Commercial Manager - Phones

The Commercial Manager - Phones, Zambia is accountable for driving device sales growth, revenue performance, and market expansion across Zambia. This role sits at the intersection of sales, partnerships, product, supply chain, and marketing - serving as the primary commercial owner for the PayGo smartphone business in the region.

The ideal candidate is commercially focused, data-oriented, and effective at working across teams, with deep experience in the mobile devices ecosystem in Zambia.

What you would be expected to do

Own Country-Level Commercial Targets Jointly with the In-Country Sales Team

This role jointly manages revenue and unit sales targets with the in-country sales team. The sales team owns day-to-day execution on the ground; the Commercial Manager's role is to create the conditions for that team to succeed - ensuring they have the right products, pricing, channel coverage, and marketing resources to achieve common goals.

Track Performance and Escalate Where Needed

Monitor revenue performance at country level. Where performance is off-track, identify the root cause and resolve what can be addressed locally - escalating to the Business Head where the issue requires upstream intervention.

Manage In-Country Distributor and OEM Relationships

Maintain day-to-day relationships with local distributors and OEM representatives, ensuring product availability, partner compliance, and sell-through performance are tracked and managed on an ongoing basis.

Develop and Commercialise Telecom Partnerships

Mobile network operators have distribution networks, marketing channels, and customer relationships that took years to build. This role is accountable for identifying suitable MNO partners, recognizing the full breadth of what a partnership could unlock, and structuring commercial arrangements that translate that potential into tangible commercial outcomes.

Ensure Product Availability at the Right Time and Place

Work with the regional supply chain team to provide accurate country-level demand signals, flag stock risks early, and contribute to new model launches and EOL transitions within the country.

Drive Regional Marketing and Go-to-Market Execution

This role works closely with marketing to ensure promotional campaigns, digital advertising, in-store merchandising, and go-to-market plans are localized, well-executed, and moving toward the same goal - converting awareness into sales across every touchpoint in the region.

Advocate for the Customer's After-Sales Experience

Liaise with the in-country after-sales team to monitor service quality, flag recurring issues, and provide insights to the regional role to inform policy and process improvements.

You might be a strong candidate if you have

• 5-7 years in a commercial, sales, or business development role within consumer electronics, mobile devices, telecoms, or a similarly fast-moving consumer industry.
• Experience delivering against revenue and unit sales targets in a channel-led, distributor-focused sales environment.
• Hands-on experience managing distributor relationships and in-market partner performance.
• Strong knowledge of the local smartphone market - trade dynamics, key players, consumer behaviour, and market landscape.
• Experience working across sales, marketing, and supply chain teams.
• Familiarity with device financing or PAYGo models is an advantage.

What Sun King offers

• Professional growth in a dynamic, rapidly expanding, high-social-impact industry
• An open-minded, collaborative culture with enthusiastic colleagues driven by the challenge of innovation and making a profound impact on people and the planet.
• A truly multicultural experience: you will have the chance to work with and learn from people from different geographies, nationalities, and backgrounds.
• Structured, tailored learning and development programs that help you become a better leader, manager, and professional through the Sun King Center for Leadership.

We place great importance on sustaining a diverse, inclusive work environment.
We believe that innovation and understanding comes from diversity on every spectrum. We work to make sure every Sun King team member knows that they belong, knowing that sustaining an inclusive workplace requires conscious effort and is a continuous journey, not an end-state.
Sun King recruits, employs, trains, compensates and promotes people based on their experience, skills, effort, and results. We explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, religion, caste, national origin, color, gender, marital status, family structure, sexual orientation, HIV/AIDS status, or disability.