Channel Account Manager

JOB TITLE: Channel Account Manager – Foods

JOB PURPOSE:

The Channel Account Manager is responsible for building strong working relationships with the customer buying team; developing and executing customer business plans at a category level which deliver Growth and Profitability in line with our target ambitions. They are accountable for the day to day contact with the customer buyers, supply chain, shopper marketing, internal Commercial & Brand contacts. This role will have accountability for the Foods Business Unit across one of our most strategically important customer, Tesco. This will hardline report into the Foods Business Unit CD lead and work closely with the Tesco Customer Director all as part of the Ireland CBD team.

Key focus areas for this role are:

• Love what you do: As a CAM you will be passionate about all aspects of leading your portfolio & Customers to deliver competitive growth.
• Love your customer: You will lead the Customer/ Unilever relationship within your categories – driving growth via strategic alignment and negotiation.
• Do what you say: Deliver month on month, Drive the JBP, executing the agreed plan setting up a strong ambition and agreement
• Own it: Leverage our brand assets to deliver new and exciting innovation and activation.
• Be Different: The need for extensive commercial rigor in the assessment and implementation of our Growth Strategy. Ability to identify opportunities to optimise our business, develop a plan and deliver results.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Build strong and sustainable customer relationships
• Negotiate effectively with your customer, e.g. to agree trade terms, trade funding, and counterparts according to the UL strategy on his/her categories
• Manage the relationship aspects of key customer ‘events’, e.g. launching of new products, cost price changes
• Develop and deliver the customer strategic business plan for relevant categories, and the joint customer business plan, working closely with CSP, Category Managers and Marketing
• Develop and deliver an optimal integrated category promotional plan (including selling the plan to the customer)
• Manage promotional and non-promotional investments with the customer and ensure all agreements are properly documented and stored
• Work closely with trading executives to ensure administrative aspects of promotions are completed
• Manage the launch of new products with customers, e.g. selling in the new product, providing samples etc
• Ensure effective in-store activation of key events (e.g. promotions, range reviews), providing clear briefings to the Retail Operations Team
• Lead strategically important projects and tasks across the Foods Business Unit

ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Manage the customer P&L for relevant categories and the overall level of customer investment
• Manage in-month performance vs forecast & course correct as necessary to deliver to plan
• Manage accruals and pricing accurately and efficiently
• Ensure customer is compliant with agreed trade terms; where these are breached seek a resolution and monitor implementation
• P&L Management: Delivery of Turnover & Business Building Terms targets for specific category
• Provision of clear up to date inputs into Business Processes (Promotional Evaluation etc)
• Business Planning, sales updates, in store tracking, price claim management etc)
• Delivery of required admin for the customer – pricing, rebates, NLF, promo proposals, trade terms, contracts

KEY DELIVERABLES

• Business Results
• Individual set of OKRs.
•  Business fundamentals from customer category framework

KEY EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED

• Minimum 5 years relevant FMCG Account Management experience (FMCG Only)
• Experience within a relevant customer base in ROI or UK/NI, (e.g. Tesco, Dunnes)
• Prior commercial experience and exposure to P&L management
• Experience working with key share data (e.g. Kantar, Nielsen)
• Proven history of working within a team environment
• Prior experience of leading and developing a direct report preferable however not essential.

COMPETENCIES

• Accountability & Responsibility
•  Consumer and Customer Focus
• Bias for Action
• Building Talent and Teams
• Agility & Adaptability