Modern Trade Project Manager

Modern Trade Project Manager Department: Sales / Modern Trade Location: Kenya – National Coverage Reports to: Head of Sales Team: Team Leaders and Merchandisers Industry: Consumer Electronics Job Purpose As Modern Trade Project Manager at Smart Sales Kenya LTD, you will spearhead sales growth and operational excellence across Kenya's leading Tier 1 and Tier 2 supermarket chains. This is a strategic role that bridges commercial objectives with on-ground execution, requiring you to lead a dedicated field team while maintaining strong retailer partnerships. You will ensure products are perfectly positioned, competitively priced, prominently displayed and actively promoted—driving agreed sales targets and execution standards across the modern trade network. Key Responsibilities Team Leadership and People Management Lead and develop a national team of Team Leaders and Merchandisers, setting ambitious yet achievable individual and team targets aligned to modern trade goals. You will allocate manpower and territories strategically across supermarket chains, conduct regular field visits and performance reviews, and monitor team attendance, productivity, discipline and compliance. Your focus will be building a high-performance culture rooted in accountability, ownership and continuous improvement while identifying staffing gaps and collaborating with HR for timely recruitment and deployment. Modern Trade Account and Store Management Manage execution across key retailers including Carrefour, Naivas, Quickmart, Chandarana Foodplus, Cleanshelf, Eastmatt and other national and regional supermarket chains. You will build and maintain strong relationships with store managers and commercial contacts, understand individual retailer requirements and operating procedures, coordinate brand activities and campaigns, ensure compliance with retailer standards, resolve store-level issues, and identify opportunities for expanded displays, visibility and distribution. Sales and Commercial Performance Drive achievement of monthly, quarterly and annual sales targets across the modern trade channel. You will monitor performance by retailer, store, product and region, track sell-in and sell-out data, identify underperformers and implement corrective actions, collaborate with distribution teams to maintain optimal stock levels, support new product launches, and identify opportunities to increase market share and product penetration. Merchandising and Retail Execution Ensure consistent execution of brand standards across all stores, including product availability, planogram compliance, pricing accuracy, point-of-sale material deployment, display quality, stock rotation, out-of-stock resolution and promotional execution. You will establish measurable execution standards and conduct regular audits across the network. Field Operations and Performance Management Develop daily, weekly and monthly field execution plans, manage store coverage and merchandiser routing, establish visit priorities based on sales potential, monitor field team productivity through reporting tools, review Team Leader reports, conduct field audits and mystery checks, ensure timely submission of performance reports, and implement corrective action plans for underperforming areas. Reporting and Analytics Prepare comprehensive performance reports covering sales achievement, retailer and store performance, stock availability, store coverage, merchandiser productivity, visibility compliance, promotional execution, new product distribution and competitor activity. Translate field data into clear commercial insights and actionable recommendations for management. Stakeholder Management Collaborate effectively with the Head of Sales, Key Account Managers, distributors, supply chain and marketing teams, finance, HR, supermarket management and external service agencies to ensure seamless communication between commercial strategy and field execution. Key Performance Indicators Commercial Performance Achievement of sales targets, sales growth versus prior period, sell-out growth, sales contribution by retailer and store, SKU and category performance, and distribution and product penetration rates.