Instore Excellence Manager - Trade Marketing (Nairobi Based)

Role Overview

This role owns how the brand actually shows up on shelf and in store — turning commercial and category plans into execution standards that field teams and agency partners can deliver consistently across every channel and customer. Day to day, it means managing point-of-sale material (POSM) from strategy through procurement and deployment, holding third-party merchandising agencies to agreed service levels, and using audit and scorecard data to close execution gaps fast. It matters because availability, visibility and merchandising discipline at the point of purchase are where trade investment either converts into sales or quietly leaks away.

Key Responsibilities

• Define, deploy and continuously refresh Perfect Store and retail execution standards — covering availability, visibility, shelving, planogram compliance, secondary placements and POSM — and govern adherence across channels and customers in partnership with Category teams.
• Translate commercial priorities, campaign objectives and category-building programmes into clear, field-ready execution guidelines for internal sales teams and external agencies, so the same standard lands in every outlet.
• Build the annual POSM and visibility asset strategy: planning, forecasting, procurement, warehousing, distribution, tracking, replenishment and end-of-life replacement of all point-of-sale assets.
• Govern POSM investment effectiveness — utilisation, compliance, budget adherence and return on investment — and work with Procurement and external suppliers on asset quality, innovation, cost efficiency and deployment performance.
• Own performance management of third-party merchandising agencies and retail execution partners: service-level compliance, business reviews, scorecards, capability development, coaching routines and field excellence programmes.
• Own the retail execution KPI set — Perfect Store metrics, audit and Trax scores, visibility measures and field productivity indicators — and maintain dashboards and scorecards that give Sales Leadership a clear read on performance by customer, channel, territory and agency.
• Run root cause analysis on execution gaps and risks, then drive corrective action plans and fact-based recommendations that improve retail execution and commercial outcomes.
• Lead in-store execution for commercial campaigns, shopper activations, promotions, seasonal activities and NPD launches, ensuring agreed distribution, visibility and merchandising standards are met, and evaluate post-campaign and post-launch performance to feed continuous improvement.
• Partner with Marketing and Category teams to convert campaign objectives into actionable execution plans, and monitor activation compliance, availability and visibility across customers and channels.

Requirements & Qualifications

• 3–5 years of hands-on experience in Trade Marketing, Sales Operations, Shopper Marketing, Customer Marketing or In-store Execution within an FMCG or consumer goods environment.
• Direct experience planning, forecasting, procuring, warehousing, distributing and tracking POS materials, merchandising assets and visibility campaigns across multiple channels.
• Demonstrated track record of delivering large-scale market activations and ensuring timely POSM deployment across key customers and outlets.
• Working knowledge of POS asset governance, budget management, inventory control and asset utilisation tracking.
• Strong understanding of route-to-market structures, retail dynamics, customer requirements, shopper behaviour, outlet segmentation and the execution metrics that drive brand visibility and sales performance.
• Excellent project management skills — able to run multiple campaigns, timelines, suppliers and field teams simultaneously while holding quality and budget compliance.
• Analytical mindset: comfortable using execution data and field insights to optimise POSM allocation, strengthen visibility and maximise return on trade investment.
• Strong stakeholder management and collaboration across Sales, Marketing, Procurement, Supply Chain, Finance and external agencies.
• High attention to detail and operational discipline, with the accuracy needed to ensure assets are produced, tracked and implemented correctly across every channel and outlet.
• Results-oriented, proactive and accountable, with the resilience and agility to operate in a fast-paced commercial environment, plus solid problem-solving skills for diagnosing execution gaps and implementing corrective actions.
• A degree or equivalent qualification in business, marketing or a related commercial discipline is typically expected at this level.