Manager, Customer Account

Nestle Operational Services Worldwide SA•Arlington, VA

7d•$135,596 - $173,975

About The Position

The Manager, Customer Account partners with assigned customers to drive category growth by building winning category plans that achieve annual Nestlé sales targets within commercial spending guardrails. The role activates Category Roadmaps and uses them to develop and execute customer-specific business plans, applying a category-first mindset to achieve 4P objectives. It also maintains strong communication with Nestlé Commercial Development teams and uses category and shopper insights to drive customer results. The position develops category and customer strategies, sales forecasts, promotion plans, and annual volume builds; negotiates to meet sales and trade targets; and works with customers and internal teams to execute plans, improve distribution, service, and in-store results. It uses analytics, reporting, and cross-functional collaboration to identify opportunities, address performance gaps, and support continuous development of account management capabilities.

Requirements

Typically a university degree (BA/BS) or equivalent experience and a minimum of 5 years of related work experience.
Understand successful category management, key competitors, and develop a deep understanding of the assigned category.
Understand how to develop customer-specific category growth strategies.
Understand sales functions, Commercial Development, customer operations, Nestlé Retail Sales, and the interrelationships and initiatives of Marketing, Sales Finance, HR, Supply Chain, Technical, and Globe & IS/IT.
Understand interactions among sales functions, Commercial Development, Retail Sales, Enable Hub, Customer Service, and Customer Facing Supply Chain.
Ability to influence people and create compelling, fact-based sales stories.
Ability to create customer plans within CAP Guidelines and assigned Trade Rates.
Knowledge of pricing, promotion, assortment, and merchandising sales fundamentals.
Knowledge of the Integrated Commercial Planning process, Category Action Plan documents, and Monthly Business Planning Process.
Knowledge of customer best practices, the marketplace, and relevant channel and shopper trends, with ability to generate actionable ideas.
Understand the importance of accurate forecasting and how to use the Sales Dashboard and other standardized Hub reporting tools.
Demonstrated knowledge of business-driving technology solutions such as IRI, BW, and Source, as well as internal and external industry insights and trends.
Knowledge of core business processes and fundamentals, including sales and distribution, customer planning and management, financial reporting, training, HR policies, Integrated Commercial Planning, and Nestlé Management and Leadership Principles.
At least 3 years of experience developing and leading sales in the consumer products industry, negotiating annual sales plans across multiple brands, and conducting key account sales at the director and/or buyer level.
Experience managing sales, profit, and trade budgets.
Strong experience interacting with cross-functional customer-facing teams and/or managing broker interactions.
Experience implementing and running retailer-specific programs.

Responsibilities

Partner with assigned customers to develop category-winning plans and achieve annual Nestlé sales targets within commercial spending guardrails.
Work with Commercial Development and Market Development to develop customer-specific category plans based on category growth drivers.
Present and launch new item plans and develop initial field forecasts.
Develop customer promotion plans.
Build annual bottom-up volume plans using distribution, category trends, promotional activities, and category strategies in coordination with Commercial Development and Market Development.
Achieve annual sales and trade targets through effective selling and negotiation, and continuously improve forecast accuracy.
Interact frequently with customers to implement and execute annual plans, gain distribution for new items, expand distribution for existing items, activate category strategies and shopper marketing, and communicate urgent service-level or product-quality issues.
Identify gaps between customer plans and customer feedback and propose resolutions.
Meet aligned customer targets, including category growth and shipment targets, financial guardrails, customer service, and supply visibility to support in-stocks.
Present customer category plans and implementation calendars through Joint Business Planning.
Monitor, review, and drive execution of customer category plans.
Communicate customer- or buyer-raised in-store issues to Nestlé Retail Sales field teams in accordance with new ways of working.
Participate in career development programs and use the professional development planning process with the manager and HR Business Partner to build critical winning behaviors.
Drive personal development through adoption of capability tools and, where applicable, work with a Customer Account Associate to develop category account management skills and best practices.
Work with the Data and Reporting team to obtain standardized reports, business insights, and category-growth opportunities, and support new ways of working.
Work with the Nestlé Retail Sales team, including work-withs, to drive execution excellence.
Collaborate with internal team members to share best practices and advance customer-related initiatives.
Develop concise, fact-based narratives incorporating performance, shopper trends, metrics, and qualitative consumer behavioral data.