Technical Sales Manager, Dairy – Ingredient Solutions

Location: Midrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

Region: Sub-Saharan Africa (South, East, West & Central Africa)

Are you passionate about dairy technology and solution-based selling?

We have an exciting opportunity for a Technical Sales Manager, Dairy – Ingredient Solutions to support and grow our dairy ingredients business across Sub-Saharan Africa (South, East, West, and Central Africa).

This role sits within the Sales organization and combines technical expertise, customer-facing commercial responsibility, and solution-driven selling.

You will manage a portfolio of direct customer accounts and distributors, while working closely with Account Managers, application teams, and global segment experts to deliver differentiated dairy solutions.

As our successful Technical Sales Manager, Dairy, you will be a key member of the Ingredient Solutions Sales team, responsible for managing direct accounts and distributors while driving application-based growth across the region.

You will act as a technical-commercial partner to customers, supporting innovation, problem-solving, and commercialization, particularly in complex dairy environments across Africa.

Your key responsibilities:

Technical Sales & Account Management

• Manage a portfolio of direct dairy customer accounts and regional distributors across Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Act as the primary technical sales interface for assigned accounts, ensuring strong customer intimacy and execution.
• Support commercial discussions by clearly articulating technical value, performance differentiation, and solution benefits.

Customer & Distributor Development

• Drive growth with customers across dairy applications including fresh milk, recombined milk, cheese, yogurt, UHT, flavored dairy, and dairy alternatives.
• Work closely with distributors to enable technical capability, opportunity identification, and effective market coverage.
• Support negotiations and project prioritization in alignment with Account Managers and Sales leadership.

Technical & Application Expertise

• Provide hands-on technical expertise in formulation, processing, and troubleshooting, including fermentation, enzyme performance, heat treatment, and texture optimization.
• Recommend and support ingredient solutions including enzymes, cultures, hydrocolloids, vitamins, colors, bio-preservation, and functional blends.
• Translate customer challenges and consumer trends (clean label, sugar/fat reduction, cost-in-use, texture improvement) into actionable solutions.

Innovation & Market Activation

• Lead and support technical trials, customer workshops, and ideation sessions across the region.
• Collaborate closely with application labs, R&D, regulatory, marketing, and supply chain teams to ensure smooth execution and compliant solutions.
• Support NPD and reformulation projects from concept through commercialization.

Business & Pipeline Management

• Contribute to pipeline development, forecasting, and project conversion, ensuring disciplined follow-up and execution.
• Share market insights and customer feedback to shape regional priorities and global dairy strategy.

We offer:

• A technical sales role within the Sales organization, with ownership of direct accounts and distributors.
• Broad exposure across Sub-Saharan Africa (South, East, West & Central Africa).
• Opportunity to work on high-impact dairy innovation projects in dynamic and growing markets.
• Access to world-class application labs, technical expertise, and innovation platforms.
• A collaborative, entrepreneurial culture that values ownership, learning, and customer impact.

You bring:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Dairy Technology, Food Science, Food Engineering, or related field.
• 8+ years of experience in dairy ingredients, technical dairy sales, or dairy applications (B2B).
• Strong understanding of dairy processing, formulation, and ingredient functionality.
• Proven experience managing direct customer accounts and/or distributors.
• Ability to balance technical depth with commercial execution.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Fluent in English. French or Portuguese is a strong advantage.
• Willingness to travel extensively (50%+) across Sub-Saharan Africa.

About dsm-firmenich

At dsm-firmenich, we don’t just meet expectations – we go beyond them.

Join our global team powered by science, creativity, and a shared purpose: to bring progress to life.

From elevating health to making fortified food and sustainable skincare, the impact of your work here will be felt by millions – every single day. Whether it’s fragrance that helps you focus, alternative meat that’s better for the planet, or reducing sugar without losing flavor, this is where you help shape the future of nutrition, health, and beauty for everyone, everywhere.

And while you’re making a difference, we’ll make sure you’re growing too. With learning that never stops, a culture that lifts you up and the freedom to move across businesses, teams, and borders. Your voice matters here. And your ideas? They’re essential to our future. 

Because real progress only happens when we go beyond, together.

Inclusion, belonging and equal opportunity statement
At dsm-firmenich, we believe being a force for good starts with the way we treat each other. When people feel supported, included, and free to be themselves, they do their best work – and that’s exactly the kind of culture we’re building. A place where opportunity is truly equal, authenticity is celebrated, and everyone has the chance to grow, contribute, and feel they belong.
We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and we’re serious about making our hiring process as fair and inclusive as possible. From inclusive language and diverse interview panels to thoughtful sourcing, we’re committed to reflecting the world we serve.

We welcome candidates from all backgrounds — no matter your gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or anything else that makes you, you.

And if you have a disability or need any support through the application process, we’re here to help – just let us know what you need, and we’ll do everything we can to make it work.

Agency statement:

We’re managing this search directly at dsm-firmenich. If you’re applying as an individual, we’d love to hear from you. We’re not accepting agency submissions or proposals involving fees or commissions for this role.