Hi, I’m
Cesare Osuji
Business Development Director
No. 12 Nelson Abido Street, Off Richfield Avenue, Ajao Estate, Lagos
Summary
Dynamic Director overseeing every facet of demand planning strategy and execution geared towards market growth with strong decision-making skills. Bringing comprehensive knowledge of market trends in Middle East and Africa into planning and operations.
Enthusiastic Sales Leader with over 20 years of experience in Technology & Sales including 10 years in SAP as the Channel Sales Manager motivating & providing leadership to sales colleagues in partner organizations whom are an extension of SAP salesforce.
Performance-oriented Manager offering exceptional record of achievement over the last 4 years successfully averaging 250,000 Euros a month in software sales alone also delivering 196% of yearly target, 176% of cloud target and 120% of partner revenue targets.
Dedicated technology professional with a history of successfully empowering businesses in a tough market by selling technologies that has helped transform their organization into intelligent enterprises.
Passionate about impacting lives and building lasting legacies by providing leadership to local communities whom are a mix of learned, semi-learned and the unlearned spanning all ages; creating and adopting standards that applies to all regardless of age, gender and background.
Overview
21
years of professional experience
1
year of post-secondary education
5
Certifications
Work History
SAPBarcelona, Spain
Demand Director, Middle East & Africa
01.2024 - Current
Job overview
- Responsible for ensuring that all demand generation engines work at full speed to provide high volume and quality pipeline for SAP in Middle East and Africa.
- Build Demand Strategy for respective Business Units in Middle East, Fast Growing Markets and Africa that support all customer facing roles to ensure we achieve best quality pipeline. Create needed curiosity to necessitate desired responses from customers.
- Review historical sales trends, research demand drivers and prepare forecast data to develop statistical forecast models and evaluate forecast results to impact future business decisions.
- Increase visibility and accountability into key forecast accuracy metrics by identifying sources of error and developing mitigation plans.
- Ensure availability of necessary content (Webinars. Whitepapers, Videos, Success Stories etc..) and critical Outreach sequences to smoothly execute campaigns and program roll outs.
- Coordinate demand generation activities working closely with Marketing, Sales Operations, Presales, Center of Excellence (COE) & Experience Management teams to bridge pipeline gaps stemming from insights on identified market opportunities.
- Execute on demand generation plans with close alignment from Sales, Partner Business Managers & Partner Ecosystem stakeholders to build solid pipeline coverage and conversion in key business units in Middle East and Africa with focus on current quarter, 4 rolling quarters and full financial year.
- Ensure continuity and governance in demand generation framework in areas around discovery, planning and execution.
- Liaise with Senior Leadership to create and execute on demand generation plans that speaks to their Market Unit in Middle East and Africa effectively bridging pipeline gap.
- Actively identify GTM hurdles and build risk mitigation strategies to address them.
- Review Demand Generation practices for continuous improvement, simplification and feedback to regional and global stakeholders.
SAPBarcelona, Spain
Demand Director, Africa
07.2022 - 12.2023
Job overview
- Delivered 160% of Market Unit target in pipeline generation representing new business as part of my responsibility of building high volume and quality pipeline for SAP in Africa.
- Deployed new initiatives in Africa including the Partner Booster Program & Innovation Days with Sales Teams & Partners thereby accelerating pipeline growth and collaboration across different demand generation pillars.
- Spearheaded new cadences with Senior Leadership aimed at monitoring execution of demand generation plans, bridging pipeline gaps, improving new pipeline progression and conversion.
SAP
Channel Sales Manager, West Africa
06.2014 - 07.2022
Job overview
- Managed Direct & Indirect revenue within given territory – Energy, Public Services (Government, Public Security, Education etc.) & Financial Services.
- Met and exceeded growth metric targets within assigned territories and partner accounts delivering averagely 200% growth YOY over 4-year period.
- Managed end-to-end sales process of about 590 mid-size companies of which 80 companies were larger more complex engagements.
- Coordinated and Increased demand generation activities in my territory by setting up executable plans for about 10 managed partners which culminated in delivering averagely 2-3 deals with all partners YOY.
- Reinforced the Land Adopt Consume & Expand (LACE) Strategy in my territory amongst partners & customers improving project delivery and customer satisfaction in the process thereby ensuring no contract terminations.
- Engaged with sales, commercial and finance teams to drive collections post sales thereby improving our financial position in West Africa.
- Coached and Mentored partner sales reps on identification, qualification, development and deal closing techniques aimed at increasing pipeline and conversion rate.
- Coordinated weekly forecast updates for my territory and drove weekly sales calls with managed partners which improved linearity and forecast accuracy.
