A mid-sized and rapidly growing food manufacturing business, who operate in a category that is experiencing significant expansion. The company have strong and longstanding relationships with retailers in the grocery multiple channel and have a broad product range covering both brand and private label.
In addition to their activity in the grocery channel, they also have a B2B Sales channel that is focused on providing contract packing solutions for a selection of FMCG brands. The customer portfolio in the channel is well established and is a significant profit driver.
The Role
- Location: Yorkshire or East Midlands
- Salary: £50-60,000 plus package
- Function: Sales & Marketing
- Business Sector: Food Manufacturing
- Contract: Permanent
The Commercial Manager will be responsible for managing an existing portfolio of Contract Packing customers to deliver Budget Sales and Gross Margin aspirations and cultivate a positive working relationship.
There will also be an important business development aspect to the role which will require the identification of potential partners who can offer scale opportunities that match manufacturing capability and available capacity.
Day-to-day deliverables across the defined account portfolio will include areas such as: forecasting demand; project management of product and packaging development; oversight of the manufacturing and logistical requirements to ensure customer orders are satisfied; and delivery of Sales and Gross Margin targets.
There is a need to develop strong and productive relationships with customers across a range of functions and levels of seniority. There is also a requirement to build excellent internal relationships across all functions of the business but particularly with Operations, Planning, Supply Chain, Packaging and Product Development teams.
The Person
The successful candidate will currently be in a senior level Sales role within the Food & Drink industry. Sector experience could come from a range of areas and channels e.g. Contract Packing, Licensed Brands, Ingredients, Food Brokers or Private Label manufacturing - for this role the transferable Commercial skills are considered a higher priority than prior knowledge of the Contract Packing industry.
Essential experience for the role includes:
- Senior account management experience (managing B2B / Third Party relationships would be highly desirable).
- Experience in the Operations function would also be interesting.
- Strong relationship building and influencing skills with the gravitas expected of a Senior National Account Manager.
- Excellent negotiation skills. Highly numerate with strong attention to detail.
- Highly articulate with strong written and verbal communication and excellent communication skills. Developed analytical and problem solving skills.
- The role can be based from sites in either Yorkshire or the East Midlands. It's an office based position, but with some flexibility for home working.
If you have the skills and experience and you are looking for a new challenge, we would be delighted to discuss this opportunity further.