How to become a commercial director: responsibilities, functions, main qualities

List of responsibilities of the commercial director

A commercial director is a top manager who is responsible for building a system for continuously generating financial flow into the company. We have studied published vacancies and compiled a list of the most common requirements for this position. Here's what a commercial director does according to employers:

Development of a company development strategy - this includes analysis of the market, competitors, sales and other information about the economic and other activities of the enterprise.
Analysis of the operating situation in the company - find out where there are failures, prevent potential threats and accidents that could lead to a decrease in cash flow.
Budgeting - controlling expenses and income, assessing the effectiveness of spending.
Control of financial indicators and management decisions at the executive level.
Development of a plan for economic and production activities.
Building marketing and sales systems in the company.

The activities of a commercial director are often synonymous with the work of a general director - in fact, now this is the second person of the company, his deputy, ready to take over responsibilities if the main unit fails.

Pay attention to the field of activity of the company in which you plan to join as a commercial director - now employers require the top to have minimum experience in retail, IT or other segments, if they are looking for such a specialist.

Executive Director position

An executive director is one of the leaders of the organization, a top manager. In fact, in most situations, this position is analogous to a general director or director; it differs in the list of powers, rights and area of responsibility. In each company, the responsibilities and functions of such a specialist are determined individually in the statutory documentation.

So he can be the only head of the LLC and report to the meeting of founders, or he can be the second person after the general director and report to him. There are many options, they are not limited by law. When forming management staff, owners proceed from their own considerations of profit.

The occupation codes of this manager do not differ from the standard director or manager - 21495. The order of appointment is signed by the general director.

The responsibilities of the executive director depend on the wishes of the company owner and may vary significantly from company to company.

Responsibilities

The terms of reference of the top manager are determined by the statutory documentation. What exactly to include in it is decided by the founders of the organization. As a rule, the executive manager is entrusted with solving operational problems and monitoring day-to-day work, daily operational activities and the preparation of internal reporting.

The appointment of such a specialist is only relevant for large companies where 1 manager is not enough. He is entrusted with solving tactical issues, he is not involved in strategy, planning, or selecting personnel, but he can work on motivating the staff.

The executive director's job description includes the following sample list of responsibilities:

manages day-to-day financial and business operations;
organizes the implementation of plans (production, sales, optimization);
introduces new standards;
monitors compliance with production and service standards;
controls the implementation of assigned tasks by structural units;
increases the efficiency of interaction between departments, workshops, and areas;
manages individual divisions on behalf of the CEO or board of founders;
works to motivate staff;
analyzes the effectiveness and quality of implementation of plans in practice.

Often participates in the development of the company's strategy, helps select personnel, and informs the meeting of founders about current results. The work of this manager is distinguished by efficiency and the practical nature of the tasks being solved.

Download the job description: Job description of the executive director

Professional Skill Requirements

An executive director (in English, Executive Director) is a generalist. His professional skills combine multitasking, high speed decision-making, leadership qualities and knowledge of psychology. The practical nature of the work of such a leader eliminates slowness and indecision. This is not an “office” employee, not the “face of the company.” During the day, he changes his location several times, being present where he is most needed at the moment - at a meeting, in a department or on a workshop.

Professional education can be of any kind, but faculties of management, administration, economics or law are welcome. Sometimes managers complete advanced training courses that help them achieve a higher level of competence. For example, understand tax legislation or the government procurement system.

The resume of a potential executive director should contain leadership experience, as well as successfully implemented projects that the candidate has supervised. The salary is high, as a rule, depending on the success achieved.

The executive director resolves operational issues and works to motivate staff

Differences from the CEO

What is the difference between an executive director and a director? As a rule, the difference lies in the range of tasks performed and powers. The General Director is given the right to sign documents and is engaged in strategic planning of the company. Executive - controls the implementation of these plans in practice, conveys them directly to employees, and thinks through ways of implementation.

It should be understood that the distinction from the CEO may be different in each individual organization. This is recorded in the statutory documentation and job descriptions of managers. The executive director reports to the general director, but never vice versa. By proxy, he can sign documents or represent the organization in regulatory institutions.

The CEO can be compared to the head of the company - he works on the development strategy, signs documents, and officially represents the organization at events. In this case, it is appropriate to compare the executive with the hands that work to complete the tasks of the “head” and are not so noticeable from the outside.

powers of attorney: Power of attorney for the executive director

How is a commercial director different from a sales director?

