Head of Sales Jobs in FMCG: What It Takes to Lead a Commercial Organisation

What Does a Head of Sales Do in FMCG?

The Head of Sales (sometimes titled Sales Director, VP Sales, or Commercial Director at smaller companies) leads the entire customer-facing commercial team. They own the full sales P&L, set the go-to-market strategy across all channels, manage a team of NAMs and Sales Managers, and sit on the senior leadership team as the voice of the customer internally.

Key Responsibilities

• Setting and delivering the annual revenue and profit plan across all customers and channels
• Defining channel and customer strategy — which accounts to prioritise, how to resource them
• Leading a team of 10–40 people across NAM, field sales, and customer marketing
• Owning trade investment strategy and total commercial P&L
• Representing the business in senior customer negotiations (MD/Director level buyers)
• Sitting on ExCo or leadership team; influencing cross-functional decisions

Head of Sales Salaries in FMCG

• UK (SME/Challenger brand): £85,000–£130,000 + 20–30% bonus + equity
• UK (Major multinational): £110,000–£180,000 + 25–40% bonus + LTIP
• US: $160,000–$280,000 total compensation
• APAC/EMEA regional: $200,000–$350,000 total package

What Boards Look for When Hiring a Head of Sales

Beyond a track record of revenue growth, boards and CEOs look for:

• Evidence of team building — not just personal performance but developing others
• Strategic thinking — can they define a go-to-market strategy, not just execute one?
• Cross-functional influence — do they build bridges with marketing, supply chain, and finance?
• Customer credibility — are they respected at senior buyer level?
• Financial literacy — can they own a full commercial P&L with confidence?

Making the Jump: Sales Manager to Head of Sales

The most common obstacle to making this leap is demonstrating leadership scale before you have the title. The best preparation is to: lead cross-functional projects, take ownership of team development, proactively present commercial strategy recommendations to the MD, and build your personal brand as a commercial thinker rather than just an account manager.