Customer Account Manager

Job description

Position: Customer Account Manager
Area of Focus: Customer Development
Location: Leatherhead
Salary: Competitive
Terms: Local

JOB PURPOSE
The Customer 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 USG, Market Share and Profitability. They are accountable for the day to day contact with the customer buyers, supply chain, shopper marketing, internal category & brand contacts.
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 to 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 : Drive the JBP, executing the agreed 2018/19 plan setting up a strong ambition and agreement
Own it : Leverage our brand assets and CCBT structure 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.

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, breaches of trade terms
· Develop and deliver the customer strategic business plan for relevant categories, and the joint customer business plan, working closely with Category Managers and Shopper Marketing
· Develop and deliver an optimal integrated category promotional plan (including selling the plan with the customer)
· Manage promotional and non-promotional investments with the customer and ensures all agreements are properly documented and stored
· Work closely with Commercial 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

ACCOUNTABILITIES

· Manage the customer P&L for relevant categories and the overall level of customer investment
· Manage in-month performance vs forecast, working closely with CBMs and Customer Operations
· 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
· S&OP Forecasting
· Provision of clear up to date inputs into Business Processes (Promotional Evaluation, Customer
· 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 goals
· Business fundamentals from customer category framework

KEY EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED
· Customer management & selling essentials - ideally previous success of performing a CAM role
· Prior commercial experience and exposure to P&L
· Proven history of working within a team environment
· Prior knowledge of leading and developing a direct report preferable however not essential
· Minimum 2 to 3 years track record of relevant Account Management/Field Sales experience
· Shopper Marketing or Category Management success is preferable

COMPETENCIES
· Accountability & Responsibility
· Consumer and Customer Focus
· Bias for Action
· Building Talent and Teams

Excited about this role at Unilever?

We are already on target to achieve our huge ambition to double the size of our business globally whilst reducing our environmental impact. We are growing our business and also doing what is right for our consumers, community and environment. We are developing brands for people's lives today and for the changing environment tomorrow - making sustainable living commonplace.

Working at Unilever means that you get to take part in this exciting journey and work with amazing people who are really passionate about our large portfolio of famous brands. We want to improve billions of lives and you too can join us in making a sustainable difference.

Closing date for applications is 21 st February 2018