Raphael Esitika

Average annual revenue of 35 million USD & a departmental headcount of 45 people. I lead the full commercial function for Prestige Millers, a milling and food processing business operating in South Sudan, a high-growth frontier market. I have end-to-end responsibility for sales strategy, brand management, distribution network development, and team performance. Key responsibilities: • Sales Strategy: Design and deploy strategies across modern and general trade channels to drive revenue and market share. Own integrated marketing campaign planning and execution, running activities across digital and traditional platforms, tracking performance metrics, and building brand visibility in a competitive market. • Brand Management: Plan and execute integrated digital and traditional marketing campaigns while tracking performance metrics to build brand visibility. Drive demand-fulfilment planning, budgeting, and performance review cycles, ensuring operational efficiency and cost discipline in a challenging logistics environment. • Route-to-Market: Build and optimize Route-to-Market strategies, market mapping, and distributor networks to strengthen coverage across South Sudan. • Operations & Budgeting: Drive demand fulfillment, budgeting, and performance reviews to ensure cost discipline in a challenging logistics environment. • Team Leadership: Build, coach, and manage sales and marketing teams through clear goals, incentive schemes, and training. • Market Intelligence: Conduct ongoing research and competitive intelligence to spot growth opportunities and adjust pricing. • Relationship Management: Cultivate strategic partnerships with key clients, distributors, and agency partners to maintain service quality.

Average annual revenue of 38 million USD & a departmental headcount of 25 people (with over 1,000 commercial contract employees under Business Process Outsourcing projects). Key responsibilities: • Financial Performance: Used automation, optimization, and strict budget adherence to lower expenses, eliminate waste, and maximize profit margins. • Workflow Optimization: Updated Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), eliminated workflow bottlenecks, and deployed technology to automate manual and repetitive tasks. • Quality & Compliance: Ensured Service Level Agreement (SLA) targets were delivered on time, in full, and error-free while maintaining legal compliance and continuity plans. • Strategy & Scalability: Executed capacity planning to align resources with growth and built cross-functional alignment across corporate departments. • Data & Key Performance Indicators Dashboards: Built real-time data tracking systems and performance KPI dashboards to improve leadership visibility. • Team Leadership: Optimized schedules and workloads through resource allocation while maintaining high employee engagement via coaching.

Average annual revenue of 200 million USD & a departmental headcount of 68 people. Key responsibilities: • Process Optimization: Optimized commercial processes and sales systems to drive excellence and align operations with business goals. • Policy Development: Developed commercial policies, contracts, and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to ensure consistent operational standards across all channels. • Data & Forecasting: Analyzed sales data, produced trend forecasts, and managed pipeline reporting for senior leadership. • Route-to-Market Implementation: Implemented Route-to-Market strategies that delivered revenue growth and improved coverage across trade channels. • Trade Marketing: Executed marketing proposals, evaluated asset Return on Investment (ROI), and resolved customer escalations to ensure high satisfaction.

Average annual revenue of 96 million USD & a departmental headcount of 28 people. Key responsibilities: • National Sales Leadership: Led the national sales function, launching new lines to expand market share for Famila™ and Pendo™ brands in Kenya. • Joint Business Plans: Reviewed and negotiated modern trade Joint Business Plans (JBPs) to drive category growth and enhance margins with retail partners. • Regional Team Management: Managed multi-geography regional sales teams to drive volume, revenue growth, and channel development. • Account & Market Intelligence: Built key account relationships, fostered cross-functional collaboration, and gathered market intelligence. • Budget & Performance: Managed commercial budgets and team performance while building an environment of high accountability.

Average annual revenue of 85 million USD & a departmental headcount of 28 people. Key responsibilities: • Operational Excellence: Reduced product rejections by 50% and achieved an 84% customer satisfaction score via process redesign. • Process Design: Implemented sales processes, systems, and policies that improved pipeline visibility and reporting quality. • Route-to-Market & Forecasting: Identified trends, forecasted performance, and deployed Route-to-Market strategies to drive measurable revenue growth. • Capability Building: Delivered sales training and coaching programmes to raise performance across frontline commercial teams. • Trade Marketing: Initiated trade marketing proposals and coordinated cross-functional execution across commercial departments.

Average annual revenue of 25.5 million USD & a regional (area team) headcount of 11 people (1 ASM, 2 Trade Marketing Representatives & 8 General Trade merchandisers). Key responsibilities: • Revenue Growth: Delivered 30% revenue growth in Western and Rift markets through strategic acquisition and disciplined execution. • Territory Planning: Developed annual sales plans and regional targets while managing team performance through regular coaching. • Route Distribution: Designed and implemented route plans and Route-to-Market strategies, significantly improving product availability across channels. • Distributor Appraisals: Conducted monthly Distributor Operating Standards Appraisals to maintain compliance and elevate partner performance. • Data Optimization: Leveraged data-driven insights to identify growth opportunities, mitigate risks, and optimize profitability processes. • Talent Management: Recruited, trained, and retained high-performing sales representatives across multiple key regions.

Average annual revenue of 35 million USD & a regional team headcount of 25 people (1 RSM, 4 Sales Representatives & 20 General Trade merchandisers). Key responsibilities: • Target Achievement: Surpassed monthly targets for Bic™ products through negotiation and relationship management, securing new export business. • Depot & Distributor Operations: Managed regional depot operations and distributor partnerships, ensuring coordinated sales and marketing activities. • Performance & Recruitment: Set regional sales targets, led representative performance appraisals, and managed onboarding processes. • Route-to-Market & Coverage: Executed Route-to-Market strategies and built route distribution models that improved market coverage and efficiency. • Market Surveys: Conducted regular market surveys and applied competitive intelligence to refine regional commercial strategies.

Key responsibilities: • Portfolio Management: Managed station dealer accounts across Nairobi and Central/Mount Kenya, ensuring availability, compliance, and target achievement. • Regulatory Compliance: Conducted dealer operating standard reviews to ensure strict compliance with Energy & Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), and Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) regulations. • Staff Training: Delivered training to station sales attendants covering product knowledge, selling skills, and customer service. • Account Development: Identified and onboarded new customers while maintaining strong relationships with existing dealers.

• Operations & Forecasting: Coordinated sales and production to meet market demand, processed orders, managed forecasting, and optimized sales routes • Trend Analysis: Analyzed customer buying patterns to optimize sales efforts and identify new business opportunities.