Commercial Manager - Ireland
About the Role
To create and execute the commercial plan for within Casual Dining & Bars, Coffee & Bakery, Retail, with responsibility for Ireland and Northern Ireland to deliver EBITDA growth from like-for-like sales and gross margin improvement activity.
The role is primarily focused on Ireland as a key strategic market, requiring close collaboration with operational teams and stakeholders to drive performance in these high-volume travel environments.
The role holder will be expected to use a variety of levers to drive like-for-like sales growth, such as range improvement, optimisation of price and promotion, upselling and maximisation of the use of space, and will drive category performance e.g. hot drinks, as well as the performance of the brand or brands.
He or she will use a range of tools and approaches to achieve gross margin improvement: working with stakeholders to identify and take advantage of supplier income opportunities; drawing upon the expertise of the culinary team to simplify and standardise recipes or develop new ones; and finding ways to reduce the impact that commercial activity has on waste and labour.
This role requires a rigorous and thorough commercial planning process and all commercial activity must be margin additive, hence this role will present regularly to the UK and Global CEOs and other senior stakeholders, and plans must stand up to scrutiny, demonstrating that due rigour has been applied.
Success in this role is highly dependent on an effective relationship with the operational teams so that commercial initiatives must be designed with a good understanding of operational processes (including procurement and supply chain) and the impact on front line activity, and in order to support the teams on compliance.
The Commercial Manager may also need to manage external stakeholders in order to ensure that SSP achieves its commercial outcomes whilst satisfying the requirements of the client and brand partners that we work with.
What you'll be doing:
The commercial performance of the brand or a small portfolio of brands and new openings (LFL sales and gross profit) – deliver stretch EBITDA target
- Commercial plan – support the Head of Commercial to create the commercial plan for each of the specified brand or brands
- Work closely with airport stakeholders and operational leadership teams in Ireland to ensure delivery of commercial plans
- Analytics – ensure that every initiative is modelled on a product by product / unit by unit basis and forecast outcomes. Test and learn based on the commercial results
- Sign off - submit proposed sales and gross margin improvement activities to weekly trade / monthly commercial forum meetings for approval (background, financial value and suggested next steps)
- Preparation of marketing briefs to access marketing services - marketing services such as NPD, creative design, marketing planning and brand development are provided by the Group Marketing function. The Commercial Manager will access these services by submitting a marketing brief articulating identified opportunity to generate improved sales or margin, specifying desired outcomes and proposing strategies for development
- Implementation – once activity is signed off, total accountability for the successful implementation through operational teams
- Review - report results at weekly trade and monthly commercial forum meetings. Assess whether forecast has been achieved and EBITDA can be banked. Course correct where necessary
- Roll out – if successful, roll out and look for optimisation opportunities either in other brands or in other product categories where the same principles can be applied
- Monitor competitor and brand partner activity
- Spend time in the field– observing and supporting implementation in operational units
- Effective management of Commercial Executives who implement the commercial plan where required.
- Proactively looks for ways to optimise results and stay competitive with our competitors
To be successful in this role you will need:
Essential:
- Experience of using price, range, display and space, upselling, margin and category optimisation to deliver commercial results
- Experience of delivering profit targets preferred, but experience of working in a sales environment also desirable
- Must be able to drive decision-making through analysis and based on evidence, rather than intuition
- Experience of drawing out business insights from analysis and presenting findings and recommendations persuasively
- Must be able to develop innovative ideas to drive top and bottom line, testing, learning and refining and then operationalizing them
- Experience of managing and influencing senior stakeholders
- Experience of managing client relationships
- Excellent knowledge of external trends in the food and beverage and/or grocery industry (depending on brands allocated)
- Good understanding of the impact of external factors on growth, including competition and seasonality
- Good understanding of the operational reality in units i.e. a good understanding of waste management and minimisation, labour planning and optimisation, equipment, space and layout etc.
Desirable:
- Analytical and commercial
- Exceptional attention to detail
- Data-driven
- Ability to focus effort on most profitable outcome
- Innovative and bold – able to find new ways of doing things, challenge the status quo, take an entrepreneurial approach (measured risk, high reward)
- Ability to build and work to a solid plan to achieve margin but not afraid to adapt to changes to take advantage of opportunities and quick wins as they arise
Why Join us
- Employee Discounts across our brands (over 400 locations)
- Friends and Family Discount App
- Award-winning training, apprenticeships and developmentprogrammes
- Health & Wellbeing support
- Hybrid working model with flexibility for work–life balance
- Inclusive and diverse workplace with employee networks and communities
Ready to start the best part of your journey?
Join us at SSP and play a key role in shaping the financial performance of our Rail Gourmet business — where your insight, collaboration, and ownership will help drive our success across the UKand beyond.
At SSP, we value diversity and are committed to building a team that reflects a range of backgrounds, skills and perspectives.
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