Both in resumes and in vacancies you can now find confusion. For example, the job description and responsibilities of a commercial director are different from a sales director, but some companies believe that they are literally the same thing. This is wrong:

The commercial director is responsible for building the entire system, including sales.
The Sales Director is a separate top unit of the company, which is responsible for closing deals, increasing LTV and developing a sales system.

Another misconception is to confuse commercial and financial directors. There is a difference in approach: if the first one deals with the completely commercial system of the enterprise, then the second one is responsible specifically for cash flows.

Order No. 1 on the appointment of a director of an LLC

A job description must be drawn up, with which the person taking up the position must be familiarized. It must stipulate the rights, duties and powers of the person holding the post of general director.

If there is no chief accountant on the staff of the organization, then his duties can be performed by the director - this should also be reflected in the order. There is no need to draw up a separate document on the director’s accounting; for this, you can use the order for the appointment of the general director.

The assignment of the duties of the chief accountant in the order to assume the position of director is prescribed as the second paragraph after the order on the appointment to the position of director. After which there is a clause about the date of entry into force of the document, the seal and signature of the manager (or founder) who issued the order.

This decision can be made by:

general meeting of participants (shareholders) of the company, documenting it with minutes (for example, in an LLC - minutes of the general meeting of company participants);

the board of directors (supervisory board) of the company (if the resolution of this issue is within its competence by the charter), formalizing it by decision.

This is provided for in Article 63 and paragraph 3 of Article 69 of the Law of December 26, 1995 No. 208-FZ, Article 37 and paragraph 1 of Article 40 of the Law of February 8, 1998 No. 14-FZ. If there is only one owner in the organization, then the general director is appointed based on the decision of the sole participant (shareholder) (clause 2 of Article 7 and clause 1 of Article 40 of the Law of February 8, 1998 No. 14-FZ, clause 2 of Art. 2 and Article 69 of the Law of December 26, 1995 No. 208-FZ).

Labor Code of the Russian Federation). In fact, the director elected at the stage of establishing the LLC begins to work only from the moment the company is registered and the corresponding entry is made in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, since it is then that it is considered created (clause 8 of Article 51 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). On behalf of the company, an employment contract can be signed (paragraph 2, clause 1, article 40 of the Federal Law of 02/08/1998 No. 14-FZ):

the person who chaired the general meeting of participants at which the general director was elected;
a member of the company authorized to do so by a decision of the general meeting;
Chairman of the Board of Directors (Supervisory Board);
a person authorized to do so by a decision of the board of directors (supervisory board).

4. Issue an order appointing a director (general director) of the LLC.

Issue an order for the appointment of the general director using the unified form No. T-1 (Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of Russia dated January 5, 2004 No. 1). The first order of the general director should be an order to take office. Usually there is the wording: “In pursuance of the decision of the shareholders (participants), I begin to perform my duties on such and such a date.”

Important

An example of drawing up an employment contract with the general director. The Charter of Alfa JSC does not include the election of the general director within the competence of the board of directors (supervisory board) of the company. At the general meeting of Alpha shareholders, A.V. was elected general director. Lvov (protocol). An employment contract was concluded with him.

Situation: is it possible to conclude an employment contract with the general director for a period exceeding five years? The answer to this question depends on what kind of agreement is concluded with the general director.

This rule is based on the impossibility of concluding an employment contract with oneself, since the organization has no other founders (participants, shareholders). In this situation, the director must, by his decision, assume the functions of the sole executive body. In this case, the director will carry out management activities without concluding any contract, including an employment contract.

Attention

By the way

Important skills to develop right now

If you are ready to potentially develop to the level of commercial director, then it is worth pursuing the necessary skills right now. Here is the competency map:

Train in drawing up and implementing strategies for sales and marketing departments of companies at different levels.
Manage sales departments - understand their goals, objectives, methods of long-term and operational control.
Optimize business processes, set tasks for the implementation and improvement of CRM systems, understand the specifics of working with the IT department.
Know the intricacies of compiling KPIs and remuneration systems.
Understand HR - understand how the search, hiring, adaptation, training and motivation of personnel occurs.
Understand how sales occur, how to look for new channels, how to work with existing databases.

The future commercial director will need to understand:

Features of budgeting in commercial and government organizations.
Subtleties of legal processes and contractual work.
Processes of product movement both within the enterprise and after sale.

Main soft skills and side skills you can’t do without

It is now difficult to do without “soft skills” - this statement suits any top manager. We have already talked about the five main skills of the future, but this is not enough. Here are three more character traits that company leaders and founders recommend future top managers develop.

