Responsibilities

• Sales responsibility for the entire Swiss market, which is characterised by successful brand building, a focused private label business in specialised retail, as well as a significant marketing platform for leading products in national wholesale and its own specialist retail channel
• Functional leadership and further development of the entire sales organisation (Key Account, field sales, and internal sales) as well as ensuring efficient and effective structures
• Development and continuous refinement of the national sales strategy in alignment with the company and brand strategy
• Overall responsibility for revenue, gross profit, budgets, forecasts (RoFo), as well as achievement of sales targets and annual planning
• Responsibility for the company’s own retail channel
• Definition and monitoring of KPIs, including analysis of market, customer, and competitor data and derivation of effective measures
• Close collaboration with Marketing and Trade Marketing on campaigns, promotions, and product launches
• Building and maintaining long-term customer relationships, including strategic management of key accounts and contract negotiations
• Optimisation of processes and cross-functional collaboration (e.g. with internal sales, logistics, and finance), including further development of CRM and reporting tools
• Overall responsibility for leadership, coaching, and development of the sales organisation
• Responsibility for recruitment, onboarding, performance management, and individual development of employees
• Promotion of an open, performance-oriented team culture and ensuring efficient processes and high quality standards

Qualifications and experience

• Completed commercial apprenticeship or degree in business administration, ideally with further education in sales/marketing
• Several years of leadership experience in sales (ideally FMCG/consumer goods) with proven P&L responsibility, as well as solid experience in budgeting, forecasting, and sales controlling
• Personality that drives speed within the organisation and fully leverages and expands existing potential
• Strong expertise in key account management and in leading a field sales organisation
• Several years of experience in the retail sector
• Strong understanding of the Swiss retail and wholesale structure
• Very good MS Office skills (especially Excel and PowerPoint); experience with SAP and CRM systems is an advantage
• Fluent in German and French, English skills are an advantage
• Strong leadership capabilities, entrepreneurial mindset, and high results orientation
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills as well as assertiveness
• Willingness to travel within Switzerland, valid driving licence category B, and strong service, customer, and brand orientation with a high quality mindset
• Affinity for the cigar industry or relevant industry know-how is an advantage