Sales Directors & Commercial Directors

SALES DIRECTOR & COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR RECRUITMENT SPECIALISTS

Lime Talent, established in London in 2013, has a comprehensive network of candidates for Director level roles within FMCG.

Finding a new Director for your leadership team can be a tough task. You need a candidate with industry expertise, functional experience and strong leadership skills who also fits your company culture. Having the right recruitment partner is crucial in this industry and with our wealth of experience, our team will assist in setting competitive salaries, crafting optimal talent attraction strategies to ensure the best candidate for your role.

Why Use Us?

Established in 2013, we have a track record in recruiting FMCG Sales Directors and Commercial Directors for many blue-chip businesses as well as working with a range of fast-growing challenger brands. Our team members are FMCG recruitment specialists that ensure you will be working with someone who fully understands your brief.

You can see some of our clients below

Within Sales & Commercial Directors we cover the following sub categories:

Food & Drink

Alcoholic Drinks

Health, Beauty & Personal Care

Consumer Products

Direct to Consumer & Subscription

What our clients say

  • “Lime Talent are responsive, flexible, honest and therefore very easy to work with. When I need support for trickier roles, then Lime are my first port of call and I always recommend them as they strike a good balance of challenge/blue chip from their network.”

    UK Country Manager | Tony’s Chocolonely

  • “Lime Talent have been a fantastic partner to me as I’ve built out the UK & Europe team for Who Gives a Crap. Their ability to get a quick understanding of our business, the needs I had for the roles and the calibre of Lime’s candidate pool has been invaluable. It’s allowed us to move quickly to build out a team from scratch, hiring roles across a range of functions including commercial, marketing, strategy & insights. I simply wouldn’t have been able to do this without Lime’s support & expertise!”

    MD UK & Europe | Who gives a crap

  • “Lime Talent have remained our trusted partners for the last 5 years. Most of our hires have come through Lime with the team clearly identifying the talent that have made the business successful so far. The candidates we receive are incredibly well filtered and we know before we meet them, that they will have the requisite calibre to succeed.”

    Managing Director | Itsu

  • “Lime Talent demonstrate a high degree of honesty and openness about the risks and considerations of placing specific people and you are continually assured they take a long-term approach to working with Ferrero. Highly recommended.”

    Customer Development Director | Ferrero

  • “Lime Talent made the process as easy as possible by providing well-screened candidates along with regular updates. They also provided clear guidance on the recruitment landscape that helped us position our role as attractive to candidates with the relevant skill set.”

    Marketing Manager | Windmill Organics

  • “Lime did a good job for us and I’ve enjoyed working with them on roles. Moved quickly and have been communicative, understanding our requirements on limited information.”

    CEO | Hackney Gelato

  • “The best recruitment business I’ve worked with. Highly recommended.”

    Founder | Holy Moly

DIRECTOR

Chester-born Chris McWade, has an unrivalled network of commercial candidates within the consumer goods industry. In addition to this, he has worked with many of the UK’s leading consumer brands and also with SME manufacturers from around the globe. Having started his career in 2002, Chris brings a wealth of experience to the team at Lime Talent.

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    Client Portfolio

    • Tony's Chocolonely
      Track Record
      We started working with Tony’s in 2018 to assist with their UK launch securing them:
      - UKI Head of Marketing
      - UK Head of Sales
      - UK Operations & Finance Manager
      Feedback
      “I used Lime Talent in the very early days of our UK launch with the team helping me hire my (now) UK leadership team who are all still with us since 2018. "
      Feedback
      "Lime Talent are responsive, flexible, honest and therefore very easy to work with. When I need support for trickier roles, then Lime are my first port of call and I always recommend them as they strike a good balance of challenge/blue chip from their network.” UK Country Manager
    • Danone
      Track Record
      Preferred supplier for roles within commercial and supply chain functions
    • who gives a crap
      Track Record
      Helping to build their EU team with roles including:
      - EU Head of Consumer
      - EU Head of Commercial
      - As well as various other roles
      Feedback
      “Lime Talent have been a fantastic partner to me as I've built out the UK & Europe team for Who Gives a Crap. Their ability to get a quick understanding of our business, the needs I had for the roles and the calibre of Lime's candidate pool has been invaluable. "
      Feedback
      "It's allowed us to move quickly to build out a team from scratch, hiring roles across a range of functions including commercial, marketing, strategy & insights. I simply wouldn't have been able to do this without Lime's support & expertise!" MD UK & Europe
    • L'Oreal
      Track Record
      Various projects from Manager to Director level within functions such as
      - eCommerce
      - Market Intelligence
      - Revenue Growth
      - Category Strategy
      - Business & Data analysis

    FAQ Section

    What does a Sales Director do in an FMCG or consumer goods business?

