Commercial Director

Clear Search; Sydney; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

CLEAR SEARCH is recruiting a Commercial Director for a leading consumer food business with a national footprint across Australia and New Zealand. You will own customer development, financial performance and long-term growth across Petrol & Convenience, Grocery and Alternative Channels, reporting to the CEO on the Executive Leadership Team.

This hands-on role requires deep understanding of manufacturing, supply, packaging and pricing, with the ability to build capability in a high-performing

Qualifications

• Education: tertiary degree in Commerce, Business, Marketing or equivalent.
• Experience: 10+ years in FMCG national account and channel leadership across Grocery and Petrol & Convenience.
• P&L Management: full P&L ownership with financial modelling and negotiation capability.
• Supply Chain Context: experience in fresh, short shelf-life or high-complexity supply environments is an advantage.
• Category Management: deep category management capability across teams.
• Leadership: proven success building and coaching commercial teams with a collaborative approach.

Responsibilities

• Commercial Strategy & Channel Leadership: develop and deliver strategy across Petrol & Convenience, Grocery and Alternative Channels.
• Financial Management & P&L Ownership: own the P&L, manage trade spend and forecasting into S&OP.
• Customer Partnerships: build relationships with executive decision makers and lead negotiations grounded in data.
• Cross-Functional & Operational Alignment: work with Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Finance, Design and Marketing before signing contracts.
• Enterprise Leadership & Team Capability: lead, coach and develop the commercial team and contribute to enterprise strategy.

Job description

A well established consumer food business with a national manufacturing and distribution footprint across Australia and New Zealand, and a strong retail partner base. Fresh product, short shelf life, and an operating model where commercial decisions carry immediate consequences through manufacturing and supply.

Role Purpose

The Commercial Director owns customer development, financial performance and long-term growth of the Commercial business across Petrol & Convenience, Grocery and Alternative Channels. These channels represent a significant share of company revenue and the majority of volume sold.

Reporting to the CEO and sitting on the Executive Leadership Team, this is as much an internal role as an external one. Winning new business is only half of it. The role requires a clear understanding of what can be made, packed, distributed and invoiced profitably at scale, and the judgement to weigh that before commitments are made.

This is a hands-on role. The commercial team is capable and well regarded but still developing its account management, negotiation and category depth, so building that capability is a core part of the job rather than an add-on.

Key Responsibilities

• Commercial Strategy & Channel Leadership: Develop and deliver the strategy across Petrol & Convenience, Grocery and Alternative Channels. Build customer plans, joint business plans and short, medium and long-range forecasts. Use category, consumer and shopper insight to shape range, promotion and pricing.
• Financial Management & P&L Ownership: Own the Commercial P&L, delivering sales, margin and profitability targets. Manage trade spend, the promotional calendar and forecasting into the S&OP process.
• Customer Partnerships: Build and hold relationships with executive decision makers at major retail partners. Lead negotiations grounded in data and a clear view of the value exchange. Act as the voice of the customer internally.
• Cross-Functional & Operational Alignment: Work with Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Finance, Design and Marketing to assess the true operational cost and complexity of contracts, ranges and packaging configurations before they are signed.
• Enterprise Leadership & Team Capability: Lead, coach and develop the commercial team. Contribute to enterprise strategy and organisational priorities as an active member of the Executive Leadership Team.

Key Performance Indicators & Metrics

• Revenue & Profitability: Direct ownership of sales targets, gross margin and channel profitability across a business unit representing a significant share of company revenue.
• Planning & Execution: S&OP forecast accuracy, promotional ROI, and delivery of agreed trade spend and promotional campaign margins.
• Partner Success: Execution against Joint Business Plans and channel growth through expanded and new partnerships.

Requirements & Experience

• Education: Tertiary degree in Commerce, Business, Marketing, or equivalent commercial experience.
• Experience: 10+ years in FMCG national account and channel leadership, with proven coverage across Grocery and Petrol & Convenience.
• P&L Management: Full P&L ownership, with genuine financial modelling and negotiation capability.
• Supply Chain Context: Experience in fresh, short shelf-life or high-complexity supply environments is an advantage.
• Category Management: Deep category management capability, and the ability to build that capability across the team.
• Leadership: Proven success building and coaching commercial teams, including people still growing into account management. A considered, analytical and collaborative approach. This role suits someone who looks past the win to what a deal actually costs to deliver, and who brings people with them rather than working around them.