventory.
• Identify and manage dead stock.
• Monitor expiry and near-expiry products.
• Develop action plans for excess inventory.
• Work with Warehouse and Store Operations to improve stock accuracy and replenishment.
• Ensure purchasing decisions do not unnecessarily tie up company cash.

Inventory must be treated as working capital, not simply as stock.

8. SALES & DEMAND ANALYSIS

Use commercial and sales data to support procurement decisions.

Regularly analyze:

• Sales by SKU
• Sales by category
• Sales by supplier
• Sales volume
• Gross margin
• Gross profit
• Stock turnover
• Stock coverage
• Lost sales due to stock-outs
• Slow-moving products
• Promotional performance
• Supplier performance
• Purchase price trends

Use data to identify opportunities and make proactive procurement decisions rather than relying solely on historical purchasing practices or supplier recommendations.

9. SUPPLIER PERFORMANCE & RISK MANAGEMENT

Establish clear supplier KPIs, including:

• On-time delivery
• Order fulfillment
• Product availability
• Product quality
• Price competitiveness
• Lead time
• Credit terms
• Returns management
• Promotional support
• Responsiveness

Develop contingency plans for important products and suppliers.

The manager should proactively identify risks such as:

• Supplier dependency
• Product shortages
• Significant price increases
• Poor-quality products
• Long lead times
• Regulatory issues
• Supply interruptions
• Unfavorable payment terms

10. CROSS-FUNCTIONAL MANAGEMENT

Store Operations

To ensure product availability, correct pricing, promotions, and customer satisfaction.

Finance

To manage budgets, margins, supplier payments, rebates, credit terms, and financial performance.

Warehouse

To improve replenishment, stock accuracy, receiving, storage, and inventory turnover.

Marketing

To develop promotions, campaigns, supplier-funded activities, and new product launches.

Senior Management

To provide commercial insights, procurement recommendations, risks, and opportunities.

11. TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Lead and manage the procurement/purchasing team.
• Set clear individual and departmental KPIs.
• Coach and develop team members.
• Establish accountability for purchasing decisions.
• Improve procurement processes and working practices.
• Ensure purchasing activities follow company approval procedures.
• Promote ethical procurement practices.
• Prevent conflicts of interest and unauthorized supplier arrangements.

12. PROCUREMENT & COMMERCIAL CONTROLS

Ensure that:

• All purchases are properly authorized.
• Supplier pricing is documented and approved.
• Purchase orders are issued according to company procedures.
• Supplier agreements are properly recorded.
• Rebates and commercial incentives are fully captured.
• Supplier invoices are matched against agreed prices and deliveries.
• Unauthorized price changes are identified.
• Commercial agreements are periodically reviewed.
• Procurement activities are transparent and auditable.

13. KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPIs)

Commercial

• Gross margin %
• Gross profit
• Sales growth
• Category profitability
• Purchase price savings
• Supplier rebates and commercial income
• Pricing competitiveness

Procurement

• Supplier on-time delivery %
• Supplier fulfillment %
• Purchase price variance
• Procurement savings
• Supplier performance score
• Supplier payment/credit terms

Inventory

• Inventory turnover
• Stock days
• Stock-out %
• Overstock %
• Slow-moving inventory
• Dead stock
• Expired/wasted products

Promotions

• Promotional sales growth
• Promotional gross margin
• Supplier promotional contribution
• Promotion ROI

Operational

• Purchase order accuracy
• Procurement budget adherence
• Contract compliance
• Invoice/price discrepancy rate

14. DECISION-MAKING EXPECTATIONS

The Procurement & Commercial Manager is expected to make decisions based on data, profitability, customer demand, market conditions, and business strategy.

The manager must be willing to challenge:

• Supplier pricing
• Unnecessary product purchases
• Excessive inventory
• Poor-performing suppliers
• Low-margin products
• Ineffective promotions
• Uncompetitive pricing
• Unprofitable commercial arrangements

The manager should not accept supplier proposals simply because they offer discounts or attractive purchasing terms. Every commercial proposal must be evaluated based on its total financial impact on the business.

15. AUTHORITY & ACCOUNTABILITY

Within the company's approved delegation of authority, the Procurement & Commercial Manager will have responsibility for:

• Supplier selection and evaluation
• Procurement negotiations
• Product sourcing
• Purchase cost negotiations
• Commercial terms
• Supplier rebates and incentives
• Product assortment recommendations
• Pricing recommendations
• Promotional recommendations
• Inventory purchasing decisions
• Supplier performance management
• Procurement team performance

Major supplier contracts, exceptional purchases, significant pricing decisions, and commitments outside delegated authority must be escalated to senior management for approval.

16. QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Procurement, Supply Chain, Business Administration, Commerce, Retail Management, or a related discipline.

Experience

• Minimum 5–8 years of relevant experience in procurement, purchasing, commercial management, FMCG, supermarket, retail, wholesale, or distribution.
• At least 2–3 years in a supervisory or managerial position preferred.
• Proven experience in supplier negotiations and commercial management.
• Strong experience with FMCG or daily essential products is highly desirable.
• Experience managing multiple product categories and high-volume purchasing is preferred.

17. REQUIRED SKILLS & COMPETENCIES

The ideal candidate should have:

• Strong commercial judgment
• Excellent negotiation skills
• Strong analytical and numerical skills
• Knowledge of FMCG/retail markets
• Strong understanding of gross margin and profitability
• Demand forecasting ability
• Inventory management knowledge
• Supplier relationship management
• Pricing and promotion experience
• Strong Excel/data-analysis capability
• ERP/POS/inventory-system experience
• Strong communication skills
• Leadership and team-management ability
• Problem-solving and decision-making skills
• High integrity and ethical standards
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines