National Account Manager

National Account Manager

Role: Full-time, Monday to Friday, 35 hours per week

Salary: circa £44,000, depending on experience

Location: Can be done remotely provided 1-2 days per week in the Divine office in Tower Bridge, London SE1

Rewards: 25 days holiday (increasing by 1 day per year of service), annual bonus, 8% company contribution to pension, life insurance, cycle to work scheme

Reporting to: Sales Director

Divine Chocolate

Award-winning for great-tasting chocolate, we are pioneers of Fairtrade, social enterprise & sustainability.

We successfully prove that a company creating delicious chocolate can also be farmer-owned, with fair and dignified trading relations at its heart. We are an international and ground-breaking social enterprise and certified B Corp passionate about chocolate, empowering small-scale farmers and doing business differently.

This is an exciting time to join Divine Chocolate - we are growing our sales and profits and increasing our product range as well as our presence globally.

National Account Manager

The National Account Manager manages a portfolio of accounts with a particular focus on the Foodservice sector, and with the opportunity to also be involved in other sectors of the business.  Your objective will be to deliver long-term profitable growth of our existing accounts, whilst actively developing new customers.

Roles and responsibilities

• Jointly agree targets with the Sales Director for each of your existing accounts for the financial year
• Jointly agree the plans that will deliver these targets based on distribution gains, promotional planning and customer bespoke initiatives
• Execute these plans and proactively suggest ways to make the most of opportunities or close gaps versus target
• Manage your customers proactively ensuring an appropriate depth of understanding of each one
• Facilitate in the acquisition of new customers as agreed with the Sales Director
• Sell, negotiate and agree listings for NPD and seasonal lines eg. Xmas and Easter within your customer portfolio
• Work closely with all internal departments including operations, marketing and finance to ensure the smooth running of his/her accounts
• Assist in the general day to day running of the Sales Team including answering phones and managing general email enquiries
• Contribute ideas that will lead to the strategic development of the business
• Assist the Sales Director in bespoke projects and initiatives, such as the management of the sales function for Liberation Nuts within the Foodservice Sector

Person specification

Essential skills and knowledge:

• Excellent communication skills – Be able to communicate clearly and persuasively to external customers and internally within Divine
• Superior negotiation skills – Be confident in negotiating with customers to achieve the best outcomes for Divine
• Strong selling skills – Strive to secure the sale with an enthusiastic and inspiring approach tailored to each customer’s needs
• Current experience of the UK Foodservice sector, particularly of securing listings or contracts in café or restaurant chains, venues or large institutions
• Good organizational skills -  Be able to organize yourself in a way that efficiently delivers the above roles and responsibilities
• Proactive in approach  – Work with a positive attitude, be innovative and always looking to seek out and meet existing and new customers

Good to have:

• Previous experience of managing national accounts
• A love of food, ideally chocolate!

Personal qualities:

• You will fully embody and role model Divine values: Respect, Ownership, Teamwork, Creativity
• You would relish the opportunities that come with working in a small company, and are able to deliver both strategy and hands-on execution
• You are committed to the role that Divine plays in empowering small scale farmers and motivated by Fairtrade/ social enterprise

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or disability status.

Application process

Please send us a covering letter, CV and 200 words about Fairtrade to jobapps@divinechocolate.com