Commercial Director Wholesale Plants

Client

Our client is a leading European company in the production, distribution and sales of a wide variety of flowers and plants. 
 
The position of the commercial Director wholesale plants.

Direct reports: Two direct reports, total span of control 51.

Objective:

• Build a strong and coherent team. In particular the middle management layer needs to be educated, coached and brought to a higher level of capabilities and responsibility.
• Lead cultural change towards a more commercially driven organisation. Ownership and spirit need to be enhanced. Create a ‘winning’ organisation.
• Lead the change towards a focus on retail. Build out Garden Centres and Do It Yourself chains while maintaining the position on the traditional wholesale market.
• Improve profitability by transforming to higher margin business (client management, rigorous client selection, credit management focus).
• Create an effective and efficient organisation, in particular the purchase function needs to be centralised and rationalised. Organisational clarity on division of tasks and responsibility.
• Create sufficient insight in KPI’s. Enhance quality of management information.
• Develop new markets (do it yourself chains, plants for retail).
• Enhance workflow efficiency in close co-operation with Operations Director.

Candidate's profile

• Entrepreneurship: finding new product market combinations. Innovates in the field of customer service and/or products and fulfils the role of business partner for all customers. Explore and exploit new possibilities. Creative and out of the box commercial thinking.
• Networking: Develops and maintains a professional and extensive network of relations and uses this to bring others into contact with the one another and to create synergies.
• Negotiation skills: excellent commercial negotiator. Switches negotiating strategy in order to achieve an optimal joint result in the short and long term.
• People management: Well developed coaching skills. Focus on people development. Motivator of the team. Hands on mentality. Lead by example.
• Perseverance: Energy to reach results despite difficulties. Determined to continue until the result is reached.
• Balance: Stress proof. Keep clear mind and overview, also in times of large pressure and complexity.

Experience:

• Minimum 10 years of experience as a commercial manager/director with full P&L responsibilities.
• Experience in retail and wholesale markets, preferably in plants or flowers, alternatively in fresh products
• Bachelor or Master degree (HBO-level) in (business) economics.
• Preferably experience in trading environment if possible Agri Business.
• Preferably experienced in working in an international environment.
• Fluent in Dutch and English and preferably either French, German or Italian.

Remuneration:

Total salary will be in the range of €140.000 to €170.000 plus a bonus.

Contact information:

You can apply by using the link below. For more information you can contact:

QUAESTUS SENIOR MANAGEMENT SEARCH
Frans Haarmans/Jeroen Opbroek
Mobile: +31 (0)6 53 29 11 98/+31 (0)6 25 08 34 81