- Made recommendations on commercial process improvements, pricing & offers as well as motivated for necessary approvals up to Board level to satisfy customer expectations and deliver on our Customer First mantra.
SAP (Fellowship - EMEA)Walldorf, Germany
Business Development Manager
06.2021 - 12.2021
Job overview
- Drove pipeline and revenue for Retail, Consumer Goods and Agri-Business products across Europe, Middle-East and Africa.
- Engaged product colleagues, partner sales teams (for solution extension products) and other members of innovation team to onboard new features of products and discuss how we can position these best to drive new business.
- Drove demand generation activities with sales teams, and external events targeting key and potential customers.
- Prepared campaigns and presentations for customers, run other business development activities via various digital channels.
- Drove extensive collaboration with all stakeholders especially from Sales & Business Development.
- Weekly pipeline report tracking CRM pipeline and activities helping to increase opportunities in EMEA.
- Quarterly forecast reviews with my Director with key focus on bigger deals within my portfolio of products.
Microsoft, Public SectorLagos, Nigeria
LE Account Executive
05.2014 - 06.2014
Job overview
- Responsible to build and own, dynamic, always-on account plans detailing critical insights and new business opportunities aligned to customer priorities and each Microsoft's solution areas, (Business Workplace, Business Apps, Apps and Infrastructure, Data Management).
- Responsible to build coalition of support (IT and business) both inside Microsoft and with customer. Define digital outcomes and path to achieve.
- Show leadership among entire account team. Direct clear opportunity ownership and support. Ensure consistent, repeatable achievement of revenue and consumption targets through rigorous sales discipline - pipeline, forecast management.
- Increase overall skills, specifically technical and industry acumen to deliver innovative ideas accelerating customer success in cloud.
- Lead, drive and manage opportunities within territory across key Microsoft solution areas.
- Leverage and utilize key business and industry insights to elevate customer conversation and action.
Weco Systems International Limited
Head Software & Enterprise Applications Division
09.2010 - 05.2014
Job overview
- Responsible for growing gross profit (GP) contribution by 20% every year and delivered 5 million USD in GP which represented 25% of total company GP in 3yrs.
- Defined IT and Business strategies which increased overall market share of Weco Systems in Nigeria and West Africa.
- Built and maintained strategic relationships with OEM's like Oracle, Microsoft and SAP enabling us deliver best value to our customers especially on pricing and solution offerings thereby winning us Gold Partnership in Oracle and Enterprise Software Advisor for Microsoft in 2 years.
- Provided leadership for various teams whose key responsibilities included designing and providing solutions around Enterprise Content Management, Enterprise Resource Planning, Business Intelligence, Unified Communication, Business Process Automation, Customer Relationship Management, Core Infrastructure Optimization and Cloud based Services.
- Responsible for recruiting and motivating sales and technical teams.
Airtel (formely Zain ITO, Application Development)
Team Leader
05.2009 - 09.2010
Job overview
- Ensured 3 9's availability of all existing applications inherited from Zain either directly for in-house applications (both small scale and enterprise-wide) or 2nd level support for applications not directly associated with me. Solutions included Zain Intranet on SharePoint 2007, Zain Internet on DotNetNuke version 4 and SQL Server 2005 SP2 clusters on Windows Server 2003 (64-bit) amongst others.
- Ensured team members understood SLA requirements and implement them. Developed solutions off existing architecture in-line with Agile methodology embracing service oriented architecture.
- Integrated applications where necessary eliminating duplication and standardizing capable platforms.
Airtel (formerly Celtel, IT Systems Development)
Solution Developer & Integrator
03.2008 - 05.2009
Job overview
- Implemented SharePoint Server 2007 which powered Intranet and Internet of Celtel delivering premium content, team collaboration and document management for staff and customers amongst others.
- Implemented Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 which provided middle-ware that powered business process automation for critical aspects of Celtel increasing response time and time to value for several deployments.
- Developed architecture, design and implementation of e-Business systems and services. Specific areas included Microsoft.NET based distributed architectures for N-tiered Web Client/Server architectures, Service Oriented Architecture and Web Services, Object Oriented Design and Analysis, Component technologies, Object Oriented Frameworks and Analysis and Design Patterns.
- Adopted and implemented Agile Software Development methodologies to enable efficient and effective high-quality software development in ASP.NET 2.0, AJAX, C#, XML and SQL Server 2005.
- Adopted and implemented strategy/ process methodology for systems availability, team collaboration, solution development and integration, business continuity, solution development documentation and requirements implementation.
Integral Technologies (Parent Company of FirstLogic Enterprises)
Business Development Manager
06.2006 - 07.2007
Job overview
- Developed and implemented Training plans for corporate customers and private clients.
