Sales Head

1. Basic Mission

To drive volume-led, profitable growth for high-capacity automated bakery plant, ensuring optimal plant utilization, accurate demand forecasting, minimal returns/expiry, and strong multi-channel distribution across General Trade, Modern Trade, HoReCa and Institutional customers.

This role is critical to unlocking ROI from capital-intensive automation by aligning sales velocity with production efficiency.

The Sales Head is responsible for driving revenue growth, expanding market presence, strengthening distribution, and building a high-performing sales organization for the company's bread, buns, and rusk portfolio across Uttar Pradesh and adjoining markets. The role requires deep FMCG sales expertise, especially in high-velocity, low-margin, short shelf-life products. 

Sales Head is the first line of financial control in cash markets and is accountable for completeness of sales, accuracy of cash collection, timely deposit and zero leakage

1. Main responsibilities

Revenue Growth & Capacity Utilization

• Develop and execute sales strategies aligned with plant throughput and line capacities.
• Ensure optimal utilization of automated production lines through:
• Stable demand planning
• SKU rationalization
• Channel mix optimization
• Drive consistent daily off-take to avoid production disruptions and wastage.

Channel Growth & Management

• Build deep distribution across UP, North India, and adjoining states.
• Design route-to-market models suited for high daily volumes.
• Route & Beat Accountability. Approve:
• Route-wise rate cards
• Outlet list per beat
• Any deviation in price or quantity must be documented.
• Drive numeric and weighted distribution while maintaining tight credit and returns control. Credit Policy Enforcement. In cash markets when occasional credit happens. Sales Head must:
• Define who can give credit
• Set credit limits & duration
• Approve any exception
• No informal credit without approval.

Manage and grow sales across multiple channels:

A. General Trade (GT)

• Strengthen distributor network across urban, semi-urban, and rural markets.
• Improve numeric and weighted distribution.
• Ensure daily beat planning, outlet coverage, and visibility.

B. Modern Trade (MT)

• Handle key accounts (Reliance Marts, Best Price, local chains, etc.).
• Manage listings, promotions, margins, and secondary sales.
• Ensure supply chain discipline and service levels.

C. HoReCa & Institutional Sales

• Develop B2B sales to:
• Hotels
• Restaurants
• QSRs
• Cafes
• Caterers
• Customize products (burger buns, pav buns, sliced bread specs) as per client needs.

    D. Explore & expand street/stall Sales

• Develop street side sales of breads, buns, rusks, pao etc to:
• Street tea vendors
• Small burger, sandwich carts
• Bun maska vendors
• Other B2C food outlets

Trade Marketing & Promotions

• Design and execute:
• Trade schemes
• Retailer incentives
• Visibility drives (POSM, signage, racks)
• Coordinate with marketing for:
• In-store branding
• Consumer promotions
• Festival and seasonal campaigns
• Build a strong B2B / institutional vertical for:
• Burger buns
• Sandwich breads
• Custom SKUs
• Secure long-term contracts with:
• QSR chains
• Hotels
• Airlines
• Railways
• Defence / Govt institutions
• Work closely with QA & R&D for specification-driven production.

Product Portfolio & SKU Discipline

• Lead SKU rationalization to balance:
• Market needs
• Line efficiency
• Shelf-life constraints
• Drive decisions on:
• Pack sizes
• Regional variants
• Private label opportunities
• Support new product launches without disrupting core throughput.

Demand Forecasting & Production Coordination

• Prepare accurate sales forecasts to minimize:
• Stock-outs
• Expiry
• Returns
• Work closely with:
• Production
• Supply Chain
• QA

to align demand with daily manufacturing schedules.

Distributor & Dealer Management and Sales Control

• Appoint, train, evaluate, and retain distributors and super-stockists.
• Define distributor ROI models, credit limits, and incentive structures.
• Resolve distributor grievances and manage conflicts professionally.
• Bread Issue vs Sale Control via daily monitoring of:
• Bread issued from factory/distributor
• Unsold returns
• Expiry/wastage

Distribution Partner Economics & Governance

• Design distributor ROI models aligned with:
• High volumes
• Low margins
• Tight working capital cycles
• Monitor:
• Secondary sales
• Inventory aging
• Expiry & returns
• Enforce strict distributor governance and compliance.

Pricing, Margins & Profitability and Finance Coordiation

• Monitor gross margins across products and channels.
• Control discounts, schemes, and trade spends.
• Recommend price revisions based on:
• Input cost changes
• Competition
• Market dynamics
• Manage cash deposit timelines to ensure that:
• Same-day or next-day bank deposit
• Defined cut-off times
• Proof of deposit submission
• Coordination with Finance
• Daily sharing of cash sales summary
• Deposit confirmation
• Delays in collections
• Short collections
• Repeated mismatches

Cash Memo / Invoice Discipline

• Ensure pre-numbered cash memos or POS-generated invoices.
• No sales without:
• Cash memo
• Rate approval
• GST compliance:
• Even if buyer doesn't need invoice, company must generate one

Route & Beat Accountability

• Approve:
• Route-wise rate cards
• Outlet list per beat
• Any deviation in price or quantity to be documented.

MIS, Reporting & Analytics

• Review daily, weekly, and monthly MIS:
• Primary & secondary sales
• Distributor stock
• Returns & expiry
• Outlet productivity
• Use data to improve route efficiency and sales productivity.

Sales Head to review and sign off on the following reports:

Report

Frequency

Route-wise Sales vs Cash

Daily

Outlet-wise Cash Collection

Daily

Returns & Wastage

Daily

Salesman-wise Short/Excess

Daily

Cash Deposit Delay Report

Daily

Route Profitability

Weekly

Cash Leakage Trend

Monthly

Market Intelligence & Competition Tracking

• Track competitor pricing, schemes, new launches.
• Provide regular market feedback to management.
• Recommend counter-strategies for competitive markets.

 Compliance & Governance

• Ensure compliance with:
• Company policies
• Credit norms
• Legal & statutory requirements
• Maintain ethical sales practices.

Sales Team Leadership & Capability Building

• Recruit, train, and mentor sales managers, ASM, SEs.
• Set clear KPIs and performance benchmarks.
• Conduct regular reviews, field visits, and coaching.
• Build a strong performance-driven sales culture.
• Cross-Functional Leadership & Governance
• Act as a core member of the leadership team. 
• Drive collaboration between Sales, Factory, Logistics, QA, Finance. 
• Ensure ethical practices, compliance, and audit readiness.

1. Key Skills & Competencies

• Strong understanding of UP & North India FMCG markets
• Expertise in distributor-led sales models
• Excellent negotiation & relationship management skills
• Data-driven decision-making
• Hands-on leadership and execution focus
• Ability to work in early morning / fast-paced operations
• Excellent stakeholder management (suppliers, distributors, regulators).

1. Qualifications & Experience

• MBA / PGDM in Sales & Marketing preferred
• Graduate with strong FMCG sales background acceptable
• 12-15 years of experience in FMCG/food processing industry, with at least 3+ years in a sales head role.
• Proven track record in managing sales of large-scale bakery, dairy, or packaged food business.
• Mandatory experience in: 1)Bakery / Food / FMCG 2)High-frequency distribution  products 3)Managing large distributor networks

1. Relationships

    Hierarchic:

The Sales Head will report to the BU head/CEO.

    Team Size: Zonal / Regional Sales Heads, Key Account Managers, Institutional Sales Team, Trade Marketing, Analytics & MIS