Sun King

Off-grid solar home systems provider

Trade Marketing Manager

Marketing Generalist & ManagementPosted on Nov 12

Full-timeNairobi, KenyaNo salary listed

About the Job

Requirements

A degree in Marketing, Business Administration, or a related field.
At least four years of experience in trade marketing, retail marketing, or sales-linked marketing, ideally within consumer durables, fast-moving consumer goods, telecommunications, or distribution.
Demonstrated experience using sales data to inform shop-level and trade marketing strategies.
Experience coordinating agencies, vendors, and marketing budgets.
Ability to develop, interpret, and present performance dashboards using data-informed tools, translating findings into practical recommendations.
Expertise linking marketing activities to sales volumes, margins, and customer behaviour.
Willingness to spend time in shops and trade locations and to travel across Kenya.
Ability to establish trade visibility standards and secure their adoption across Solar, Inverters, EasyCook, and Phones Product/Brand Managers, without direct authority over their execution.
Ability to explain standards, plans, and expectations clearly to different stakeholders.

Responsibilities

Develop and maintain brand and merchandising standards for Sun King's product presentation across its shops and wider trade network, covering point-of-sale materials, danglers, standees, product displays, price communication, and wall branding.
Work with the creative team to develop visual reference standards for visibility assets, including effective dangler and standee placement examples in AHQs, and provide Product/Brand Managers with implementation guidelines.
Translate vertical campaign briefs into practical trade and shop-level standards for consistent execution.
Audit shops and trade points against established standards, assess compliance by shop and vertical, and communicate identified gaps to the relevant Product/Brand Managers.
Maintain the trade marketing tracker, documenting standards compliance across verticals as part of the marketing operating cadence.
Review vertical execution plans for alignment with established standards before rollout, and present audit findings and sell-out insights to Product/Brand Managers and Commercial to inform improvement initiatives.
Review sell-out and product performance data by shop and vertical, identify underperformance, and recommend improvements to Commercial and relevant Product/Brand Managers.
Evaluate sell-out growth in activated shops against comparable shops to measure the impact and return on investment of vertical activation activities.
Plan and coordinate Sun King brand visibility at partner retail outlets, markets, and trading centres across Kenya.
Oversee wall branding across the wider trade network by briefing vendors, approving designs, monitoring installations, and ensuring branded walls remain in good condition.
Monitor other brands' market presence, pricing, and promotional activities across the trade network, and report relevant findings to Marketing and Commercial each month.
Conduct trade immersions and field visits, translating observations into practical improvement plans with assigned owners and timelines.
Coordinate and manage agencies and vendors overseeing trade branding and activation activities.
Coordinate procurement of gazebos and parasols for Energy Officers in line with approved demand forecasts and budget allocations.
Oversee distribution of gazebos and parasols to Energy Officers and maintain accurate allocation and tracking records.
Monitor the condition of visibility assets and coordinate maintenance and replacements so each Energy Officer in the field has access to a serviceable unit.
Oversee shop branding and the shop refurbishment programme, including vendor quotation reviews and delivery monitoring.
Monitor and report shop branding expenditure against the approved budget.
Establish and maintain brand standards for shop environments to ensure consistent presentation across locations.
Prepare a monthly trade marketing performance report for the Head of Marketing, Kenya, covering key performance indicators, including standards compliance by vertical.
Maintain the trade marketing tracker in line with the marketing operating cadence and procurement framework.
Coordinate execution activities with Sales, Activation Managers, and the Energy Officer network, working with Commercial to generate and apply sell-out insights.

Location: Kenya
About the Role:
The Trade Marketing Manager is accountable for developing and maintaining trade marketing standards, guidelines and compliance to ensure consistent Sun King brand and product presentation across Kenya, including Sun King shops and the wider trade network.

The role establishes execution standards for visibility assets, POS materials, product displays, pricing communication and wall branding, working closely with the creative team to develop clear visual guidelines. It also oversees shop optimization, refurbishments, cross-category visibility initiatives, market insights and compliance audits.

Product/Brand Managers for Solar, Inverters, EasyCook LPG, Phones and HomePlus Max oversee the implementation and maintenance of these standards within their respective categories, including POSM placement, activations and field team coordination.

The Trade Marketing Manager tracks implementation through regular reviews, compliance audits and monthly reports, identifies execution gaps and communicates findings to the relevant Product/Brand Managers, who coordinate the necessary improvements.

