Commercial Manager- Chillled Added Value- Top 4

The Company 

As one of the UK's Leading Chilled Food Businesses our client is experiencing high growth across all the categories they operate in. They have market leading NPD and Category Solution alongside making great tasting Food. They are now committing strong levels of investment into both NPD/Taste/Food Innovation and across the Commercial team in order to ensure they maintain their status as 1st Choice Supplier across the many leading Retail Customers.

They are now ready for their next stage of Growth. As result they are now seeking to appoint a Commercial Manager to lead one of their Top 4 Grocery Customers.

The Role-

As the Commercial Manager you will be tasked with driving the P&L management of one of their key customers, and whilst you will be fully supported by the Commercial Director to whom you report; the emphasis will very much be on you to show how you can deliver and grow the Business. The category in which the role operates brings both challenges of leading NPD and Category initiatives requirements and also a real “Foodie” environment where strength of character is key.

• Matrix Leadership Across Key Functions (Commercial, NPD, Technical & Category)
• "Top to Top" development across the account 
• Ability to Network & Influence throughout the Retail Matrix Space (Supply, Marketing, Finance etc)
• Full P&L visibility not just at gross margin level but at ‘Contribution to Profit’ level – understanding influence on the whole business and the wider impact of commercial decisions
• Naturally confident in dealing with peers and cross functional colleagues, as well as dealing with the Executive Board members internally and Senior Management externally
• Ability to be able to reason and rationalise complex business scenarios; have the ability to manage the needs and demands of both internal strategies and external requirements by being able to demonstrate the balance of both.
• Application of Category Management and the practical approach and actions; influence the necessary strategies to deliver category/profit growth by delivery to the consumer needs
• Negotiate annual Joint Business Plans (JBPs)
• Drive distribution of existing and new products
• Manage product mix to maximise margin
• Manage effective communication of NPD & Category Solutions
• A True Team Player (High Level of Emotional Intelligence)- This business is Not simply about "getting the job done"', but also "How" you do this. (And the impact on others around You)

The Business offers successful employees a clear structured career path which they can follow across the several divisions they operate.

Candidate Requirements-

The ideal candidate will have gained strong experience Own Label Account Management roles within the Grocery Channel, however the client is also open to exceptional talent who may have gained experience across the other retail channels.

The role requires a real “can do” mentality alongside a creative flair for solution focused thinking inside a matrix framework. Finally the role will need a huge amount of Drive and Passion for delivering real quality to the end consumer combined with a creative flair for delivering ground breaking Customer Solutions.