Commercial Manager and Country Representative

Primary Responsibilities/Essential Functions

Commercial responsibilities:

• Own the Ethiopia coffee P&L, delivering budgeted volumes, gross margin and cash metrics; lead annual budget and rolling re-forecast processes.
• Originate and manage purchasing/export programs across grades and qualities; optimize sales mix and timing in line with platform strategy and market conditions.
• Manage counterparty risk using approved tools (hedging, balance-sheet view, credit exposure systems such as CRIS) within platform risk limits.
• Continuously identify in-country risks, threats and opportunities; capture new business and partnerships consistent with Coffee Platform strategy.

Country Representative, Governance & Compliance:

• Act as LDC Ethiopia Country Representative: ensure legal, regulatory and tax compliance; uphold internal policies and Code of Conduct.
• Maintain robust SOPs and internal controls across procurement, contracting, payments, and shipment execution.
• Track and improve operational KPIs (turnaround time, claims ratio, quality acceptance rate, on-time shipments).

Execution: Quality, Logistics & Documentation:

• Ensure flawless execution from purchase to shipment: sampling, grading, lot building, documentation and export.
• Negotiate and manage the performance of operational partners

Sustainability & Responsible Sourcing:

• Lead local execution of LDC sustainability initiatives; develop and scale responsible, traceable supply chains that meet customer and platform requirements.
• Identify and engage suitable partners in Ethiopia to advance the Coffee Platform’s strategic aims and LDC’s sustainability commitments. Oversee project execution according to Stronger Coffee initiatives and Responsible Sourcing standards, and maintain strong partner relationships to achieve and scale sustainability goals at origin.

Market Intelligence & Stakeholder Engagement:

• Gather and share Ethiopia market intel (crop flow, pricing, policy) with East Africa and global trading teams to inform positioning.
• Represent LDC with industry bodies and key stakeholders; strengthen LDC’s brand and partnerships in origin.

People Leadership:

• Build, coach and lead the Ethiopia team (trading, execution, quality, admin), including succession planning; foster a safe, ethical, high-performance culture.

Equipment Used

• Typical office equipment: PC, telephone, fax machine

Working Conditions

• Primarily climate-controlled office environment with occasional warehouse and fieldwork exposure.
• Regional travel is required.

Decision-Making/Accountability

• Exercises judgment within established parameters to arrive at appropriate decisions and actions to add value to the firm; Deploy the group's short, mid and long-term strategy with commitment, integrity and teamwork.