Business Development Sports Nutrition

Job Purpose

• To build and grow our Sports & Nutrition business unit in Kenya by opening and developing key accounts across supermarkets, convenience stores, e-commerce platforms, gyms and fitness chains, supplement retailers, sports institutions and pharmacy chains. This is a hands-on commercial role: you will set the unit’s go-to-market plan and deliver it yourself in the field.
• We are hiring for channel relationships, commercial drive and hunger, not for prior sports-nutrition experience. If you already sell to modern-trade buyers, gym owners, sports organisations or online marketplaces, we will teach you the category.

Who We Are Looking For

Sports-nutrition experience is not required. We welcome strong candidates from any of the following backgrounds:

• Lifestyle FMCG and modern trade: key account and modern-trade managers in energy drinks, sports and functional beverages, premium dairy or snacking, who already work with supermarket, convenience and e-commerce buyers and sell on consumer pull.
• Supplement trade: importers, online sellers, supplement-counter and health-store operators who supply Nairobi gyms and know what sells, and at what price. Founders who would like a salaried business-unit role with performance upside are encouraged to apply.
• Gyms and fitness: membership and sales managers, multi-site operations managers, and trainers who now run their own studios.
• Sports ecosystem: sponsorship and partnership managers at federations, clubs and sports marketing agencies; sports science and physiotherapy graduates working with teams; former athletes with a commercial career.
• Online marketplaces and retail buying: health, wellness and beverage category managers and buyers at e-commerce platforms and supermarket chains who want to move to the brand side.

Key Responsibilities

Win and Grow Key Accounts

• Open new accounts and close deals yourself across supermarkets, convenience, e-commerce platforms, gyms and fitness chains, supplement retailers and sports institutions.
• Negotiate listings, trade terms, visibility and joint business plans with buyers and decision-makers.
• Manage orders, replenishment and collections within approved credit terms.
• Deliver monthly, quarterly and annual sales, distribution and margin targets.

Go-to-Market Plan

• Map the Kenyan sports-nutrition market by channel, key account, competitor and price tier, building on your existing channel knowledge.
• Set priority channels, target accounts and the unit’s annual growth plan and targets.
• Recommend assortment, pricing and margin structure by channel.

Fitness and Sports Community

• Build a network of gym owners, trainers, coaches and nutritionists who recommend our products.
• Run gym sampling, in-store promotions, sports events and athlete or influencer activations with Marketing.
• Track return on trade investment and shift spend toward what drives sell-out.

Pharmacy Channel Development

• Set sports-nutrition targets for the shared field sales team, train them on the portfolio and design channel promotions for them to run.
• Manage head-office relationships with key pharmacy chains, including listings, terms and planograms.

Planning, Reporting and Compliance

• Produce demand forecasts by account and SKU, and coordinate stock and expiry management with Supply Chain.
• Keep pipeline and account records up to date in approved CRM tools.
• Report competitor activity and market insights, and prepare a monthly business review.
• Ensure products sold are registered, claims are approved and all dealings are ethical.

How We Will Set You Up to Succeed

• Structured onboarding on our product portfolio, sports-nutrition basics, and product registration and claims rules.
• Close support from Marketing, Regulatory and Supply Chain during your first months in the role.
• Ownership of a growing business unit, with a direct line to the Head of Commercial.
• A competitive base salary with performance-linked incentives.

Key Performance Indicators

• New accounts: New key accounts opened and listings secured by channel.
• Sales performance: Sales versus target, revenue growth, gross margin and collection rate.
• Distribution: Distribution, assortment depth and visibility in priority accounts.
• Community and activation: Gym, trainer and coach network built, activations delivered versus plan and sell-out uplift.
• Pharmacy channel: Sports-nutrition sales through the field sales team and pharmacy chains.
• Planning and reporting: Forecast accuracy, stock availability and quality of monthly reviews.
• Category ramp-up: Product and category training completed, and confident portfolio selling, within the first 90 days.

Qualifications and Experience

• At least four years in a commercial role: key accounts, sales, business development, sponsorship and partnerships, category buying, or running your own trading business.
• A proven record of opening accounts, winning buyers or growing sales in your channel.
• Existing relationships with buyers or decision-makers in at least one of: supermarkets and convenience, e-commerce marketplaces, gyms and fitness, supplement retail, pharmacy chains or sports organisations.
• Strong negotiation skills and comfort managing margins, budgets and trade spend.
• A genuine interest in fitness, sport or nutrition.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Commerce, Nutrition, Sports Science, Physiotherapy or a related field. Candidates with a strong commercial track record but no degree will also be considered.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and CRM tools; valid driving licence.
• Sports-nutrition product knowledge is not required; full category training is provided.

Core Competencies

Commercial and Technical

• Key account management and negotiation
• Channel strategy and go-to-market
• Pricing and trade-investment management
• Trade marketing, activation and community building
• Forecasting and business planning

Behavioural

• Self-starter; works independently
• Entrepreneurial ownership of results
• Relationship building and influence
• Hunger to learn a new category quickly
• Resilience and integrity

Key Working Relationships

Internal

• Head of Commercial (line manager)
• Sales Managers and field sales team
• Marketing and E-commerce
• Supply Chain, Finance and Regulatory

External

• Supermarkets, convenience stores and online marketplaces
• Gyms, fitness chains, studios and trainers
• Supplement retailers and pharmacy chains
• Sports clubs, federations and event organisers