    A Sales Director is responsible for defining and delivering the commercial growth strategy across retail, wholesale, e-commerce and out-of-home channels. They lead the sales team, manage key retailer relationships, set revenue and margin targets, and ensure the business is positioned for profitable, sustainable growth. In challenger brands, the role often includes hands-on ownership of strategy, forecasting, pricing and cross-functional leadership.

    What is the difference between a Sales Director and a Commercial Director?

    A Sales Director is primarily focused on revenue delivery, retailer relationships and leading the sales team.
    A Commercial Director typically has broader ownership across pricing, margin, promotional strategy, trade spend, category, forecasting and commercial planning. In many SMEs, the titles are used interchangeably — but the Commercial Director role usually carries wider P&L responsibility.

    What salary does a Sales Director or Commercial Director earn in the UK FMCG sector?

    Salaries vary by size and stage of business, but typical ranges are:

    • Sales Director (SME/Challenger Brand): £100,000–£140,000 + bonus + LTIP
    • Sales Director (Blue-chip FMCG): £120,000–£160,000 + car + bonus + LTIP

    What skills do employers look for in a Sales or Commercial Director?

    Businesses typically look for:

    • Strong retailer relationship management (Top 4, Discounters, Amazon, or Convenience)
    • Experience building or restructuring a sales team
    • Category, pricing and margin understanding
    • Ability to scale revenue sustainably
    • P&L leadership and commercial planning
    • Experience in challenger brands or high-growth environments
    • Ability to work cross-functionally with marketing, operations, finance and supply chain

    Do Sales Directors need experience in the exact category (e.g. beverages, snacks, health & wellness)?

    Category experience is preferred but not always essential. Many challenger brands value functional capability, retailer knowledge, commercial acumen and evidence of scaling a brand more than deep category experience. The closer the category, the shorter the ramp-up time — but transferable skills often outweigh category specificity.

    How do Lime Talent recruit Sales and Commercial Directors?

    Lime Talent run a specialist executive search process focused exclusively on the FMCG and consumer goods sector. This includes:

    • Market mapping and targeted headhunting
    • Salary benchmarking and role scoping
    • Behavioural and competency-based interviews
    • Shortlisting with full profiling and references
    • Support through offer negotiation, onboarding and retention

    We work with both fast-growth challenger brands and established blue-chips, ensuring a search strategy tailored to each client’s needs.

    Why do FMCG challenger brands work with Lime Talent to hire Sales Directors?

    Because challenger brands often need leaders who can roll up their sleeves, operate with limited resources, and scale rapidly. Lime Talent has deep specialism across food, drink, health, beauty and consumer goods — and a track record of placing leaders who deliver growth through Top 4, Discounters, Amazon, DTC and new channel development.

    How long does it take to hire a Sales or Commercial Director?

    Most searches take 4–8 weeks depending on:

    • Complexity of the role
    • Attractiveness of the salary and package
    • Need for specific channel or category expertise
    • Candidate availability and notice periods
      We can run accelerated searches for urgent or interim leadership hires.

    Can Lime Talent find interim or contract Sales Directors?

    Yes. We regularly place interim Sales Directors, Commercial Leads, and Head of Sales contractors, particularly for:

    • Maternity cover
    • Business turnarounds
    • Funding rounds
    • Rapid new retailer launches
    • Short-term gaps while recruiting a permanent hire

    What size businesses do Lime Talent typically support?

    We work with:

    • Seed-stage and Series A challenger brands
    • VC/PE-backed growth businesses
    • Founder-led SMEs
    • Mid-size FMCG brands
    • Global blue-chip consumer goods groups

    Our strongest niche is high-growth disruptive brands looking for hands-on commercial leaders.

    Does Lime Talent recruit globally for Sales and Commercial Directors?

    Yes — while most of our placements are UK-based, we also support searches across Europe, North America and APAC, particularly for brands expanding into new regions.