Wholesale Excellence Specialist

Ares Holdings; Wes-Kaap; On-site; ZAR 550,000 - 750,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Gym & Shower facilities

Personal Trainer

Yoga

Staff discount (50%) across brands

Healthy Lunch subsidy

Holistic Employee Wellness programme

Connected culture

Job summary

Ares Holdings in South Africa is seeking a Wholesale Excellence Specialist to drive coordination and continuous improvement of commercial planning and go-to-market processes across all wholesale brands. You will connect Wholesale Sales, Brand teams and cross-functional stakeholders to ensure seasonal planning, sell-in preparation and timely deliverables.

Reporting to Senior Manager: Wholesale, you will support sales managers with consolidated insights, manage GTM calendars, enable sales with

Qualifications

• Grade 12; relevant tertiary qualification in Business, Commerce, Sales, Marketing, Planning or related field is advantageous.
• 3–5 years in wholesale, sales planning, or related coordination role.
• Advanced MS Excel and PowerPoint skills; experience with ERP or business reporting tools.

Responsibilities

• Own and maintain master seasonal GTM calendar across all brands with milestones and deadlines.
• Coordinate seasonal sell-in and launch readiness, ensuring information and sales tools are available.
• Coordinate cross-functional alignment among Wholesale Sales, Brand, Buying, Planning, Marketing and Operations.
• Consolidate market feedback, forecasts and risks; track milestones and escalate gaps.
• Prepare and maintain consistent seasonal presentations, sell-in tools and templates.
• Provide regular updates on progress, risks and outstanding actions to the Senior Manager: Wholesale.

Skills

Coordination

GTM Planning

Sales Enablement

Stakeholder Management

Forecasting

PowerPoint

Education

Grade 12

Business/Commerce/Marketing qualification

Tools

ERP systems

Microsoft Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

Job title : Wholesale Excellence Specialist

Department : Ares Holdings, Wholesale

Reporting to : Senior Manager: Wholesale

Direct reports : N/A

Key stakeholders : Wholesale Sales, Brand teams, Buying, Planning, Sales Operations, Ares Operations and global brand teams

Main purpose : To drive the coordination, consistency and continuous improvement of commercial planning and go-to-market processes across all wholesale brands. The role connects Wholesale Sales, Brand teams and cross-functional stakeholders to ensure seasonal planning, sell-in preparation, sales enablement and key deliverables are coordinated, with clear visibility of priorities, deadlines, risks and actions. It supports Sales Managers through consolidated commercial insights, recommendations and follow-through, while commercial decision-making and customer ownership remain with the relevant sales leadership and account teams.

ACCOUNTABILITY PROFILE

KEY ACCOUNTABILITY 1: GO-TO-MARKET EXCELLENCE

• Own and maintain the master seasonal go-to-market calendar across all brands, including milestones, deadlines, dependencies and deliverables.
• Coordinate the commercial sell-in process from seasonal preparation and pre-lines through customer sell-in and order book confirmation.
• Coordinate launch readiness, ensuring product information, pricing inputs, sales tools and materials are available on time.
• Align Wholesale Sales, Brand, Buying, Planning, Marketing, Trade Marketing and Operations around seasonal priorities.
• Consolidate customer feedback, commercial inputs and forecast assumptions, highlighting gaps, risks and areas requiring alignment.
• Coordinate seasonal sell-in presentations, global brand share-outs and consolidated Wholesale feedback.
• Track milestones and elevate coordination gaps, risks or competing priorities.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

• GTM milestone and deadline adherence
• Seasonal sell-in readiness
• Launch readiness and material availability
• Quality and timeliness of global share-outs
• Customer feedback and commercial inputs consolidated

KEY ACCOUNTABILITY 2: SALES ENABLEMENT AND EXCELLENCE

• Ensure sales teams have the tools, product information, assets and commercial inputs required for effective sell-in.
• Coordinate product training and timely distribution of product knowledge.
• Develop and maintain consistent seasonal sales presentations, sell-in tools and best-practice materials across brands.
• Support the preparation of Key Account strategic account planning templates.
• Compile and analyse market share, sales performance, customer and channel information to identify opportunities, risks and trends.
• Support customer business review materials and participate when requested by the relevant stakeholder
• Identify opportunities to improve how Wholesale presents itself to customers and global brand teams.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

• Availability and quality of sales tools and assets
• Product training coordination
• Consistency of seasonal sell-in materials
• Quality of market and sales insights
• Customer review material readiness

KEY ACCOUNTABILITY 3: WHOLESALE PLANNING AND GOVERNANCE

• Coordinate seasonal planning cycles and consolidate relevant commercial inputs, submissions and updates.
• Facilitate forecast alignment by consolidating inputs, highlighting variances and making assumptions and outstanding questions visible.
• Coordinate order book reviews by consolidating inputs, tracking progress and highlighting risks to order conversion and seasonal milestones.
• Track pitchback submissions and approval timelines, following up on outstanding decisions without assuming approval authority.
• Maintain visibility of decisions, actions, deadlines and dependencies, ensuring clear ownership and follow-through.
• Identify process gaps and opportunities to improve efficiency, data quality and cross-functional execution.
• Provide regular updates to the Senior Manager: Wholesale and relevant stakeholders on progress, risks and outstanding actions.
• Maintain master distribution lists, seasonal templates, calendars and planning documentation.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