General Director of CAF Group Natalya Ionova sees conventional “drive” as an excellent quality of a leader. The recommendation is to look for people who are passionate about something for management positions. And not necessarily just work, it is important that the employee, in principle, knows how to “get carried away” and “burn.”
The Right Management portal states that an important leadership skill now is adaptability. This is the ability to adapt to changes, abruptly change direction, and understand how to flexibly and quickly transform the development strategy without losses for the company.
Modern IT companies are focused on increasing the productivity of both teams and individuals. Try to study their methods - Agile, Scrum, Kanban. The head of Sberbank, German Gref, spoke positively about such systems.

Introduction

In the articles linked below, I disclosed all the basic information about how people come into the industry, how they develop in it and how they get into management positions, which, depending on the structure of the company, can be from one to three, five or even more. And in today’s article we will talk directly about the position of the executive director, namely, what tasks are facing him, what the employer expects from him, what rights he is endowed with and what responsibilities are imposed on him. To do this, we will have to consider a document such as the job description of the executive director.

ADVICE. This material is a logical continuation of the series of articles: “Who is a director of a fitness club”, “Job description of a director of a fitness club”, “How to become a director of a fitness club” and “Who is a financial director”, which I also recommend that you read.

Daily functions of the commercial director

Job descriptions for commercial directors of large companies usually consist of a huge list on several sheets. But there are functions that a top manager has to perform constantly:

Negotiating - your opponents will be suppliers, buyers, potential partners and competitors. We recommend reading our material on developing business communications skills.
Drawing up, monitoring and changing short-term strategies.
Expansion of sales channels.
Control of marketing and sales departments.
Budgeting.
Finding ways to reduce costs and increase company revenue.

Salary of a commercial director

According to a study by the portal trud.com, the average salary of a commercial director throughout Russia is 73,000-90,000 rubles. Keep in mind that we are talking only about vacancies with a specified salary and, as a rule, only the salary rate is taken into account.

The income of a commercial director usually includes several positions:

"Fixed" salary.
Bonuses based on the results of the quarter/year.
Bonuses for achieving company KPIs.
Dividends if there is a share in the company.

At the time of writing this article, you can find vacancies on the market for a commercial director in retail with a salary starting from 120,000 rubles, in the manufacturing segment with a salary starting from 150,000 rubles, in IT - from 250,000 rubles.

Bonus knowledge that will help you stand out among competitors

There are several other skills and competencies that will come in handy if you are planning to make a career leap within your company. Of course, it is better to check the final list with the general director, but this knowledge will definitely not be superfluous:

Thoroughly understand the entire organizational structure of the company, understand the specifics of interaction between departments and different levels of departments.
Know the legislative features with which the company operates.
Be part of a team or understand big data analytics yourself, understand how the market behaves and what to expect from it in the short and long term.
Have sources of information about other markets in which the company could potentially win or competitors could emerge.
Understand the company's product range and sales features.

Who can be appointed as CEO

To approve an employee for the post of general director, two types of documents are required: a decision of the meeting of the owners of the company indicating the person who has assumed the responsibilities of the manager, and the order itself on the appointment to the position.
In cases where the responsibilities of the director are assumed by a single founder, one decision drawn up on his behalf is sufficient. The order to assume the position of director is completed as follows:

The header of the document indicates basic information about the company - name, legal form, as well as the document number, location of the enterprise (settlement), date of registration.
A title that contains a brief description of the essence of the document.
The first part of the order must contain information about the protocol on the basis of which the position or decision of the sole founder is approved, indicating the number and date. Then the full name of the new manager and the date of taking office, as well as the date of entry into force of the document, are again written down.
At the end of the order to assume the position of director, the seal of the organization (if any) and the signature of the person who compiled the document are affixed.

If the director is appointed for the first time, then his name must be entered in the Unified State Register.

Do you have any questions regarding the documentation of certain procedures in the course of the organization’s business activities? You can get the answer on our forum. For example, here you can find out who enters into an employment contract with the director who is the founder.

Info

On assuming the position of director of Nazvanie LLC; — the body of the order, which provides a direct link to the Protocol (or to the Decision), its number and date, on the basis of which “I assume the position of director of the Company on such and such a date of such and such year.” This point is always the first in the order; — the second paragraph is the date or moment of entry into force of the document. For example, “From the moment of signing, this Order comes into force”; — if the LLC does not have an accountant on staff, then this must be reflected in the order and the duties of the chief accountant must be assigned to the director of the LLC.

— signature of the head of the LLC with a description of the last name, first name and patronymic, and indicating the position; 5. Fill out the work book of the director (general director) of the LLC.

The main question: is it necessary to issue an order to hire a director?