- Developed and Implemented Business plans solely for growing revenue and increasing customer base.
- Responsible for developing and delivering quality training by leveraging hands-on developers and solution delivery experts with real life experiences which endeared corporate organizations to us and in turn sustained revenue growth.
- Developed learning proposals for Small and Medium sized organizations on solutions ranging from standard OEM learning programs to customized software packages.
- Implemented best practices on managing and maintaining existing IT infrastructure for Exam Centers in line with Prometric standards ensuring highest level of certification environment.
Integral Technologies
Head System Development
08.2005 - 06.2006
Job overview
- Developed solutions using cutting edge technologies like Java and C#.Net
- Developed Management Reporting System using XML, XSQL and Java technologies for clients which included First Bank, Union Bank and Skye Bank (now Keystone Bank).
- Developed Service Desk System using J2EE and Oracle technologies for clients including Allied Computers.
Integral Technologies
System Developer & Lead Trainer
10.2003 - 08.2005
Job overview
- Delivered training to over 1000 students as lead trainer including corporate clients
- Prepared students for certification courses in key technology areas including Oracle, Microsoft and Java programs
- Supported corporate customers by providing 2nd level support on technology areas which included Oracle ADF, XML, UML and advanced Oracle Technologies (Oracle RAC and Data Guard)
Education
Federal University of Agriculture, UmudikeAbia State
Bachelor of Science from Physics
07.1998 - 08.2002
McKinsey Black Leadership AcademySouth Africa
Certification Badge from Management Accelerator Program
10.2021 - 06.2022
Skills
Problem Solving
Negotiation
Industry Knowledge
Leadership
Business Strategy
Coaching and mentoring
Business Planning
Accomplishments
- Achieved SAP Winners Circle 2019 & 2020 (SAP's highest form of global recognition 2 years in a row specially reserved for Sales Excellence in a fiscal year.) by completing over 140% of Sales Target across 3 distinct parameters with accuracy and efficiency.
- Collaborated with World Economic Forum (WEF), Government of Ghana represented by Ghana Ministry of Environment (MESTI), DOW, Nestle, Coca-cola in the development of Circular Economy Program on Plastics.
- Achieved first Reinsurance Deal (1m Euros in software sales) in Africa effectively helping a local partner become Partner of the year.
- Achieved first Agriculture Rural Sourcing Deal (2.6m Euros TCV for 5yrs) in West Africa delivered by indigenous companies effectively helping with enabling farmers digitize their sourcing process, automate tracing of their yield thereby increasing their revenue.
- Collaborated with team of 4 in developing SAP Skills for Africa Program launch in West Africa empowering over 100 graduates (28 graduates yearly) on SAP advanced technologies and successfully placing them with SAP, customers and partners
- Achieved e-Justice program for Government of Ghana effectively helping a local partner deliver their target (1m Euros in software revenue to SAP over 3years).
- Supervised team of 5 staff members deploy a mobile platform (SAP PeopleConnect 365) aimed at reducing gender-based violence by providing women & girls in distress the ability to send & receive information in a timely fashion working with WARIF (Women at Risk Foundation)
Certification
McKinsey Black Leadership Academy: Problem Solving
Timeline
Demand Director, Middle East & Africa
SAP
01.2024 - Current
Demand Director, Africa
SAP
07.2022 - 12.2023
McKinsey Black Leadership Academy: Business Fundamentals
04-2022
McKinsey Black Leadership Academy: Business Strategy
02-2022
McKinsey Black Leadership Academy: Problem Solving
01-2022
SAP Catalyst Program 2022
01-2022
SAP Catalyst Program 2021
12-2021
McKinsey Black Leadership Academy
Certification Badge from Management Accelerator Program
10.2021 - 06.2022
Business Development Manager
SAP (Fellowship - EMEA)
06.2021 - 12.2021
Channel Sales Manager, West Africa
SAP
06.2014 - 07.2022
LE Account Executive
Microsoft, Public Sector
05.2014 - 06.2014
Head Software & Enterprise Applications Division
Weco Systems International Limited
09.2010 - 05.2014
Team Leader
Airtel (formely Zain ITO, Application Development)
05.2009 - 09.2010
Solution Developer & Integrator
Airtel (formerly Celtel, IT Systems Development)
03.2008 - 05.2009
Business Development Manager
Integral Technologies (Parent Company of FirstLogic Enterprises)
06.2006 - 07.2007
Head System Development
Integral Technologies
08.2005 - 06.2006
System Developer & Lead Trainer
Integral Technologies
10.2003 - 08.2005
Federal University of Agriculture, Umudike
Bachelor of Science from Physics
07.1998 - 08.2002