Senior Commercial Manager- Cheese, Cheese & More Cheese- Own Label & Brands

The Client

As one of UK's leading Cheese Businesses, our client is simply bonkers about the potential of Cheese and all it offers the Consumer. They love the stuff as do their Customers. They don't really have strategy, it's more of a Mission & Purpose, that is to bring they best Cheese in the most exciting formats to as many people as possible. So simple but so powerful. Once people taste their products, that's it, they are loyal consumers for life.

So do fancy managing 2 Key Customers and selling Cheese until the cows come home?

The Role

As the Senior Commercial Manager you will be tasked with driving the full P&L management of 2 of their key customers, and whilst you will be fully supported by the Sales 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/Cheesy” environment where strength of character is key. The key drivers of the roles are follows:

• Lead Contact for several Category/Product areas
• Ability to Network & Influence throughout the Retail Matrix Space (Supply, Marketing, Finance etc)- lots working with the exciting NPD Team.
• 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

Candidate Requirements

The ideal candidate will have gained strong experience in Leading "Chilled" Own Label Customer Accounts within the FMCG industry, however the client is also open to candidates who have strong Own Label experience from other Categories. (Ambient, Baking, Frozen etc). Additionally they are also willing to consider dynamic candidates who could be at a slightly more Junior level, but you must be clearly leading your “peer group” and be ready for the greatest challenge of your career to date. A "Foodie" perspective and Strong Relationship skills are a must, as this role is one of the most important within the Commercial Team.