Solution: Such an order can be issued, but it is not required. But it’s better to draw up an order for taking office.

The procedure for registering employment for a general manager includes all the same stages that an ordinary employee goes through. But they have some important features.

general meeting of participants or shareholders; the board of directors (supervisory board) of the company, in cases where the resolution of this issue is within its competence by the charter.

Such conditions are provided for in Art. 40 of the Federal Law of 02/08/1998 No. 14-FZ “On Limited Liability Companies” (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 14-FZ) and Art. 69 of the Federal Law of December 26, 1995 No. 208-FZ “On Joint-Stock Companies” (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 208-FZ).

If the director is appointed by the general meeting, then a protocol is drawn up indicating who is elected to this position and for how long; if the board of directors or supervisory board, then the decision of this body is formalized.

Conclusion of an employment contract with the director. Like an ordinary employee, the CEO must have an employment contract. It is often unclear who should sign it on behalf of the company. This issue is regulated by corporate law. If we are talking about an LLC, then the agreement can be signed by the chairman of the general meeting of participants, where directors are elected.

The meeting may also authorize any other participant who is most comfortable in contact with the director to do so. When the decision to hire a director falls within the competence of the board of directors or supervisory board, the agreement is signed by the chairman of the board or an authorized member of the board (clause 1 of Art.

Sometimes the order for the appointment of a general director is called order No. 1, since not a single manager who is entrusted with the functions of a director has the right to assume his duties without this document entering into legal force. In other words, in the absence of an order to appoint a general director, documents signed by a person calling himself a director will not be valid, and the director himself will not be recognized by law.

The main purpose of the order is to notify government supervisory authorities, as well as all employees of the organization, that such and such has assumed the position of chief executive on such and such a date.

When appointing the general director of an enterprise, one of two options is used.

In the first case, a person is appointed director who is at the same time either the sole founder of the organization or one of several co-founders. In this case, he is a hired employee of the enterprise and at the same time has an exceptional position, since he has powers that other employees do not have.
The second option involves hiring an outsider for the position of director.

Regardless of which path is chosen, to assume the position of general director, it is necessary to create two documents: minutes of the meeting of founders and the corresponding order. In the event that the sole founder of an organization expresses a desire to simultaneously become its director, a decision must be made instead of a protocol.

When drawing up an order for the appointment of a general director, it is important to keep in mind that this document is one of the main documents of the organization, so it must be kept without a statute of limitations.

Like almost all other documents, regardless of whether they relate to internal or external document flow, this order must contain basic information about the enterprise. First of all, here you need to enter the name of the organization indicating its organizational and legal form. Next, you should note the registration number of the document (most often it goes under No. 1), indicate the locality in which the enterprise operates, and put the date (day, month, year)

Then you should enter a title that will briefly reflect the essence of the document (in this case, “about taking office as the General Director”).

After this, the first paragraph of the order is drawn up. The documents on the basis of which the order is drawn up are listed here (minutes of the meeting of founders, number such-and-such, dated such-and-such a date, or the decision of the sole founder, numbered such-and-such, dated such-and-such a date). Next, again, enter the full name of the organization (in accordance with registration documents), last name, first name, patronymic (without abbreviations) of the general director and the date of his assumption of office.

It should be noted that from this date all responsibility for the activities of the enterprise is fully transferred to the general director, and his signature gives legal force to all documents related to the functioning of the organization.

The second paragraph always contains a condition under which this order acquires legal force (most often it is written here “from the moment of signing”).

The order must be certified by the signature and seal of the organization, as well as a reference to the person who prepared the order (if it is not the director of the enterprise himself). If the founder and the general director are one person, then he signs this order himself.

In cases where the general director is appointed for the first time (that is, to a newly created enterprise), information about this is automatically recorded along with other registration documents in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities.

If the order to appoint a general director is issued due to a change in the management of the enterprise, then information about these changes should be independently submitted to the tax office for inclusion in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. This must be done no later than three days after this document is written and the new general director takes office.

There is no need to include information about wages and other conditions of his work in the order for the appointment of the general director, since this document relates to the main documentation of the organization (unlike orders for other employees - such information must be present there).

Important! If the general director is appointed by the minutes of the general meeting of co-founders, then an employment contract must be concluded with him, while if the general director and the sole founder are one person, such an agreement is not necessary.

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However, in the second case, it should be remembered that the tax office may prohibit keeping records of salaries and other expenses when calculating income tax. So it’s still better to draw up an agreement. The general director can sign an agreement on both sides (both on the part of the employer and on the part of the hired employee) - the Labor Code allows such actions.