Commercial Manager in London

Define and deliver the commercial strategy for a brand or small portfolio of brands within a category e.g. Casual Dining & Bars, Coffee & Bakery, Retail, to deliver EBITDA growth from like-for-like sales and gross margin improvement activity.

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, as well as identifying new revenue streams to deliver sustainable growth. They will drive overall brand performance alongside category performance e.g. hot drinks. They will take key customer, market trend and competitor insights to build a commercially viable plan of activity to deliver a step change in performance driving sales and improving customer penetration.

This role requires strong commercial and category management acumen, the ability to build strong cross functional relationships is key. Success in the role is highly dependent on an effective relationship with the operational teams so that the commercial initiatives are designed and delivered with a good understanding of operational processes including supply chain, procurement as well as ensuring great quality is delivered smoothly and efficiently at point of purchase. The role will include regular presentations to the UK Exec. and other key stakeholders. This role may have direct reports; Commercial Managers/Commercial Executives and will support the Head of Commercial with team management and development through tasks such as team meeting management. The Senior 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. Please note that this is a 12 month FTC.

What You'll Be Doing

• Commercial plan – support the Head of Commercial to create the commercial plan for each of the specified brand or brands. Aligns commercial priorities across multiple functions and influences business direction.
• 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 from trials.
• 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 – to drive the NPD process and creative design process for all supporting POS and digital collateral, articulating identified opportunity to generate improved sales or margin, specifying desired outcomes and proposing strategies for development.
• Implementation – once activity is signed off, lead teams (including senior stakeholders) to ensure successful implementation through operational teams.
• Review – use commercial insights to challenge performance and shape future business decisions, including reporting results at weekly trade and monthly commercial forum meetings.
• 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.
• New openings – manage the commercial set up for new openings including range, pricing, POS. Deliver action plans to drive sales and profit if business cases are not delivering to target.
• Cross functional team working – lead cross functional meetings to ensure all parties are aligned to deliver initiatives.
• Spend time in the field– observing and supporting implementation in operational units.
• Effective management of Commercial Managers and/or Commercial Executives who will support in implementing your commercial plan.
• Act as deputy in Head of Commercial’s absence.
• Keep up to speed on market trends, competitor and brand partner activity and proactively look for ways to optimise results and stay competitive with our competitors.

To be successful in this role you will need:

• Clients i.e. landlords of locations where SSP units reside.
• Suppliers.
• Wider UK Commercial team (Commercial Analytics, Trade Marketing, other Heads of Commercial/Senior Commercial Managers who look after different portfolios of brands).
• Marketing team (NPD/culinary, creative and design services, innovation).
• Operations teams.
• Finance.
• Property.
• Procurement & supply chain.

Why Join SSP

At SSP, we’re passionate about creating places people want to be - whether that’s for our customers, our partners or our colleagues. When you join us, you’ll be part of a business where commercial thinking, collaboration and ownership really matter, and where your work can make a visible difference.

We Offer

• Employee discounts across our brands.
• Friends and Family Discount App.
• Award-winning training, apprenticeships and development programmes.
• Health and wellbeing support.
• Hybrid working with flexibility to support work–life balance.
• An inclusive and diverse workplace, with employee networks and communities.

Start the best part of the journey with us. At SSP, we value diversity and are committed to building a team that reflects a wide range of backgrounds, skills and perspectives.