Business Head/Chief Executive Officer - General Trade - FMCG

Position: Business Head / Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Reporting To: Board / Managing Director / Promoters

Role Overview:

The incumbent will have end-to-end P&L ownership and will be responsible for driving profitable growth across Sales, Marketing, Distribution, Supply Chain and Operations. The role requires a strong understanding of the Indian FMCG ecosystem, particularly General Trade, distributor management, channel expansion, sales force productivity and route-to-market strategy.

The ideal candidate should have demonstrated experience in building and scaling FMCG businesses, managing large sales and distribution networks, strengthening brands, and delivering sustainable revenue and profitability growth.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Overall Business & P&L Leadership:

- Own the complete P&L of the business, including revenue, gross margin, EBITDA, working capital and profitability.

- Develop and execute the overall business strategy in line with the company's growth objectives.

- Drive revenue growth, market expansion, profitability and return on investment.

- Identify new business opportunities, geographies, categories and channels.

- Present business performance, strategy and growth plans to the Board / Promoters.

2. Sales & General Trade:

- Lead the overall General Trade sales strategy across India.

- Build and strengthen the distributor, wholesaler and retailer network.

- Drive numeric distribution, weighted distribution, outlet expansion and sales productivity.

- Develop effective territory, distributor and beat-wise sales strategies.

- Improve sales-force effectiveness, productivity, incentive structures and performance management.

- Strengthen relationships with key distributors and channel partners.

- Develop and execute regional and national expansion strategies.

3. Marketing & Brand Management:

- Lead the overall marketing strategy in partnership with the marketing team.

- Build strong brands and improve consumer awareness, penetration and market share.

- Develop product, pricing, promotion and communication strategies.

- Ensure effective alignment between brand strategy and General Trade execution.

- Identify consumer trends and opportunities for new product development and portfolio expansion.

4. Supply Chain & Operations:

- Provide strategic leadership to the end-to-end Supply Chain, including demand planning, procurement, manufacturing, inventory, warehousing and distribution.

- Improve forecast accuracy, service levels, inventory turns and supply-chain efficiency.

- Ensure optimum availability of products across the General Trade network.

- Work closely with manufacturing and procurement teams to ensure cost competitiveness and continuity of supply.

- Drive initiatives to reduce wastage, logistics costs and working capital.

5. Commercial & Financial Management:

- Drive gross margin improvement and cost optimization.

- Ensure disciplined management of trade spends, promotional investments and marketing budgets.

- Monitor working capital, receivables, inventory and cash flows.

- Establish strong business-performance dashboards and review mechanisms.

6. Organization & Leadership:

- Build, develop and lead a high-performing leadership team across Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance and Operations.

- Create a performance-driven culture with clear KPIs and accountability.

- Develop succession plans and strengthen the organization's leadership pipeline.

- Work closely with the Board / Promoters on strategic and operational priorities.

Candidate Profile:

- 15 - 25+ years of experience in FMCG, preferably in a General Trade-led business.

- Should have held a Business Head / CEO / National Sales Head / Sales & Marketing Head / P&L leadership position.

- Strong demonstrated P&L ownership is mandatory.

- Strong experience across Sales and Marketing, with the ability to translate brand strategy into market execution.

- Should have meaningful exposure to Supply Chain / Operations, including demand planning, inventory, manufacturing and distribution.

- Proven track record of building businesses, expanding distribution and delivering profitable growth.

- Strong understanding of distributor economics, trade margins, GT structures and route-to-market models.

- Experience managing large teams and working closely with promoters / Board / senior stakeholders.

- Strong commercial orientation with an ability to balance growth, market share and profitability.