UI Assistant Business Development Manager

Reports to:UI Business Development Lead, East Africa
Location: Kenya
Terms & Conditions: Full time

Role Purpose

Drive sustainable and profitable growth across assigned East African markets by leading distributor performance, commercial planning, customer development and market execution. The role will combine hands-on business delivery with the development of capability for broader regional leadership responsibilities and operates within a regional business covering Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Somalia

Core Responsibilities

Business Delivery: Own turnover, growth, profitability and market execution targets for the assigned approximately EUR 7M business. Lead annual plans, monthly performance reviews and corrective actions.

Distributor Leadership: Build and execute joint business plans, lead distributor governance, strengthen capability and hold partners accountable for agreed commercial outcomes.

Commercial Planning: Own forecasting, demand planning, pricing, portfolio mix, trade investment and promotional planning in collaboration with relevant functions.

Market Development: Identify and convert growth opportunities across priority geographies, brands, customers and channels. Expand distribution, coverage and execution quality.

Operational Excellence: Maintain healthy inventory, service, working-capital and order discipline. Proactively manage supply risks and prevent avoidable out-of-stocks.

Cross-Functional Leadership: Partner with Supply Chain, Finance, Marketing and Customer Operations to deliver end-to-end business priorities and resolve execution barriers.

Governance and Compliance: Ensure distributor operations, commercial investments and market activities comply with company policies, controls and regulatory requirements.

Scale and Succession: Demonstrate readiness to assume additional markets, customers and P&L responsibility as the East Africa business grows.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Commerce, Marketing or a related discipline; postgraduate qualification is an advantage.

• Approximately 5-8 years of progressive FMCG commercial experience in Sales, Customer Development, Distributor Management or a related field.

• Proven record of delivering sales and business targets through distributors and customers.

• Strong commercial acumen, analytical capability and understanding of P&L drivers.

• Comfort operating independently across multiple markets and influencing stakeholders without direct authority.

• East Africa or comparable emerging-market exposure is strongly preferred.

• High ownership, learning agility, resilience and an entrepreneurial growth mindset.

Skills and Experience

• Distributor management - Joint business planning, governance, performance reviews and capability building.

• Commercial delivery - Demonstrated delivery of growth, revenue targets and disciplined execution.

• Planning and analytics - Forecasting, demand planning, performance analysis and action-oriented reporting.

• Financial acumen - Working knowledge of P&L, gross margin, trade investment, ROI and working capital.

• Route to market - Experience improving coverage, channel execution and distributor productivity.

• Stakeholder leadership - Ability to align customers and cross-functional teams around clear decisions and actions.

• Communication - Executive-ready written and verbal communication, including customer negotiation and business reviews.

Unilever Behaviors 

• Care Deeply: We care deeply about how consumers experience our brands every day, everywhere; about our people’s growth and development, and our impact on the planet. We care about our performance, to a point where it hurts when we don’t win.

• Focus on What Counts: We ruthlessly prioritise what truly matters, and so do fewer things brilliantly. We set clear goals & direction and recognise others for maximum impact.

• Stay Three Steps Ahead: We think boldly and creatively to make breakthroughs in performance. We are always curious and confident -anticipating and staying ahead of consumer needs and external trends, to beat the competition.

• Deliver with Excellence: We deliver excellence in what we do at pace. We take personal ownership and hold each other to account – always finding a way to do what we said we will do.