What does a country manager do?
A Country Manager oversees a company's operations in a different region or country, ensuring corporate expansions run smoothly and efficiently. They are responsible for establishing objectives and guidelines, conducting market research and analysis to find international business and client opportunities, developing strategic plans for revenue growth and brand awareness, and monitoring sales, generating progress reports regularly. Should there be conflicts or issues, it is also their responsibility to resolve them right away. Moreover, a Country Manager leads and encourages staff to reach goals while implementing the company's standards and policies.
Country manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real country manager resumes:
- Achieve 3pp in EBITDA growth from 2015 and 9pp vs budget.
- Manage Striderite's offshore sourcing operations in the Caribbean.
- Manage two to four grants annually, totaling 1-2 million USD each year.
- Manage billing, payroll, and other necessary fix and variable costs, maintaining profit growth year to year.
- Lead internal risk management processes of all in-country associate parties, including final assessments/decisions.
- Support search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns.
- Facilitate business development with NGOs, public and private institutions.
- Develop and maintain contacts and working relationships with government officials, international and national NGOs.
- Develop partnerships with other UN agencies to distribute relief supplies.
- Design UK, MEA and Italian digital marketing campaigns integrate to offline communication and activities.
- Work with distributors sales force to insure all require KPI's are execute and implement.
- Report to board of directors, HQ, and custom reports as per clients request.
- Develop enterprise strategy, define key KPIs, build marketing team and execute marketing programs.
- Support safety and quality department, implementing certification ISO 9001, ISO 14000 and OSHA 18000.
- Lead sub-franchisee/distribution units, sales, marketing, finance and workshop departments if KPI s meet.
Country manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 13% of Country Managers are proficient in Logistics, Business Development, and Business Strategy. They’re also known for soft skills such as Leadership skills, Management skills, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Country Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Logistics, 13%
Coordinate preparation of Integrated Logistics Support Analysis Reports Hazardous Materials Management/ Pack and certify all types of hazardous cargo.
- Business Development, 9%
Conduct business development internationally and domestically.
- Business Strategy, 8%
Developed company a business strategy for Iraq to ensure increased profitability while lowering cost.
- Product Development, 7%
Lead team working on French-language Indeed sites in product development and localization, development of mobile, ATS, Publisher partnerships.
- Revenue Growth, 6%
Secured largest 'non-US' OEM customer and attained year-over-year revenue growth >50%.
- Human Resources, 4%
Directed, monitored financial and human resources processes/ reporting for regional management.
Common skills that a country manager uses to do their job include "logistics," "business development," and "business strategy." You can find details on the most important country manager responsibilities below.
Leadership skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a country manager to have is leadership skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "top executives must be able to shape and direct an organization by coordinating policies, people, and resources." Country managers often use leadership skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "provided leadership and direction to sales, marketing, business development, and client relationship management within the nuclear medicine departments. "
Problem-solving skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of country managers is problem-solving skills. This skill is critical to many everyday country manager duties, as "top executives need to identify and resolve issues within an organization." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "apply skills in new business development, key account management, solution selling and c-level negotiations. "
Time-management skills. country manager responsibilities often require "time-management skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "top executives do many tasks concurrently to ensure that their work gets done and that the organization meets its goals." This resume example shows what country managers do with time-management skills on a typical day: "improved on time performance from 72% global on time to 95% on time for all product lines. "
Communication skills. Another crucial skill for a country manager to carry out their responsibilities is "communication skills." A big part of what country managers relies on this skill, since "top executives must be able to convey information clearly and persuasively." How this skill relates to country manager duties can be seen in an example from a country manager resume snippet: "served as in-country communication and it manager. "
The three companies that hire the most country managers are:
- Cambly
3 country managers jobs
- Amazon2 country managers jobs
- Halliburton2 country managers jobs
Compare different country managers
Country manager vs. Manager executive
A manager executive is in charge of supervising and overseeing an establishment's daily operations, ensuring everything runs efficiently and adheres to company standards. They mostly have administrative duties such as setting goals and guidelines, establishing budgets and timelines, making significant decisions, delegating responsibilities among managers, and reviewing progress reports, addressing issues and concerns. They also spearhead programs and projects, highlighting their vision and mission. Additionally, a manager executive leads and empowers employees while implementing policies and regulations that shape the company.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, country manager responsibilities require skills like "business strategy," "product development," "revenue growth," and "iso." Meanwhile a typical manager executive has skills in areas such as "project management," "excellent interpersonal," "customer service," and "powerpoint." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
The education levels that managers executive earn slightly differ from country managers. In particular, managers executive are 12.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a country manager. Additionally, they're 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Country manager vs. Vice president & general manager
A vice president and general manager's role is to implement policies and regulations while overseeing the business operations. Typically, it is their primary responsibility to devise training programs that would produce more efficient workforce members, create new strategies to boost sales and customer satisfaction, and participate in budget and goals creation. They mainly report to high-ranking officials such as the president and board members. Furthermore, a vice president and general manager may perform clerical tasks such as preparing progress reports and presentations, managing schedules, and responding to correspondence.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real country manager resumes. While country manager responsibilities can utilize skills like "hq," "seo," "dod," and "market research," vice president & general managers use skills like "customer service," "financial performance," "project management," and "strategic plan."
Vice president & general managers may earn a higher salary than country managers, but vice president & general managers earn the most pay in the media industry with an average salary of $172,642. On the other hand, country managers receive higher pay in the energy industry, where they earn an average salary of $115,478.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Vice president & general managers tend to reach lower levels of education than country managers. In fact, they're 8.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Country manager vs. General service manager
General service managers are professionals who manage the administrative activities of a company to ensure that a proper environment for its operations is achieved. These managers are required to supervise the maintenance activities and upgrades of equipment and systems so that they can minimize disruptions of business activities. Under the direction of the finance manager, general service managers must coordinate with service providers on matters related to finance and tax. They must also manage teams to ensure that they comply with local and occupational health laws.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, country managers are more likely to have skills like "business strategy," "product development," "revenue growth," and "hq." But a general service manager is more likely to have skills like "customer service," "customer satisfaction," "employee development," and "oversight."
General service managers make a very good living in the finance industry with an average annual salary of $87,540. On the other hand, country managers are paid the highest salary in the energy industry, with average annual pay of $115,478.general service managers typically earn lower educational levels compared to country managers. Specifically, they're 13.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Country manager vs. Director/manager
A director/manager is responsible for developing strategic techniques to boost the operational efficiency of an organization in delivering high-quality services and satisfaction for the customers and business clients. Directors/managers identify business opportunities that would support the company's long-term goals and objectives, generating more revenues and closing contract deals for the business. They also handle the departmental budgets, allocating adequate resources for operations and project management. A director/manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills, especially in overseeing staff performance and handling their concerns.
Types of country manager
Updated January 8, 2025