With the expansion of competition in international markets, companies’ export success has become dependent on managerial competencies, organizational capabilities, and the creation of sustainable competitive advantage. The food industry and the Russian market represent a strategic opportunity for developing Iran’s non-oil exports. This research aims to analyze the effect of managerial characteristics and organizational factors on export performance, emphasizing the role of competitive advantage and targeting in Tehran-based food companies exporting to Russia. In terms of purpose, this is an applied study, and methodologically, it is a descriptive-correlational survey. The statistical population comprised 52 companies. Due to the limited size of the population, questionnaires were distributed to all companies, and ultimately, 42 analyzable questionnaires were collected. Instrument validity was assessed using content validity and confirmatory factor analysis, while reliability was confirmed via Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability. Data analysis was conducted using structural equation modeling (SEM) with SPSS and SmartPLS. The results indicated that managerial characteristics and organizational factors positively impact competitive advantage and targeting. Furthermore, competitive advantage affects export performance; however, the impact of targeting on export performance was not supported. The Sobel test revealed that competitive advantage plays a significant mediating role between managerial characteristics and export performance, whereas the mediating role of targeting was not confirmed. These findings indicate that food-exporting companies to Russia should focus on creating and strengthening competitive advantages through improving managerial characteristics and developing organizational factors, rather than focusing solely on targeting.