Commercial Manager - Riyadh (Saudi)

Ornua Foods; Riyadh; On-site; SAR 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in the dairy sector is seeking a motivated Commercial Manager to lead its Foodservice, Bakery, and Food Manufacturing sectors in Saudi Arabia. This role involves developing business strategies, managing client relationships, and driving sales growth while collaborating with regional teams. The ideal candidate should have a strong background in sales within the food industry, excellent communication skills, and the ability to influence and negotiate effectively.

Qualifications

• Sales experience in Food Service, QSR, Bakery, or Dairy industries.
• Strong commercial acumen with the ability to close opportunities effectively.
• Ability to build relationships across multiple organizational levels.

Responsibilities

• Manage and grow sales by developing comprehensive business plans.
• Drive growth in the Bakery channel and manage existing clients.
• Analyze and report on market data to identify growth opportunities.

Skills

Communication

Negotiation

Influencing

Presentation

Product Demonstration

Analytical Skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, or food-related discipline

Job description

Ornua is a dairy co-operative that sells dairy products on behalf of its members, including Ireland’s dairy processors and farmers. It is Ireland’s largest exporter of Irish dairy products, exporting to 110 countries worldwide. Headquartered in Dublin, Ornua has annualized sales of over € billion and a global team of 3,000 employees.

Ornua operates through two divisions: Ornua Foods and Ornua Ingredients. We have 10 business units worldwide, including 16 production facilities, with sales and marketing teams across Africa, Asia, Germany, Ireland, the Middle East, Spain, the UK, and the US. Our brands include Kerrygold, Dubliner, Pilgrim’s Choice, Avantage, Forto, and BEO.

Our core values—Seek and Embrace New Ideas, Make It Happen, Be Our True Selves, Show You Care, and Achieve Great Things Together—guide our actions and behaviors. Our co-operative ethos emphasizes sustainable, profitable growth aligned with our ‘Path to Prosper’ strategy, aiming for continued expansion over the next five years.

Role Overview

We are seeking a motivated Commercial Manager to lead our Foodservice, Bakery, and Food Manufacturing sectors, focusing on innovation and expansion. This role aims to position us as a leading functional dairy solutions provider in the ME Food Service industry. Reporting to the Head of Foodservice, International, and part of the Ornua Ingredients International team, you will work across our regional HQs in Dubai, with offices in South Africa, and manufacturing facilities in Nigeria and Saudi Arabia. The primary focus will be on developing our Ornua Saudi business while collaborating with wider Ornua ingredients teams.

KEY AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

1. Manage and grow sales by developing comprehensive business plans covering sales, revenue, expenses, and collections.
2. Ensure accurate monthly sales forecasts to support raw material and production planning at the Saudi facility.
3. Drive growth in the Bakery channel, managing existing clients and developing new industrial Bakery and manufacturing customers.
4. Develop a growth strategy in the B2B Labneh market, focusing on import substitution.
5. Gain in-depth knowledge of Ornua and customer capabilities to facilitate technical solution selling rather than commodity sales.
6. Collaborate with customers and internal teams (Commercial, Supply Chain, Insights, NPD & Innovation) to create customer-centric solutions.
7. Understand local consumer bakery strategies, attend key meetings, and influence business development with customers.
8. Analyze and report on market data to identify growth opportunities and optimize business performance.
9. Work on optimizing commercial and operational processes to enhance customer service quality.
10. Develop and monitor annual budgets, track performance against KPIs, and update forecasts regularly.
11. Prepare management reports and continuously seek business improvements in the region.
12. Serve as Ornua’s Foods Manufacturing expert in KSA, sharing insights internally and externally.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

1. Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, or food-related discipline, with sales experience in Food Service, QSR, Bakery, or Dairy industries.
2. Energetic with excellent communication, negotiation, influencing, presentation, and product demonstration skills.
3. Strong commercial acumen with the ability to close opportunities effectively.
4. Understanding of financial P&L, value chain, numerical analysis, and reporting.
5. Ability to build relationships across multiple organizational levels within customers.
6. Collaborative, influential, enthusiastic, resilient, and professional.
7. High integrity, passion, self-motivation, analytical skills, and flexibility to travel.
8. Based in KSA, working with regional and cross-functional teams and customers.

Value Requirements

1. Alignment with Ornua’s core values; lead by example.
2. People management skills including conflict resolution, motivation, coaching, and mentoring.
3. Managerial skills to plan, lead, organize, and control NPD functions.
4. Accuracy in methodology and results.
5. Analytical skills for interpreting test results and sensory data.
6. Stress tolerance to work effectively under pressure while remaining calm and realistic.