Zonal Business Excellence Manager (Sales Planning/Sales Effectiveness)

Position: Zonal Business Excellence Manager (Sales Planning/Sales Effectiveness)

Location: Hyderabad / Vijayawada / Bengaluru

Role Purpose

This role is the primary commercial support to the Area Business Manager (ABM) and acts as the Area’s sales planning, forecasting, GTN, and performance aggregation engine . It enables the ABM by ensuring the Area has high‑quality, consolidated, and decision‑ready commercial intelligence .

It works closely with Zonal Business Managers to pull accurate bottom‑up inputs and ensure planning discipline, which are then synthesized into area-level insights that support ABM-led decisions.

Core Accountabilities

1. Area‑Level Sales Planning & Consolidation (Primary Responsibility)

• Lead the consolidation of all zonal sales plans into a unified, coherent area-level sales plan .

• Ensure alignment of plans with CU strategy, area priorities, and national guardrails .

• Provide the ABM with decision-ready area planning summaries including risks, opportunities, and prioritization options.

2. Area‑Level Forecasting & Performance Outlook (Primary Responsibility)

• Integrate zonal forecasts to produce a single area-level forecast , highlighting risks and trends.

• Ensure zones adhere to forecasting discipline, timelines, and data quality.

• Prepare and present area-level forecast outlooks that enable ABM to take timely decisions.

• Highlight cross-zonal vulnerabilities (e.g. stock issues, slow movers, weather patterns) and prepare area-wide mitigation recommendations .

3. Area‑Level GTN Governance & Decision Enablement (Primary Responsibility)

• Aggregate all zonal GTN inputs (schemes, discounts, rebates, price-offs) into an area-level GTN view .

• Track GTN utilization at Zonal and Area level .

• Provide ABM with decision-ready GTN insights, including value leakage, utilization efficiency, and execution risks.

• Support ABM in area-led GTN trade-offs (e.g., inter-zone reallocation, scheme emphasis, focus Brand X SKU GTN needs).

• Ensure GTN discussions move from “zonal asks” to area-level prioritization .

4. Zonal Planning & Execution Discipline (Secondary Responsibility — Input Management)

• Work with ZBMs to ensure high-quality bottom‑up planning inputs , accurate forecasts and adherence to guardrails.

• Ensure planning, forecasting, and GTN processes are uniformly followed across zones.

• Identify zonal inconsistencies and bring them forward as area-level topics for ABM review.

• Strengthen territory planning quality through coaching and structured cadences with ZBMs and TBMs.

5. Area‑Level Performance Management & Cross‑Zonal Insights

• Prepare area-level performance review packs for ABM, integrating all zonal data into a single narrative.

• Distill zone‑wise performance into cross-zonal themes, structural challenges, and portfolio insights .

• Present area-wide drivers of performance, gaps, and recommended interventions to ABM.

• Ensure review cycles enable accountability, clarity, and timely decision-making .

6. Commercial Analytics & Decision Support For ABM

• Generate decision-ready analytics , including:

• Zonal productivity and coverage patterns

• Portfolio mix shifts at area level

• GTN effectiveness and return

• Provide ABM with clear options , not just data.

7. Process Discipline & Capability Building

• Enforce standard Sales Planning & Business Excellence processes across all zones in planning, forecasting, GTN, and performance management.

• Coach ZBMs/TBMs on forecasting, planning rigour, and data discipline.

• Build a culture of consistency, accountability, and evidence‑based decision-making across the area.

Behavioral Expectations

• Operates with a service mindset toward the ABM , enabling area decisions with high-quality insights and structure.

• Influences through clarity, structure, and data, not through authority .

• Brings calm, disciplined execution to complex, multi-zone challenges.

• Maintains strong working relationships with ZBMs while ensuring the Area’s needs are met.

• Bias for closure, action, and follow-through .

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in business , Agriculture, Engineering, Economics ; MBA preferred.

• 8–12 years’ experience in Sales, Sales Planning, Commercial Excellence, or Business Planning roles in multi-territory sales organizations .

• Strong experience in aggregation, consolidation, and area‑level reporting or planning .

• Hands-on experience in sales planning, forecasting, GTN, and commercial governance .

• High analytical capability; ability to turn complex zonal data into simplified, decision-ready area narratives .

• Prior experience in Agri-inputs, Crop Protection, Seeds, FMCG , or similar complex GTM environments preferred.