Sales Director
Location
Japan
Employment Type
Full-time
Reporting Line
Managing Director, Japan
Overview
A global premium spirits company is seeking a Sales Director to lead commercial strategy and sales execution across the Japan market.
This senior leadership role is responsible for driving revenue growth, strengthening market share, and building high-performing customer and sales organizations across both direct and indirect channels. The position will lead Route-To-Market strategy development, commercial planning, customer relationship management, and organizational transformation initiatives within a highly competitive FMCG environment.
The successful candidate will bring strong leadership capabilities, deep commercial acumen, and extensive experience managing large-scale sales organizations within multinational environments.
Key Responsibilities
• Develop and execute sales and Route-To-Market strategies to drive sustainable business growth
• Evaluate and optimize wholesaler and distribution structures across Japan
• Build and implement comprehensive commercial strategies aligned with revenue and profitability objectives
• Analyze market trends, customer behavior, and competitive positioning to identify growth opportunities
• Lead organizational evolution initiatives to improve sales productivity and operational effectiveness
• Build and maintain strong long-term relationships with key direct and indirect customers
• Oversee sales target deployment and performance management across the sales organization
• Lead, mentor, and develop high-performing sales teams
• Own commercial negotiations and trading terms with key customers and partners
• Collaborate closely with Marketing and Customer Marketing teams to develop annual commercial plans
• Drive top-line growth while maximizing return on trade investments
• Lead execution of commercial activation plans and customer agreements
• Monitor and analyze KPIs to drive continuous commercial improvement
• Prepare sales forecasts, performance reports, and strategic business updates for senior leadership
• Ensure compliance with company policies, ethical standards, and legal regulations
Required Qualifications
• 10+ years of senior sales leadership experience
• Strong preference for experience within the liquor, beverage, or FMCG industry
• Experience within multinational and matrix organizations
• Proven track record building and transforming sales organizations
• Strong experience managing customer relationships across multiple channels
• Demonstrated success driving strategic commercial growth initiatives
• Strong leadership and people development capabilities
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills
• Strong analytical and financial acumen, including P&L understanding and budgeting experience
Preferred Background
• Experience managing complex distribution and wholesale structures
• Experience working across direct and indirect customer channels
• Strong understanding of off-trade and retail activation strategies
• Experience leading commercial planning and customer marketing initiatives
Core Competencies
• Strong commercial and strategic thinking ability
• Executive-level negotiation and influencing skills
• Advanced data analysis and business insight capabilities
• Ability to translate strategy into executable commercial action plans
• Strong presentation and storytelling abilities
• Relationship-building and networking capabilities across internal and external stakeholders
• Ability to operate effectively in fast-paced and high-growth environments
Leadership Capabilities
• Strong execution and organizational leadership skills
• Ability to lead change and drive business transformation
• Innovative problem-solving mindset
• Cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder alignment
• Strong customer and consumer orientation
• High level of business judgment and decision-making ability
• Ability to build and scale high-performing teams
Work Environment
• International and multicultural business environment
• Collaboration across Sales, Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain, and Customer teams
• Exposure to regional and global leadership stakeholders
• Opportunity to lead strategic growth initiatives within a premium consumer brand portfolio
Industry
• Premium Spirits / Beverage / FMCG**