Agrani Trading Company Limited is seeking an accomplished, dynamic, and performance-driven senior executive to lead its British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB) distribution business.
This is a senior leadership position with overall responsibility for one of the Company's largest and most geographically extensive operations, comprising close to 50 distribution points across different regions of Bangladesh and a workforce of approximately 2,000 employees.
Reporting to the Group Management/Board, the Chief Operating Officer will provide strategic and operational leadership to the entire BATB distribution business and will be accountable for business performance, operational excellence, organizational capability, governance, and effective partnership with BATB.
The role requires a leader who can combine strategic thinking with strong execution capability, lead a large organization through multiple layers of management, and maintain the highest standards of performance, discipline, integrity, and accountability.
Key Responsibilities
Business & Operational Leadership
- Provide overall leadership and direction for Agrani's BATB distribution operations across all assigned territories and distribution points.
- Translate strategic and business objectives into clear annual operating plans, priorities, targets, and execution strategies.
- Ensure achievement of agreed sales, distribution, service, productivity, operational and financial KPIs.
- Regularly review business performance across regions and distribution points and ensure timely corrective actions where required.
- Establish and maintain consistent standards of operational excellence across the entire business.
- Identify opportunities for sustainable business growth, productivity enhancement, and operational improvement.
BATB & Stakeholder Management
- Act as the senior operational interface between Agrani Trading and BATB.
- Build and maintain a strong, transparent, and professional relationship with BATB management and relevant functional teams.
- Ensure effective implementation of agreed business strategies, distribution initiatives, operational requirements and performance standards.
- Participate in periodic business reviews and strategic discussions with BATB.
- Ensure that commitments made to the principal are translated into effective execution throughout the organization.
Multi-Location Distribution Operations
- Direct, coordinate, and monitor operations across close to 50 distribution points throughout Bangladesh.
- Ensure effective management of distribution, warehousing, inventory, logistics, fleet, route-to-market execution, cash collection, and banking activities.
- Establish consistent processes, controls and performance standards across all operating locations.
- Maintain strong visibility of field-level operations through structured reviews and regular visits to distribution points.
- Ensure optimal utilization of manpower, infrastructure, vehicles and other operating resources.
People & Organizational Leadership
- Lead an organization of approximately 2,000 employees through Business Managers, Managers-in-Charge, and other functional and field leadership teams.
- Build a high-performance culture based on ownership, discipline, accountability, and measurable results.
- Establish clear objectives and performance expectations across all levels of management.
- Strengthen leadership capability and management effectiveness throughout the organization.
- Ensure effective manpower planning, recruitment, deployment, training, performance management, and employee development.
- Develop succession plans and build a strong pipeline of future leaders for the business.
- Create an environment that encourages collaboration, continuous improvement and professional development.
Financial & Commercial Management
- Take responsibility for the overall financial and commercial performance of the BATB distribution operation.
- Develop and manage operating budgets and ensure disciplined control of costs and resources.
- Drive improvements in productivity, cost efficiency, and working capital utilization.
- Work closely with Finance & Accounts to monitor profitability, cash flow, inventory, receivables, and other key financial indicators.
- Ensure effective financial controls throughout all operating locations.
- Identify opportunities to improve business efficiency and financial performance without compromising service standards or compliance.
Governance, Risk & Compliance
- Ensure strict adherence to BATB requirements, Company policies, SOPs, and applicable regulatory requirements.
- Maintain strong internal controls across inventory, cash, banking, fleet, warehousing, logistics, and other operational areas.
- Establish effective management reporting, review and escalation mechanisms.
- Identify operational, financial, compliance and people-related risks and ensure timely mitigation.
- Maintain the highest standards of integrity, governance, transparency and professional conduct throughout the organization.
Transformation & Continuous Improvement
- Lead initiatives aimed at improving operational efficiency, productivity and organizational effectiveness.
- Drive greater use of technology, automation, data and analytics across the distribution operation.
- Develop effective dashboards and management information systems to enable timely and data-driven decision-making.
- Identify opportunities to simplify processes and strengthen field execution.
- Lead major transformation and change-management initiatives across the business.
- Benchmark operations against leading industry practices and continuously raise performance standards.