• Timely and complete planning submissions
• Visibility of forecast assumptions and variances
• Order book review and milestone tracking
• Pitchback timeline follow-up
• Action closure and clear accountability
• Process efficiency and data quality improvements

KEY ACCOUNTABILITY 4: STAKEHOLDER COORDINATION AND COMPANY VALUES

• Act as a central coordination point between Wholesale Sales and Brand teams, managing information requests, feedback and deliverables.
• Work collaboratively with Sales Operations and cross-functional teams in line with agreed responsibilities and ways of working.
• Recommend priorities and highlight competing demands; elevate decisions affecting Sales Managers' teams or commercial priorities to the relevant Sales Manager or Senior Manager: Wholesale.
• Retain clear role boundaries: Sales Managers own commercial decisions and approvals; Key Account Managers own customer relationships and commitments; Sales Operations owns operational systems and execution; functional teams own their respective inputs and decisions.
• Act sustainably; celebrate wins; stand for equality; love athletes; and fight on together.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

• Stakeholder feedback on coordination and communication
• Clear ownership and escalation of decisions
• Cross-functional delivery against agreed deadlines
• Adherence to agreed role boundaries and approval processes
• Collaboration and alignment with company values

COMPETENCY PROFILE

KEY LEADERSHIP & INTERPERSONAL COMPETENCIES

• VALUES: We believe in the power of brands and growing brands responsibly.
  We believe in developing and building our teams for the benefit of all stakeholders.
  We believe in continuous investment into our people and our business platforms.
  We care deeply about our environment and our people.
  
• KEY LEADERSHIP & INTERPERSONAL COMPETENCIES Collaboration: Work effectively across Wholesale Sales, Brand and cross-functional teams.
  Proactive Communication: Communicate clearly, share updates and surface risks early.
  Influence Without Authority: Build alignment and follow-through without direct reports.
  Organisation & Accountability: Manage multiple timelines, actions and deliverables reliably.
  Problem-Solving: Identify process gaps and recommend practical improvements.
  Adaptability: Respond constructively to changing priorities and seasonal requirements.
  Continuous Improvement: Encourage consistent, effective ways of working across brands.

TECHNICAL AND FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES

• Go-to-Market Planning: Coordinate seasonal GTM calendars, sell-in milestones and launch readiness.
  Commercial Analysis: Consolidate and interpret sales, market share, customer and channel information.
  Forecast Coordination: Bring forecast inputs together, highlight variances and make assumptions visible.
  Project Coordination: Track deliverables, dependencies, actions and deadlines across functions.
  Sales Enablement: Prepare and maintain presentations, sell-in tools, account templates and product information.
  Reporting & Presentation: Build clear, accurate PowerPoint materials and communicate insights effectively.
  Microsoft Office: Strong Excel and PowerPoint skills; confidence working with business systems and data.
  Process Governance: Maintain planning documentation, track actions and identify opportunities to improve data quality and efficiency.
  Wholesale Knowledge: Understand seasonal sell-in, account planning and the wholesale trading environment.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

Education

Grade 12.
Relevant tertiary qualification in Business, Commerce, Sales, Marketing, Planning or a related field (advantageous).

Experience

Approximately 3-5 years' experience in wholesale, sales planning, commercial coordination, sales enablement or a related role.
Experience coordinating cross-functional projects, timelines and deliverables.
Experience consolidating commercial information and preparing presentations or reports.
Advanced Microsoft Office proficiency, particularly Excel and PowerPoint.
Exposure to ERP or business reporting systems (advantageous).

Industry Knowledge

Good understanding of seasonal sell-in processes, account planning and the wholesale trading environment.
Awareness of commercial performance measures, market trends, customer/channel dynamics and forecasting principles.
Experience in a multi-brand retail, wholesale or branded distribution environment (advantageous).

Professional & Behavioural

Highly organised, structured and deadline driven, with strong attention to detail.
Analytical, with the ability to consolidate information and identify trends, risks and gaps.
Strong written and verbal communication and presentation skills.
Able to influence and coordinate stakeholders without direct authority.
Proactive, solutions-oriented and committed to follow-through and continuous improvement.
Able to work independently while collaborating effectively across teams.

• You get to work for a rapidly expanding distributor with aspirational brands
• Gym & Shower facilities
• Personal Trainer
• Yoga
  
• Staff discount (50% off for you and your family across all the brands within the group)
• Healthy Lunch subsidy
  
• Holistic Employee Wellness programme
• The group prides itself in its effort to drive continuous employee engagement activities to enable a connected culture.

Should you not be contacted regarding this position within 2 weeks from the closing date, please regard your application as unsuccessful.