Commercial Director – HONG KONG & MACAU

Key Responsibilities

• Own the Hong Kong & Macau business strategy and full P&L, including sales, gross margin, marketing investment, trade spend, overheads, working capital, cash and profit delivery.
• Define and lead a compelling five-year growth strategy and annual operating plan for Twinings and Ovaltine, grounded in consumer, customer, category, competitor and channel insight.
• Make clear strategic choices on where to play and how to win, balancing short-term delivery with long-term brand equity, portfolio health and sustainable value creation.
• Lead business performance with strong commercial judgement, using market, channel, customer and financial data to identify opportunities, anticipate risks and take decisive corrective action.
• Set pricing, revenue growth management, portfolio, innovation and investment priorities to improve mix, margin, return on investment and competitive position.
• Lead the distributor relationship at executive level, including Joint Business Planning, performance governance, annual negotiations, resource alignment and accountability for execution.
• Challenge and approve major distributor proposals across customers, promotions, distribution, visibility, inventory, forecasting, trade terms and brand-building activity.
• Own A&P and trade investment governance, ensuring rigorous prioritisation, tracking, post-evaluation and reallocation toward the highest-value opportunities.
• Accelerate growth across Hong Kong & Macau FMCG channels, including supermarkets, convenience, e-commerce, traditional trade, specialty retail, foodservice and HORECA.
• Build a strong innovation pipeline and commercialisation agenda, connecting market needs with Greater China, regional and global brand teams and supply partners.
• Lead demand planning and business risk management in partnership with finance and supply chain, with particular focus on forecast quality, inventory health, service, compliance and business continuity.
• Represent Hong Kong & Macau in senior regional and global forums; prepare and deliver concise, insight-led, board-ready business reviews and strategic recommendations.
• Lead, coach and develop the local team, creating clear accountability, strong commercial capability, high performance and effective cross-functional collaboration.
• Ensure the business operates with high standards of governance, ethics, regulatory compliance, brand stewardship and responsible decision-making.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• 15+ years of progressive FMCG leadership experience, including substantial hands-on experience in the Hong Kong food and beverage market; Macau exposure is advantageous.
• Proven experience in a Commercial Director, Business Unit Director, Commercial Director, Marketing Director or equivalent senior leadership role with broad market accountability.
• Demonstrated ownership of a full P&L and a strong track record of delivering profitable growth, business transformation or turnaround in complex market conditions.
• Exceptional strategic thinking, with evidence of building multi-year strategies, making portfolio and investment choices, and translating strategy into measurable execution.
• Outstanding business and financial acumen; highly confident with sales, gross margin, pricing, trade spend, A&P, overheads, working capital, forecasts, P&L and ROI.
• Deep knowledge of Hong Kong & Macau FMCG customers, channels and route-to-market models, including successful executive-level distributor management.
• Strong brand-building and consumer orientation, with the judgement to evaluate positioning, communication, innovation, packaging, pricing and promotion beyond purely financial metrics.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence senior regional and global stakeholders in a matrixed multinational organisation.
• Excellent communication, negotiation and executive storytelling skills, including the ability to create and present polished, board-ready recommendations from complex data.
• Fully fluent in English and Putonghua, spoken and written, plus fluent Cantonese; literate in simplified and traditional Chinese.
• Bachelor’s degree or above in business, marketing, finance or a related discipline; an MBA or equivalent senior management qualification is an advantage.
• Highly autonomous, resilient and hands-on, with the maturity to operate as the senior company representative in a lean market organisation.