Yokos is looking for an ambitious, commercially driven Sales Manager to lead the next phase of our growth.

This is a hands-on sales and business development role for someone who is energised by opening doors, building strong commercial relationships, growing revenue, expanding distribution, and increasing the presence of the Yokos brand in the South African market.

Your primary responsibility will be sales. You will be expected to actively identify, pursue and convert new business opportunities while growing existing accounts and developing new channels for the Yokos brand.

You will take ownership of our sales growth across retail, foodservice, distributors, e-commerce, strategic partnerships and other relevant channels, ensuring that Yokos continues to increase its market penetration, customer base and revenue.

You will:

• Take primary responsibility for achieving Yokos’ sales, revenue and growth targets.
• Develop and execute a clear sales strategy to grow the business and increase market share.
• Build a strong and sustainable sales pipeline and actively convert opportunities into revenue.
• Identify and secure new customers, retail listings, distributors, foodservice opportunities and strategic partnerships.
• Grow and strengthen relationships with national retailers, key accounts, distributors and other commercial partners.
• Identify opportunities to expand the Yokos product range and footprint within existing customer accounts.
• Lead commercial negotiations, pricing discussions, proposals, presentations and customer agreements.
• Develop account plans for key customers and ensure opportunities for growth are proactively identified and pursued.
• Increase Yokos' distribution and availability across relevant retail and foodservice channels.
• Develop new routes to market and identify opportunities to take the brand into new customer segments and territories.
• Drive sales through e-commerce and other direct-to-consumer opportunities.
• Work closely with the V&A Waterfront concept bar to identify opportunities to strengthen brand awareness, customer engagement and commercial growth.
• Monitor sales performance, customer trends, competitor activity and market developments and use these insights to identify new opportunities.
• Develop accurate sales forecasts and maintain visibility of the sales pipeline and expected revenue.
• Work closely with production, supply chain and finance to ensure that sales growth can be delivered reliably and profitably.
• Ensure commercial agreements and pricing support healthy margins and sustainable business growth.
• Provide regular reporting on sales performance, pipeline development, customer activity and growth opportunities.
• Represent Yokos professionally with customers, partners and other stakeholders.
• Play an active role in building the Yokos brand and creating demand for our products in the marketplace.

While this is predominantly a sales and growth role, you will also work closely with the broader Yokos team to ensure that what is promised to customers can be delivered consistently, profitably and to the required quality standards.

You have:

• At least 7 years’ relevant sales and commercial experience, preferably within FMCG, food, beverages or a related consumer-products environment.
• A strong and demonstrable track record of growing sales, revenue, distribution and market share.
• Proven experience in new business development and acquiring new customers.
• Experience managing major retail, foodservice or other key commercial accounts.
• Established experience working with major South African retailers would be a significant advantage.
• Strong commercial acumen and a good understanding of pricing, margins and profitable growth.
• Excellent negotiation and relationship-management skills.
• Experience developing and executing sales strategies and account plans.
• The ability to manage a sales pipeline, forecast accurately and work towards clear sales targets and KPIs.
• A relevant qualification in Business, Sales, Marketing, Commerce or a related discipline.

Experience in food manufacturing, chilled products, plant-based foods or the health and wellness sector would be advantageous.

You are:

• A natural salesperson who enjoys opening doors and creating opportunities.
• Highly commercially minded and motivated by achieving measurable growth.
• Entrepreneurial and proactive, with the ability to spot opportunities others may miss.
• Comfortable prospecting, presenting, negotiating and closing.
• Persistent and resilient, without compromising relationships or integrity.
• Excellent at building and maintaining long-term customer relationships.
• Confident engaging with buyers, senior decision-makers, business owners and strategic partners.
• Data-driven and able to translate sales information into clear commercial actions.
• Hands-on and willing to personally drive opportunities from first conversation through to close.
• Organised, accountable and able to manage multiple customers and opportunities simultaneously.
• Passionate about building brands and growing businesses.

The opportunity

This is not a sales role where you will simply manage an existing customer base.

We are looking for someone who wants to build.

You will be expected to actively grow the Yokos business, find new customers, expand our presence with existing customers, develop new channels and partnerships, and help establish Yokos as a leading conscious food brand.

Our brand promise is simple: conscious, plant-based, unsweetened and additive-free.

If you are excited by the opportunity to take a great product to more customers, build meaningful commercial partnerships and directly influence the growth trajectory of a business, we want to hear from you.

Own the target. Open the door. Close the deal. Grow Yokos.

Apply now and help shape the future of conscious eating in South Africa.