Business Development Manager, Export Cluster (Africa & LEVANT) (Dubai, All locat

The Business Development Manager, Export Cluster will lead the expansion of Hershey’s footprint across Africa and the LEVANT by opening new markets and new customers, while strengthening performance with existing Regional Distributors. This is a builder role for a self-starting, entrepreneurial operator who has personally opened export markets before, carries an established network of contacts across the region, and is comfortable owning the full commercial agenda end-to-end in a lean, start-up-style setup with minimal day-to-day oversight.

Market Development & New Customer Acquisition

• Identify, prospect, and open new customers and new markets across Africa and the LEVANT, using an existing network of regional contacts and relationships.
• Build the go-to-market approach for markets where Hershey has limited or no current presence, from initial market entry through to a running commercial operation.
• Develop and execute customer growth plans and joint business plans for newly onboarded accounts.

• Manage and grow relationships with current Regional Distributors handling Hershey’s export business across Africa and the LEVANT.
• Monitor distributor performance, compliance, and route-to-market effectiveness.
• Partner with distributors to improve sales execution, coverage, and in-market capability.

• Navigate and advise on import, trade, and regulatory requirements specific to Africa and LEVANT markets.
• Track competitive activity, market dynamics, and regulatory shifts, translating them into commercial action.

• Ensure strong in-store execution across newly opened and existing accounts.
• Drive visibility, distribution, and assortment objectives.
• Support innovation launches and promotional campaigns across the cluster.

• Analyze sales trends, customer performance, and new-market pipeline.
• Generate actionable insights to guide expansion priorities.
• Support forecasting and business planning activities for the Export Cluster.

• 7+ years of commercial experience within FMCG, with a track record in export or new-market business development.
• Demonstrated experience personally opening new markets and/or new customers in Africa and/or the LEVANT.
• An established, ready-to-activate network of trade and distributor contacts across Africa and LEVANT markets.
• Working knowledge of the regulatory and trade landscape across Africa and LEVANT markets.
• Key Account Management experience.
• Distributor Management experience.
• Strong commercial and negotiation skills.
• An entrepreneurial, agile operator profile — comfortable working independently in a lean, start-up-style setup, self-directed, resilient, and driven to pursue growth without close supervision.

• E-commerce experience.
• Experience within multinational FMCG organizations.
• Additional regional language skills relevant to Africa or LEVANT markets.

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Marketing, Commerce, or a related discipline.