Managing Director – FMCG / Beauty

Managing Director – FMCG / Consumer Products

• Location: North Dublin / Meath
• Working Model: 4 days per week onsite
• Engagement: Permanent, Contract or Fractional
• Start: Immediate / Short Notice Preferred
  
  

The Opportunity

Cpl is partnering with a successful, founder-led Irish consumer products business to appoint an experienced Managing Director who will take responsibility for the commercial and operational leadership of the company.

This is a hands-on leadership role requiring someone with significant experience operating within the Irish FMCG market. The successful individual will act as a key link between the founder/owner and the wider business, bringing structure, commercial discipline and strong financial oversight while driving sales and operational performance.

The business is open to considering a permanent appointment as well as an experienced fractional or contract Managing Director who can step into the organisation quickly.

Key Responsibilities

• Take overall responsibility for the commercial and operational performance of the business, working closely with the founder/owner.
• Act as the key link between ownership and day-to-day business operations, ensuring strategic priorities translate into clear commercial actions.
• Drive sales growth across the Irish FMCG, retail and pharmacy markets.
• Own and develop senior-level relationships with major Irish retailers and buying groups, with relevant experience ideally including businesses such as Dunnes Stores, Tesco Ireland, Musgrave and Chemist Warehouse, alongside pharmacy chains and other key retail accounts.
• Lead commercial engagement and negotiations with distributors, retail partners and other strategic customers.
• Take a highly analytical approach to the business, using financial and commercial data to guide decisions around sales, margins, pricing, costs and overall profitability.
• Maintain strong oversight of budgets, forecasts, cash flow, working capital and business performance.
• Analyse sales performance by customer, channel and product, identifying opportunities to improve revenue and profitability.
• Bring increased structure, accountability and commercial discipline across the organisation.
• Ensure sales and operational teams are aligned around clear targets and priorities.
• Identify operational efficiencies and opportunities to improve processes, margins and scalability.
• Support the founder with commercial decision-making, providing clear analysis and recommendations based on the numbers.
• Balance the entrepreneurial culture of a founder-led organisation with the structure required to support its continued growth.
  
  

Experience Required

• Significant senior leadership experience within FMCG, consumer products or a closely related sector.
• Strong, demonstrable experience operating specifically within the Irish FMCG market.
• Established understanding of the Irish retail landscape and experience dealing directly with major grocery, retail and pharmacy customers.
• Strong experience managing distributor relationships, including commercial meetings, negotiations, performance reviews and joint business planning.
• Experience working with major Irish retailers such as Dunnes Stores, Tesco Ireland and Musgrave, and/or significant pharmacy groups or high-volume health & beauty retailers.
• Exceptional commercial and financial acumen. This is essential for the role.
• Very comfortable operating at a detailed level with P&L, budgets, forecasts, margins, pricing, costs, cash flow and commercial KPIs.
• A genuine "numbers person" who can quickly get underneath business performance and translate financial information into commercial action.
• Proven experience driving both sales and operational performance.
• Comfortable working directly with an owner/founder and operating as a trusted link between ownership and the wider organisation.
• Hands-on leadership style with the ability to move between strategic decisions and operational detail.
• Comfortable working in a fast-moving environment where decisions need to be made quickly and commercially.
• Available to work onsite in the North Dublin / Meath area four days per week.
• Must be based within a commutable distance already.
  
  

The Person

This role will suit a commercially driven MD, General Manager, Commercial Director or senior FMCG leader who combines strong customer relationships with exceptional financial capability.

You will need to be equally comfortable sitting in front of a major retailer or distributor discussing commercial terms and then going back into the numbers to understand margin, forecast, stock, costs, cash flow and profitability.

The successful person will not simply oversee the business from a strategic level. They will be expected to get into the detail, challenge the numbers, drive sales, improve operational performance and provide the founder with a clear view of what is happening across the organisation.

Given the immediate requirement, the company is flexible around engagement structure and will consider permanent, contract and fractional Managing Director profiles.