Head of Commercial Excellence

Fonterra Brands Malaysia Sdn Bhd; Malaysia; On-site; MYR 250,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading food and beverage company in Malaysia is seeking a Head of Commercial Excellence to uplift commercial capability across the business. The role involves leading the Commercial Excellence Academy, translating strategy into actionable plans, and nurturing a high-performing team. Candidates should have significant FMCG experience, strong analytical skills, and the ability to influence at all levels. This role requires a commitment to continuous improvement and alignment with market dynamics.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in commercial excellence and sales strategy within FMCG or similar sectors.
• Expertise in commercial process optimization and sales enablement.
• Ability to lead and influence teams across functions.
• Strong communication skills, adept at driving change and managing stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and implementation of the Commercial Excellence Academy.
• Translate strategy into capability-building plans.
• Represent the commercial voice to cross-functional teams.
• Create go-to-market playbooks and process improvements.
• Monitor key performance indicators of initiatives.
• Develop the Commercial Excellence team.

Skills

Commercial excellence

Sales strategy

Business analytics

Stakeholder management

Data interpretation

Education

Tertiary qualification in business administration or related discipline

Job description

Reporting to the GM, Strategy Enablement, the Head of Commercial Excellence is responsible for uplifting commercial capability across the business, focusing on commercial acumen, business acumen, and functional capability (sales, channel, chef). This will be achieved by building capability assessments, creating a roadmap, and developing an aligned business scorecard. The role ensures the commercial lens is embedded in strategy execution and capability uplift across the team.

Key Accountabilities

• Lead the design and implementation of the Anchor FP Commercial Excellence Academy, partnering with internal stakeholders to build commercial acumen and functional capability across sales, channel, and chef teams. Develop and maintain a commercial capability assessment framework to identify strengths, gaps, and priority areas for development.
• Translate commercial strategy into actionable capability-building plans, ensuring alignment with business objectives and market needs. Develop, socialise, and maintain a commercial capability roadmap and aligned business scorecard to track progress and impact.
• Represent the commercial voice of the business to group capability, marketing, and innovation teams, ensuring commercial needs are embedded in cross-functional initiatives. Build strong relationships with market teams to capture, collate, and synthesise cross-market capability needs.
• Lead the creation and rollout of go-to-market playbooks, commercial best practices, and process improvements. Foster a culture of excellence, continuous improvement, and knowledge sharing within the Strategy Enablement team and across the wider business.
• Define and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness of commercial capability initiatives. Provide regular reporting and insights to the GM, Strategy Enablement, and other senior stakeholders.
• Lead, coach, and develop the Commercial Excellence team, including direct and indirect reports, to deliver on capability uplift objectives. Role model Fonterra’s values and leadership behaviours, contributing to a high-performing and engaged team culture.

Critical Skills & Experience

• Tertiary qualification in business administration, commerce or a business-related discipline
• Significant experience in commercial excellence, sales strategy, or business analytics within FMCG, Foodservice, or a similar sector; demonstrated success in leading commercial capability uplift and embedding commercial best practices across diverse teams; and experience working in a matrixed, cross-functional environment, ideally with exposure to both global and local market dynamics.
• Deep expertise in commercial process optimisation, sales enablement, and business performance measurement; strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret complex data and translate insights into actionable plans; and proficiency in developing and implementing capability frameworks, scorecards, and roadmaps.
• Proven ability to lead, influence, and inspire teams and stakeholders at all levels; excellent stakeholder management and collaboration skills, with experience partnering across multiple functions and markets; and ability to foster a culture of excellence, continuous improvement, and commercial acumen.
• Effective communicator, able to engage and inspire at all levels of the organisation; skilled at driving change and embedding new ways of working in complex environments.