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.