Key Account Manager, Core Accounts, US

Tate and Lyle • Hoffman Estates, IL

3d • Remote

About The Position

The Key Account Manager, Core Accounts is a senior, strategic commercial role responsible for leading and growing a select portfolio of complex, high-impact customers across the East Coast of the United States. This position goes beyond traditional account management, requiring a strong technical foundation, the ability to engage credibly with R&D and formulation teams, and the commercial acumen to influence senior-level stakeholders across procurement, marketing, and executive leadership.
The role will own and develop strategic relationships with multinational food manufacturers driving sustainable revenue growth through a combination of base business optimization, innovation-led growth, reformulation opportunities, and long-term partnership development.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• Strong understanding of the policies, objectives, operations and related activities within a Sales & Account Management team. Specialist knowledge in the end-to-end sales process and broad knowledge of several related disciplines.
• Ability to manage a portfolio of large accounts, driving top-line growth through both strong annual contracting and innovation / reformulation negotiation, with a track record of driving commercial success at large accounts.
• Proven ability to significantly influence commercial outcomes through effective decision-making for assigned accounts, while balancing time and resource across owned portfolio.
• Strong communication skills to persuade and influence assigned key accounts. The role needs to adapt styles, interpret and explain information to differing audiences from inside and outside the organization who are not familiar with the subject matter.
• Comfort speaking to customer stakeholders across multiple functions (eg Procurement, Formulation/R&D, Marketing, etc) on topics ranging from market trends, formulation requirements, to pricing updates.
• Resolve customer issues that are complex or unusual requiring original thought, research, new approaches and analytical techniques.
• Ability to interpret and leverage market data (eg Nielsen Scan Data) to identify opportunities for growth at owned accounts
• Experience in B2B Sales a must

Nice To Haves

• experience within the F&B ingredients space a significant asset
• some form of technical background (Food Science) a plus

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary point of contact for a portfolio of key customer accounts, building and nurturing strong, long-term partnerships.
• Lead commercial negotiations including annual agreements, pricing actions, and long-term supply arrangements, balancing customer value creation with Tate & Lyle’s profitability and risk framework.
• Network and develop the relationship with the Key Accounts, identifying key decision makers and establish T&L as top of mind solution provider for mouthfeel.
• Lead senior-level business reviews, innovation workshops, and strategic planning sessions with customers.
• Develop and execute multi-year account strategies aligned to both customer priorities and Tate & Lyle’s broader commercial and innovation objectives.
• Leverage a strong technical understanding of ingredients, formulations, and applications to identify and progress reformulation, renovation, and innovation opportunities.
• Partner closely with R&D, Applications, Regulatory, and Marketing teams to translate customer needs into differentiated, value-added solutions.
• Recognize and pursue upselling potential within the assigned accounts, working with key customers to understand their evolving needs and propose customized solutions.
• Drive disciplined pipeline management, ensuring robust opportunity qualification, prioritization, and conversion
• Anticipate and proactively resolve complex customer issues, coordinating internal resources to ensure continuity of supply and high customer satisfaction.
• Provide clear, fact-based input into demand planning, forecasting, and portfolio prioritization for Core Accounts.
• Generate and analyze sales reports to monitor performance, identify trends, and provide insights for strategic decision-making.

Benefits

• Medical, Dental, Vision coverages
• Paid time off package, including vacation, sick time, and 16 weeks of paid parental leave
• 401K with company match
• Company paid life insurance
• Additional benefits at not cost to employee such as: Lifestyle Spending Account, Identity Theft protection, Employee Assistance Program, telemedicine and more!

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level