National Account Manager-Grocery Channel (Kroger & Central Region)

Arla Foods Inc. (US)•Bernards Township, NJ

About The Position

The National Account Manager (NAM) – Grocery Channel is responsible for leading strategic customer relationships representing the full Arla Foods portfolio across Kroger and key Central Region grocery retailers including H-E-B, Hy-Vee, Meijer, and Festival Foods. This role owns the development and execution of customer business plans that deliver profitable growth through distribution expansion, pricing, merchandising, category leadership, and customer collaboration. The NAM serves as Arla's primary commercial representative, building executive-level relationships while partnering cross-functionally with Category Management, Trade Marketing, Demand Planning, Supply Chain, Finance, and Brand Marketing to execute customer strategies. This position also leads broker management, customer planning, and category selling initiatives while positioning Arla as the preferred dairy and specialty cheese partner. The ideal candidate combines strong national account leadership with Kroger category management experience, data-driven selling, and a proven ability to influence both customers and internal stakeholders.

Requirements

10+ years of progressive sales experience within the U.S. Grocery Channel
Significant National Account Management experience
Direct Kroger customer experience required
Category Management experience supporting Kroger or other major grocery retailers
Experience managing multiple regional and national grocery customers, including H-E-B, Hy-Vee, Meijer, Festival Foods, or comparable retailers.
Demonstrated success delivering profitable sales growth, distribution gains, and market share improvements.
Experience managing broker organizations.
Strong financial acumen with experience managing trade investment, pricing, profitability, and annual operating plans.
Advanced analytical capabilities with syndicated data (Circana/IRI/Nielsen), retailer POS, shopper insights, and Excel.
Exceptional presentation, negotiation, and relationship-building skills.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.
Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, or related field.

Nice To Haves

Dairy industry experience strongly preferred.
Experience selling premium branded and specialty food products.
Experience with private label business development.
Experience leading innovation launches with major grocery retailers.
Familiarity with EDI, retailer scorecards, and supply chain collaboration.

Responsibilities

Develop and lead annual Joint Business Plans (JBPs) that deliver sales, profit, volume, market share, and distribution objectives.
Own the commercial strategy for Kroger and assigned Central Region retailers (H-E-B, Hy-Vee, Meijer, Festival Foods to name a few).
Deliver annual account objectives across Arla's complete branded, specialty cheese, and private label portfolio.
Identify incremental growth opportunities through assortment optimization, pricing strategy, promotional planning, innovation, and distribution gains.
Build executive relationships with Merchandising, Dairy, Deli, Private Brands, Category Management, Supply Chain, and Procurement teams.
Lead annual business reviews and quarterly performance reviews with customers.
Position Arla as the category thought leader through insights-driven selling and customer-specific recommendations.
Stay current on competitive activity, market trends, shopper behavior, and category dynamics to proactively identify growth opportunities.
Utilize Kroger category management principles to develop data-driven assortment, pricing, shelving, merchandising, and promotional recommendations.
Analyze syndicated data (Circana/Nielsen), Kroger POS, shopper insights, and household penetration to identify category opportunities.
Develop compelling category stories that improve customer profitability while growing Arla's business.
Partner with Category Management to recommend assortment optimization, shelf productivity improvements, and innovation opportunities.
Support modular reviews, assortment decisions, and promotional effectiveness analyses using fact-based selling.
Execute annual operating plans including Demand Planning, Forecasting, Promotional planning, Trade spending, Pricing, Distribution objectives.
Achieve ACV, TDP, shelving, and merchandising goals across all assigned retailers.
Lead customer communication regarding purchase orders, EDI, inventory, logistics, fill rates, scorecards, deductions, and service issues.
Anticipate customer risks and resolve issues through cross-functional collaboration.
Ensure trade investment is optimized and managed within budget while maximizing ROI.
Monitor customer KPIs and develop corrective action plans when required.
Lead and develop broker partners by establishing priorities, performance expectations, and accountability measures.
Partner closely with Brand Marketing, Trade Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance, Demand Planning, Customer Service, Category Management.
Ensure internal alignment behind customer initiatives and new product launches.
Foster a collaborative, solutions-oriented culture focused on customer success.