Key Account Manager

PastryStar•Laurel, MD

7d•$100,000 - $150,000•Onsite

About The Position

PastryStar is seeking a proactive, commercially minded Key Account Manager to lead growth and retention of strategic customer accounts while developing high-value new business. This senior individual-contributor role owns relationships with key customers in an assigned sector, builds account growth plans, and positions PastryStar as a trusted partner for bakery and pastry ingredient solutions. The Key Account Manager manages complex sales opportunities from prospecting and qualification through product trials, commercial negotiations, closing, and account expansion. Working with internal teams, the role translates customer needs into product recommendations, coordinates customer initiatives, and develops long-term relationships with purchasing, culinary, technical, and business stakeholders.

Requirements

Demonstrated success in bakery, pastry, or ingredient sales, including ownership and growth of key accounts and development of new business.
Proficiency with Dynamics 365, HubSpot, Salesforce, or comparable CRM systems and Excel, including opportunity management, sales forecasting, and account analysis.
Ability to develop strategic account plans and build relationships across multiple customer functions.
Strong commercial and analytical skills, including pricing, margin awareness, negotiation, and sales-related calculations.
Ability to communicate clearly in English during customer conversations, presentations, meetings, and demonstrations, and to explain product benefits to varied stakeholders.
Excellent written communication, organization, and follow-through, including tailored outreach, customer proposals, account reviews, and professional follow-ups.
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, or a related field required; equivalent related experience may be considered.

Nice To Haves

6–10 years of sales or account management experience, ideally in food manufacturing, bakery, pastry, foodservice, B2B sales, consumer packaged goods, or a related industry.
Experience prospecting, qualifying leads, preparing quotes, presenting products, and managing customer follow-up.
Experience working with distributors, customer service teams, product teams, or cross-functional departments.
Experience using CRM systems, tracking sales opportunities, and preparing sales activity reports, such as Salesforce, HubSpot, or Dynamics 365.
Experience with bakery ingredients, food applications, product samples, or customer demonstrations.

Responsibilities

Manage and retain a portfolio of key accounts within an assigned sector, developing account plans that identify customer priorities, growth opportunities, relationship coverage, and expansion actions.
Monitor product performance and customer satisfaction; coordinate internally to resolve customer concerns, support service continuity, and protect relationships.
Identify opportunities to introduce products, applications, and ingredient solutions; coordinate trials, evaluate feedback, and support adoption across relevant locations or business units.
Build and prioritize a pipeline of high-value target customers, identify decision makers, assess account potential, and develop tailored engagement strategies.
Build relationships with purchasing, culinary, technical, and business stakeholders; create targeted outreach and proposals that communicate product benefits and business value.
Understand customer applications, purchasing processes, commercial requirements, and decision criteria; qualify opportunities and establish next steps.
Coordinate product samples, customer meetings, demonstrations, and trials with internal teams, aligning responsibilities, timelines, feedback, and follow-up actions.
Prepare proposals and quotes, negotiate pricing and terms within approved guidelines, and close new and expansion business while balancing customer needs, profitability, and sustainable growth.
Maintain account plans, contacts, opportunities, forecasts, and follow-up records in Dynamics 365; use Excel to analyze sales trends.
Review account results, risks, and growth priorities with internal stakeholders, coordinate onboarding, and share sales practices and product knowledge with colleagues.