Commercial Director OTL

Position: Commercial Director

Organization: O-Trade & Logistics

Through O Trade & Logistics (OTL) Orascom Investment Holding introduces otrovato a B2B platform designed to simplify trade across Africa and beyond. otrovato connects buyers and sellers ensuring secure efficient and seamless transactions. By empowering businesses and enabling cross-border trading and partnerships otrovato serves as an online B2B platform driving Africas economic growth.
Platform link: otrovato B2B platform in Africa

Job Description:

The Commercial Director is an executive leadership role responsible for building scaling and governing otrovato entire commercial engine. Reporting directly to the O-Trade CEO the Director owns consolidated revenue generation commercial P&L performance B2B market expansion strategic alliances and go-to-market activation.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership & Commercial Performance

• Consolidated P&L & Revenue Ownership: Own the commercial strategy consolidated buyer pipeline revenue targets gross margin performance and venture-level P&L economics across all operating lines and geographies.
• Commercial Governance & Planning: Define and govern commercial plans across target verticals and buyer segments. Establish full funnel visibility from validated lead generation through RFQ quotation closed transaction and long-term account retention.
• Cross-Functional Executive Alignment: Partner with executive leadership (CEO Product Vendor Management Finance and Operations) to establish monetization frameworks joint pricing structures unit economics and operational cadences.

Direct Commercial & Revenue Pillars

• B2B & Sectoral Sales: Direct high-value corporate wholesale and sectoral sales pipelines. Oversee prospecting account qualification high-stakes contract negotiations and strategic buyer acquisition.
• Market Development & Field Validation: Lead structural market mapping and field validation initiatives across East Africa and prospective expansion markets. Set research standards and evidence thresholds to convert market discovery into validated commercial opportunities.
• Strategic Partnerships & Alliances: Lead negotiation and execution of high-impact commercial alliances with distributors importers trade associations ecosystem partners and regional financial/logistics providers.
• Category Management & Merchandising: Oversee commercial category positioning catalogue depth and product-mix strategies. Partner with Vendor Management and Supply teams to align merchandise availability supplier pricing and promotional terms with market demand.

Marketing & Growth Direction

• Digital & Performance Marketing Oversight: Oversee performance marketing strategies to optimize demand capture paid channel acquisition and pipeline lead velocity for digital marketplace channels.
• Brand & Communications: Direct brand positioning corporate communications and public relations to enhance Otrovatos authority across regional B2B markets.
• Content & Creative Strategy: Oversee offline and online creative assets sales enablement materials pitch collateral and digital messaging to ensure unified brand alignment across sales channels.
• Trade Marketing & Field Events: Drive offline buyer engagement programs trade shows industry expos and regional field activation events to capture high-value buyer segments.
• Affiliate & Referral Marketing: Scale B2B referral networks affiliate programs and agent networks to accelerate ecosystem growth and market penetration.

New Commercial Ventures & Scalability

• Venture Commercialization: Design and deploy go-to-market strategies commercial models and revenue structures for new ventures including distribution models and value-added service offerings.
• Growth Governance: Continuously evaluate vertical performance data to lead strategic decisions on scaling pivoting or discontinuing commercial pilots.
• Team Leadership & Capability Building: Build and mentor high-performing sales marketing and market development teams. Establish structured execution discipline commercial coaching and metric-driven accountability.

Qualifications:

• Bachelors degree in business administration Commerce Marketing Economics International Trade or a related field. A relevant masters degree or MBA is an advantage.
• Typically 10 years of progressive experience across Commercial Business Development Market Development or B2B Sales including meaningful responsibility for commercial planning and team or market leadership.
• Demonstrated ability to develop new B2B markets validate demand build qualified pipelines negotiate complex opportunities and grow strategic accounts.
• Experience in a product-led marketplace e-commerce or technology-enabled company is strongly preferred. Candidates from adjacent environments may qualify if they demonstrate effective cross-functional work with Product Growth Marketing and Data teams.
• Working knowledge of international trade export and import processes cross-border supply chains and East African or comparable growth markets.
• Strong commercial and financial capability including forecasting funnel management pricing gross-margin analysis business cases unit economics and P&L-driver management.
• Proven ability to translate validated market opportunities into structured activation plans commercial pilots and scalable operating models.
• Strong analytical judgment and comfort using market evidence funnel data and commercial metrics to make scale pivot or stop recommendations.