Cocoa & Chocolate Commercial Leader

Job description

Job Purpose and Impact This role presents a unique opportunity to join one of the most consequential food companies in the world and lead one of the largest commercial businesses—Cocoa & Chocolate—within our Food segment across Asia Pacific. The role carries full responsibility for owning the P&L, setting strategic direction, and driving the next phase of growth through disciplined execution. This is a critical business leadership role responsible for shaping the long-term direction of the business, delivering near-term performance, and building a high-performing organization across Food SEA & ANZ. The role requires a strong strategic leader who can define a clear, customer-back vision over a 2–5 year horizon and translate it into actionable priorities. You will align cross-functional teams around a shared strategy and drive disciplined execution to deliver strong financial results and build a robust growth pipeline. Equally important, you will strengthen organizational effectiveness by enhancing commercial and operating systems, fostering a high-performance culture, and developing talent to build sustainable capabilities for the future In this role, you will partner closely with key stakeholders to achieve financial and growth objectives. You will coordinate global and APAC-level plans with key stakeholders and ensure a cohesive ecosystem across teams such as trading & risk management, product line management, manufacturing and supply chain, pricing, category, R&D, go-to-market, and finance—so that customers are well served and we deliver optimal returns on invested capital. Key Accountabilities 1. Lead the Strategy Lead long-term commercial strategy, translating market demand & supply dynamics into a focused portfolio and clear strategic priorities. Set short-and long-term direction, identifying priority segments and building a capability roadmap that drives sustainable growth. Translate market insights, customer needs and commodity dynamics into actionable business strategies. 2. Run the Business and Deliver Financial Results Own end-to-end P&L across commercial and trading activities, making informed trade-offs across volume, margin, pricing, working capital, and sourcing. Translate strategy into clear commercial actions & ensure disciplined execution to deliver financial and growth objectives. Operate with an integrated understanding of commercial operations, commodity markets and the food ingredients value chain. Partner with cross-functional teams to drive aligned execution across regions and functions. 3. Build the Organization Build and lead a high-performing team, strengthening leadership, talent development, and succession. Develop trusted senior customer relationships to drive demand and long-term growth. Influence and align stakeholders across SEA-ANZ and APAC to deliver business objectives. Qualifications Minimum Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in business or related field. Experience in B2B ingredients or commodity-linked business. D emonstrated ownership of end-to-end P&L, with the ability to set clear strategy and translate it into growth plans . Strong understanding of how sourcing, trading/risk management, and product line management connect, including perspectives on capacity utilization, portfolio decisions, pricing, and margin management. Credible exposure to trading and risk management, with a solid understanding of underlying economic drivers . Proven ability to build trusted senior-level customer relationships . Strong people leadership experience with a track record of building high-performing teams and organizational capability . Ability to lead and influence across functions in a matrixed environment. Preferred Qualifications Experience in cocoa & chocolate or specialty ingredients. Demonstrates strong growth mindset, stretches beyond comfort zone, and shows potential for broader leadership roles .