Trade visibility standards, guidelines and creative

Develop and maintain brand and merchandising standards for Sun King's product presentation across Sun King shops and the wider trade network, covering point-of-sale materials, danglers, standees, product displays, price communication and wall branding.
Work closely with the creative team to develop visual reference standards for each visibility asset, including examples of effective dangler and standee placement in AHQs, providing Product/Brand Managers with clear implementation guidelines.
Translate vertical campaign briefs into practical trade and shop-level standards to guide consistent execution.

Compliance auditing

Conduct audits of shops and trade points against established standards, assess compliance by shop and vertical, and communicate identified gaps to the relevant Product/Brand Managers.
Maintain the trade marketing tracker, documenting standards compliance across verticals as part of the marketing operating cadence.

Performance Assessment and Improvement

Review vertical execution plans to ensure alignment with established standards before rollout, and present audit findings and sell-out insights to Product/Brand Managers and Commercial to inform improvement initiatives.
Review sell-out and product performance data by shop and vertical, identify areas of underperformance and recommend appropriate improvements to Commercial and the relevant Product/Brand Managers.
Evaluate sell-out growth in activated shops against comparable shops to measure the impact and return on investment of each vertical's activation activities.

Brand visibility across the wider trade network

Plan and coordinate Sun King brand visibility at partner retail outlets, markets and trading centres across Kenya.
Oversee wall branding across the wider trade network, including briefing vendors, approving designs, monitoring installations and ensuring branded walls remain in good condition.
Monitor other brands' market presence, pricing and promotional activities across the trade network, reporting relevant findings to the Marketing team and Commercial each month.
Conduct trade immersions and field visits, translating observations into practical improvement plans with clearly assigned owners and timelines.
Coordinate and manage agencies and vendors overseeing trade branding and activation activities.

Energy Officer visibility assets

Coordinate the procurement of gazebos and parasols for Energy Officers in line with approved demand forecasts and budget allocations.
Oversee the distribution of gazebos and parasols to Energy Officers and maintain accurate allocation and tracking records.
Monitor the condition of visibility assets and coordinate maintenance and replacements to ensure every Energy Officer in the field has access to a serviceable unit.

Shop optimization

Oversee shop branding and the shop refurbishment programme, including vendor quotation reviews and delivery monitoring.
Monitor and report shop branding expenditure against the approved budget.
Establish and maintain brand standards for the shop environment, ensuring consistent presentation across locations.

Insights, reporting and governance

Prepare a monthly trade marketing performance report for the Head of Marketing, Kenya, covering key performance indicators, including standards compliance by vertical.
Maintain the trade marketing tracker in line with the marketing operating cadence and procurement framework.
Coordinate execution activities with Sales, Activation Managers and the Energy Officer network, while working with Commercial to generate and apply sell-out insights.

A degree in Marketing, Business Administration or a related field.
At least four years of experience in trade marketing, retail marketing or sales-linked marketing, ideally within consumer durables, FMCG, telecommunications or distribution.
Demonstrated experience using sales data to inform shop-level and trade marketing strategies.
Experience coordinating agencies, vendors and marketing budgets.
The ability to develop, interpret and present performance dashboards using data-informed tools, translating findings into practical recommendations.
The expertise to link marketing activities to sales volumes, margins and customer behaviour.
Willingness to spend time in shops and trade locations, as well as travel across Kenya.
The ability to establish trade visibility standards and secure their adoption across Solar, Inverters, EasyCook and Phones Product/Brand Managers, without direct authority over their execution.
Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain standards, plans and expectations clearly to different stakeholders.

About the Company

Sun King

Off-grid solar home systems provider

Sun King designs, manufactures, distributes, and finances solar home energy products for off-grid communities in Africa and Asia. Its range includes solar lanterns and solar home systems with inverters and storage that can power lights, radios, phones, and household appliances, all financed through a pay-as-you-go model with small mobile money installments after a low upfront payment. The company differentiates itself with an end-to-end approach—handling product design, manufacturing, distribution, and financing—supported by a large field-agent network and strategic acquisitions like PayGo Energy to expand into clean cooking. Its goal is to increase energy access by helping households leapfrog kerosene and unreliable grids, aiming to reach millions of homes and businesses, including over 2 million in Ethiopia by 2030.

Company size: 1,001-5,000
Company stage: Debt Financing
Total funding: $864.9M
Headquarters: Chicago, IL
Founded: 2008

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