Senior Manager Whole Sales

Role purpose:

The Senior Manager wholesales will be responsible for driving all wholesales activities including both the inter-operator and carrier relationships with services like Roaming, Interconnect, as well as all the sales of telecom services to local wholesales players (ISPs, MNOs, SMPP players as well Group). 
From a revenue perspective this encompasses the incremental revenue growth as well as the existing revenue baseline from all existing wholesales players both national and international. 

The role manages a small team, manages strategic wholesales partnership as well as direct customer profitability ownership in terms of Contribution Margin for all local wholesale telecom services.
Success in this role at Vodacom will depend heavily on their customer centricity but also their analytical mind, market knowledge, leadership skills and ability to work well in an extremely fast-paced and demanding environment collaborating with internal stakeholders and external partners.

Specific profile headlines:

We are seeking an experienced leader to drive Vodacom DRC’s Wholesales growth by rigorously managing all wholesales commercial activities, fostering high impact partnerships including the local operational sales pipeline management. The ideal candidate will:

• Develop and implement cutting-edge commercial wholesale strategies that resonate with wholesales clients and partners driving market revenue share and brand strength in the DRC.
• Lead the management and development of all wholesales channels ensuring they meet the evolving needs of businesses across all segments and sectors, with a focus on Customer Experience (CEX).
• Establish and nurture strategic partnerships, maximizing the synergy between Vodacom and key industry wholesales players to unlock new revenue streams and enhance service offerings.
• Focus on customer contribution margin profitability by aligning sales strategies, channel development and account management with the company’s financial goals, ensuring sustainable and profitable growth.

Key responsibilities, accountabilities and decision ownership:

• Define and execute Sales & commercial strategies to position Vodacom DRC as the leading B2B wholesale provider.
• Develop, maintain and lead specific/tailored account plans on acquisition and retention by segment in line with Vodafone Way of selling.
• Manage team negotiating and closing tempo vs monthly, quarterly and yearly revenue target.
• Analyze forecasts and pipeline data to manage actions prioritization in support of successful deal closure
• Manage accurate and timely updates of all sales individual and team KPIs for all segments
• Manages the wholesale team to ensure wholesale commercial strategies are clearly understood and effectively executed.
• Manages the adoption of new products and solutions into accounts with the team to achieve revenue targets.
• Owns the C‑suite engagement strategy, supporting account teams with senior stakeholder access and influence.
• Oversee the full customer lifecycle, from prospect to order and performance monitoring.
• Oversee the partner specific pricing and offer strategies specially focusing on the wholesale segments.
• Build and maintain strategic relationships with customers, partners, group including industry organizations, to grow the Vodacom DRC’s customer portfolio.
• Manage cross-functional teams to ensure seamless collaboration between the team and external partners.
• Drive account plans and competitive intelligence to stay ahead of industry trends and customer demands.
• Secure account/partner profitability and channel efficiency to secure the company financial goals.
• Build internal transversal relationships with other Vodacom DRC business units and group wholesales experts to secure company and group wide alignment.
• Demonstrates strong, empathetic communication, taking ownership of customer issues and driving timely resolution to maximise. CEX
• Ensure teams are appropriately trained, skills are applied in daily operations, and performance is continuously improved.
• Acts as an outstanding communicator and mentor, motivating teams, building strong customer relationships, and influencing internal stakeholders
• Ensures compliance with Vodacom wholesales methodologies and tools.
• Assesses individual feedback and team performance, providing constructive feedback and improvement actions.    

Core competencies, knowledge and experience

• Strategic Leadership: proven ability to manage, develop and execute Wholesales Sales, account management and commercial partner strategies.
• Autonomous: capacity to work autonomously and to drive transversal projects
• Account planning: leading account planning for regional and multinational customers
• Team Leadership: Proven experience leading cross-functional teams.
• Innovation: Ability to identify opportunities and drive commercial and sales practices innovation.
• Customer Focus: Deep understanding of wholesales client & partner needs with strong ability to drive CEX across all customer touchpoints.
• Partnership Building: Skilled in establishing strategic alliances with partners, strategic key accounts, industry bodies and group entities.
• Data-Driven: Expertise in using analytics to guide decisions.
• Results-Oriented: Focus on achieving revenue and profitable growth targets.
• Team player: Ability to build company / group wide work relations in line with the transversality of the role.
• Competing to win: knowing the competition and setting counter competitive differentiating strategies.
• Emotional intelligence: Demonstrates emotional intelligence, empathy, and strong listening skills, fostering openness and trust. 

Knowledge:

• Telecom wholesale: Deep understanding of the wholesale industry landscape, operator to operator as well as operator to carrier relationships and customer requirements in wholesales services.
• Business Development: expertise of the full prospect to order policy.
• Wholesales technical concepts: deep understanding of technical concepts
• Emerging Markets: Experience with wholesale strategies tailored to the DRC or similar markets with strong awareness of competitive and regulatory environment.
• Digital Transformation: Familiarity with digital tools and technologies in wholesales.
• Financial literacy: expertise in P&L and financial KPI management.

Experience:

• 5+ Years in Telecom or Tech: Senior experience in wholesale, wholesale partner development, and wholesale business development.
• 5+ Years in wholesale commercial: Senior experience in wholesale pricing at operator, carrier and local wholesales players level
• Wholesale Success: Proven track record in growing wholesale telecom services.
• Change management: Experience in complex change management in a technological context
• P&L: Strong profitability management expertise.
• Customer Experience: high skills in CEX
• Partnership Management: Experience forming strategic alliances.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Team management across multiple disciplines with Intercultural awareness and experience
• Experience working in multinational complex matrix organisations building and maintaining trusted relationships 
• Emerging Market Expertise: Knowledge of the DRC or similar customer landscape market contexts.

Qualifications: 

• Educated to degree level
• English and French languages