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Management Sciences
Loughborough University |
Field Sales Director
"If you're capable, you'll be given roles that stretch you."
"The great thing about the Cadbury is that if you're capable, you'll be given roles that stretch you. I was a National Account Manager on Tesco within three years of joining the company. I've had some brilliant opportunities here: including being absolutely accountable for the delivery of our joint business plan with Tesco; nurturing the development of our long-term relationship with them; and all while, contributing to the development of our own plans. In addition, I have given the opportunity to be UK Board Secretary for 12 months on top of my line responsibilities. That was pretty challenging, attending board meetings all over the UK, defining the agenda for meetings with the MD, keeping everything on track and feeding critical information into HQ.
"It's great to know that you can genuinely make a difference by using your judgment to choose the right things, and then doing those things brilliantly.
"There's never a typical day here, which in itself is a great thing! My role involves so many different aspects. I could be talking to customers one minute - to understand their business better and how we can contribute to their planning and results. Or I could be coaching and developing our cross-functional Tesco team, including National Account Managers, Supply Chain and Category experts. I even contribute to our business planning - will our plans for next year fit with the needs of our customers and their shoppers?
"When I talk about my job, I'm really proud of the role I play in developing people - really helping them to exceed their own expectations and performance. Our mentoring programme lets young managers identify a Senior Manager who they'd like to assist with their career planning and decision-making. Almost an impartial ear! This morning, I actually had a conversation with someone I'm mentoring about their development and what their next move might be. Whilst most of my roles to date have been in Customer or Project Management, I really enjoy this people development side of my current role. I'd love to really stretch myself and lead a really big team within one of our operating units - leading and developing people to deliver great results.
"My job has taken me to some pretty unlikely places, including Soweto and some of the poorest areas of Delhi and Mumbai. It's all about seeking out opportunities. Having spent the first five years of my career within our UK business in various sales and IT project roles, I took the opportunity to work in our Group Commercial strategy team in 2001. I spent two years here, working with our business units to unlock growth through various sales initiatives. This involved a high degree of analytical work, but also getting out to the markets and meeting the sales teams and customers themselves.
"All of this said, it's equally important to get the balance right - I love spending time with my wife and kids, playing golf, keeping fit ... and watching as much sport as I can!"