Export Manager

“AIX”, a Provence success story

AIX was created 15 years ago by Dutch entrepreneur Eric Kurver, a wine passionate who bought an outstanding 75ha vineyard in the heart of Provence to produce the best possible Rosé.

He created “AIX”, as a reference to Aix-en-Provence, the capital of the Provence, with the ambition to capture the essence of this outstanding terroir.

Both trade and consumers quickly started to recognize the quality of “AIX Rosé’’ and its strong, differentiating branding.

Over the last years, it became one the fastest growing rosé brands, and it now represents about 5% of the AOP Provence Rosé exports in value globally.

It is distributed in over 70 countries through selective distribution partners.

More recently, Maison Saint Aix launched a few new products that are already in scaling phase: “Saint X”, a spin-off brand targeting Off-Premise Chains, “BEAU VIVA”, a Premium de-alcoholised Sparkling Rosé, and AIX White, a brand extension of the iconic AIX Rosé. 

Reporting directly to the International Sales Director, the Europe Export Manager will hold a very strategic area for the overall development of the company.

Geographic scope (territory)

Europe

Localisation

To be defined

Main goal

Increase sales, profitability, distribution and brand awareness in the territory

Missions/activities

Importer / Distributor Management

·      Create value based relationships with all levels of management at our importers : CEO, VP, Directors, Brand Managers

·      Supply the brand manager at our importers and agents with all necessary product information, pricing, marketing requests etc.

·      Follow up on contract renewals and payments

Trade Work & Key Account Management

·      In conjunction with the importers, create and actively call on a target list of high volume/high image accounts, Regional and National Key Accounts On & Off Premise

·      Work closely with the sales reps, regional managers of importers and distributors, training the sales team on the brand and company

Marketing & Promotion

·      Importer A&P Budget : allocate budget and monitor actual Spend against it, optimize promotion costs to meet profitability goals in the markets.

·      Global Marketing Activations : in conjunction with the Marketing team, help communicating global activations to the importers and distributors, assist and follow up on execution.

·      Local Marketing/Sales activations : Support the Importer’s brand management to elaborate and execute activations in the market, creating sales programming and incentives.

Route to Market

·      In line with the company guidelines, elaborate and execute a proper channel strategy (On, Off, online) in the market

·      Constantly assess route to market and evaluate alternatives if necessary

Pricing

·      Benchmark : constantly track AIX’ price positioning vs. benchmark and market opportunities (BTG price pour) to make appropriate recommendations and decisions on pricing.

·      Market watch : make sure retail price guidelines and promo strategy is correctly executed in the market, avoiding deep promotions that are not in line with the strategy.

Business Plans & forecasts

·      Assist and feed the importer to elaborate annual business plans, 3-Year plans, in line with the company's growth expectation. Track progress and follow up.

·      Communicate regular forecasts to head office in France, for commercial and production purposes.

PR & Events

·      Attend & represent MSA during wine fairs and distributor events (winemaker tours etc.)

·      Create events in local markets with supporting accounts, press etc.

Key requirements

Market knowledge

·      At least 3+ years of successful experience as Export/Area Manager, or Senior Brand Ambassador managing Key Accounts, in the premium wine and spirits business

·      Focus On Trade & Independents. Off Trade is a nice to have not a pre-requisite.

·      Previous experience should include frequent interaction with sales and/or brand management

·      Existing solid and established relationships with key accounts, distributors in Europe that can be immediately leveraged for business development

·      Sound understanding of the Restaurant business and Category Management at Premium Retail

Sales & Management skills

·      Great sales skills, ability to work autonomously in a proactive manner to develop new business

·      Proven track record in developing sales and distribution of Premium brands (Spirits or Wines)

·      Great ability to manage resources and leverage them to maximize value

·      Track and report progress vs. goals consistently

·      Great analytical skills, ability to manage a P&L and sales dashboard

·      Review and draw up strategic prospect/target account lists with importers’ team

Education & language skills

·      Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.

·      Excellent written and oral communication in English;

·      High level of proficiency with MS Office.

·      Knowledge of Hubspot CRM is a plus.

Working environment

·      Ability to work flexible hours and weekends when needed.

·      Ability to work independently and remotely from the team

·      Ability to travel extensively across the Europe (40%).

Soft skills

·      Courtesy, respect, honesty

·      Listening skills

·      Excellent presentation skills, both verbal and written

·      Excellent relationship- building skills

·      Excellent organizational skills and the ability to prioritize and multitask

·      Authentic + organic networker;

·      Entrepreneurial + hands-on;

·      Contribute to team spirit with colleagues;

·      Commercial spirit; sales driven and likes a challenge;

·      Ability to share enthusiasm and dynamism: ‘rainmaker’

·      Knowing how to deal with challenges/difficulties or a problem and propose solutions