Advantage Group International is seeking a strategic and ambitious Managing Director to join us in our journey of helping businesses be better together in one of the world’s most dynamic FMCG markets. 

Our History and Mission: Thirty years ago, in Toronto, Canada, Founder Ron Pirie championed the belief that businesses work better together when they commit to actively listening and responding to each other’s feedback. 

Ron’s original idea to have retailers rate and rank their suppliers was first conceptualized in 1988. Not long after, FMCGs and retailers throughout North America began to recognize that strong and measurable relationships are at the heart of improved business performance. 

From humble beginnings and a staunch and universal belief that stronger collaboration leads to better business results in any market and any industry, our relationship benchmarking capabilities have become the gold standard for measuring business-to-business engagement in over 40 countries. 

Our Values:

• Be Engaged – Be engaged, on the team, and in the game. 

• Empathetic Feedback – Give and receive empathetic feedback. 

• High Performance – Succeed with a high-performance attitude. 

• Find a Better Way – Seek to improve and find a better way. 

Role Summary: The MD for China will further develop and execute a growth strategy that accelerates profitable revenue via client retention, expansion, and acquisition, as supported by Advantage’s capabilities, a high-performing team, and strong cross-functional relationships. 

Who We’re Seeking: The successful candidate holds 15+ years of successful leadership experience, preferably in a combination of CPG, Retail, and related Professional Services, with a history using data-led insights and advisory capabilities to drive growth. The ideal candidate will have an extensive professional network within top retailers, FMCG’s, and other ecosystem participants. 

Reporting relationships: The MD for China reports our Chief Commercial Strategy Officer and manages a direct team of up to ten. 

Key Competencies:  

Advantage has identified the following set of competencies that successful client service leaders demonstrate and develop in the role over time:  

• A Growth Mindset: An orientation to continually growing yourself, relationships, people, teams, and the business. 

• Analytical and Strategic Thinking, with a Bias for Action: The ability to anticipate future opportunities and trends accurately. Being future oriented and able to create competitive and breakthrough strategies and plans. 

• Coaching for Team Success: The ability to develop people and a team through effective coaching, people leadership skills, and applied emotional intelligence. 

• Expertise in the Chinese CPG / Retail / Omnichannel industry: Deep knowledge about how business is done, challenges between trading partners, key trends, and relationship dynamics. 

• Practical Understanding of Market Research Principles: Ability to quickly grasp our data model, methods, and insight-to-action approach, and an understanding of related data and research. 

• Outstanding Industry Connectivity: Building thriving industry relationships, particularly FMCG companies and retailers, becoming a trusted advisor, and creating mutually beneficial relationships. 

• Client Leadership: Acting as an advocate for our clients, understanding their needs, and recommending the right solutions, while also implementing successful client leadership programs and practices that drive long-term, sustainable, profitable growth for both Advantage and our clients, while achieving high levels of client engagement. 

• Prospecting for Growth: The ability to use prospecting principles, processes, and tools to identify and engage potential clients in the market while continually prospecting within existing clients to capitalize on additional business opportunities. 

• Effective Communication: Understanding and applying effective communication concepts, tools, and techniques. The ability to effectively transmit, receive, and interpret ideas, information, and needs through the application of appropriate communication behaviors. 

• Insightful Presentations: The ability to present innovative, actionable insights using relevant market data and trends. Proficient at using storytelling tools and techniques to engage clients and deliver new information. 

• Business and Financial Planning: The ability to apply financial concepts to make business plans and decisions to create value for our company and our clients. 

• Entrepreneurial Drive: Being driven, ambitious, and motivated to consistently meet / exceed targets. Ability to work independently and an entrepreneurial mindset a positive attitude, zest for learning and always seeking innovations and efficiencies. 

• Effective Leadership in Ambiguous and Difficult Situations: The ability to act effectively on partial or conflicting information, eliminate roadblocks, take unpopular stands when necessary, and face adversity head on. 

What Success Looks Like in this Role: Provide effective strategic, organizational, commercial, and client service leadership. Specific responsibilities include: 

• Achieve sales and profit goals by maximizing client retention, expansion, and acquisition 

• Build strong client relationships and ensure that they receive an excellent client experience and gain value and insights from Advantage  

• Ensure clients are actively engaged and put our insights and recommends into action  

• Enhance the Advantage brand within the FMCG / Retail community through keynote presentations, conference/association participation, white papers, published articles, and other efforts 

• Develop annual business plans, and provide the Advantage GLT with regular updates 

• Ensure research programs are executed with excellence by working closely with the operations and field coordination teams 

• Ensure alignment to business processes, working closely with Commercial, Operations and Finance teams 

• Contribute to innovations and piloting new approaches as we further develop our end-to-end Client Engagement experience 

• Ensure that Advantage China is compliant with local Chinese law  

Location: This role is hybrid.  

Languages: Fluent in Mandarin and English  

Travel: Expectations include occasional travel to: 

• Client offices for meetings and presentations, as needed (most are via videoconference) 

• Toronto global HQ or other AGI markets for regional events & training (occasional) 

• Relevant conferences or industry events