Account Director

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The Role

You'll be in charge of managing our customer relationships, working together to create and execute joint business plans. The goal? To make sure we're getting the most out of these partnerships, driving volume growth, and securing the best margins for Sofina.

Duties Include:

• Manage specific product portfolios and categories within specified account and liaising on a day to day basis with the customer.
• Develop a robust, cross functional JBP to ensure a collaborative approach to volume growth at the best possible margin return for Sofina.
• Monitor JBP to ensure trading and cross functional objectives are being achieved and review formally with the customer and internally on a periodic basis through Continuous Improvement Reviews.
• Responsible for maintenance and update of Category forecast to the established business timetables and processes including timely notification of changes (events/promotions/launches etc) to ensure efficient business management, stock rotation and service levels.
• Continually seek new opportunities across; price, mix, promotional investment, cost reduction, reduced complexity, forecast accuracy, cash collection and supply chain efficiency working closely with key internal personnel across Marketing, Business Performance and Commercial Planning functions.
• Manage cost prices to maximise profit contribution through raw material inflation recovery and deflation, whilst adhering to agreed Customer terms.
• Manage any Customer specific tenders including co-ordination of internal sign off.
• Work closely with our Marketing teams to ensure we have a growth agenda and are driving Branded growth within the account where relevant.
• Attendance at weekly / monthly Commercial Improvement Meetings to present progress against Budget and customer JBP.

Skills & Experience Required:

Proven experience in fulfilling similar roles

• Commercial Management experience of a major UK retailer
• Strong negotiation skills
• Proven record of managing internal and external people, cross functionally
• Effective Communication & Influencing Skills
• Communicates persuasively internally and externally with gravitas to win support
• Leverages relationships internally and externally to get results
• Ability to prioritise quickly and be flexible enough to prioritise workload.

Strategic thinking

• Able to define and build long terms sales strategies for growth, summarise and present clearly to gain support.
• Able to study the competitive retail and supplier environment, identify threats and opportunities and devise plans accordingly to maximise the volume opportunity.
• Working closely with Category Management to develop long term Category Growth Strategies.
• Business Partnering
• Partners effectively cross-functionally and across locations to share ideas, information and make joint decisions.
• Is open to other perspectives in order to find the right outcome for the business
• Drives for results and making things happen
• Must have desire and energy to hunt down new business opportunities.
• Exhibits a "can-do" attitude and a willingness to take on significant challenges
• Ability to adopt a 360' approach to problem solving
• Demonstrates perseverance and resilience in the pursuit of goals and challenges "the norm"
• Ability to minimise or remove barriers that get in the way of achieving required results.

Organisation Skills

• Has good time management and prioritises when necessary to meet critical time agendas.
• Can develop and lead clear and effective business management processes
• Can manage multiple projects in parallel
• Understands and follows established Forecasting and Business Plan Management processes and is rigorous and accurate in pricing and commercial governance.
• Ability to delegate effectively but maintain overall control of Business Projects

Innovating

• Generates fresh ideas and concepts
• Takes the initiative to find better ways of working to improve results
• Actively seeks and takes advantage of ideas and best practices developed elsewhere

Learning Orientation/ Agility

• Demonstrates willingness and appetite for learning new skills and trying new ways of working
• Demonstrates intellectual capability to learn and adapt fast

The Benefits:

• Competitive rates
• Online Benefits Hub
• Life insurance
• On-site parking
• Company pension
• Referral programme
• Health & wellbeing programme