Grocery Account Director

Ferrero is seeting to hire Grocery Account Director's who will collaborate closely with the Sales Director to develop and execute strategic sales and customer plans, including setting targets, driving commercial initiatives, and establishing promotional policies with a focus on customer and channel prioritization. Lead and nurture a high-performing team known for excellence, fostering strong, sustainable relationships with key customers.

As an integral member of the Sales Leadership Team, contribute a holistic perspective on business growth and innovation beyond your immediate responsibilities.

Main Responsibilities:

Stepping into the role of Grocery Account Director at Ferrero. From day one, you'll be trusted to make a meaningful impact, leading your team and building a legacy of success with key clients.

You'll have the autonomy to manage and align the budget with Ferrero's strategic goals, a critical task that involves not just proposing the annual sales budget but ensuring every pound is maximised for impact. With keen foresight, you'll anticipate commercial and operational costs, tracking and refining them throughout the year to ensure financial success. It's more than just numbers; it's shaping Ferrero's financial success story, from budget proposals to performance reviews.

Relationships will be at the heart of your role. You'll regularly connect with internal stakeholders, keeping the Sales Director and Sales Leadership Team updated on key performance and strategic insights. Beyond Ferrero, you'll foster relationships with trade and industry leaders, gaining insights that empower you to shape Ferrero's position in the marketplace and enhance credibility with every interaction. As a critical voice within the Sales Leadership Team, you'll contribute insights and strategies across channels, strengthening the entire UK & Ireland customer strategy.

Picture identifying growth opportunities for each of your assigned customers, outlining the business priorities by category and store format, and suggesting strategic actions that drive real impact. You'll uncover end-to-end value-creation opportunities, from improving logistics efficiency to optimising credit management. As the architect of customer strategy, you'll combine Ferrero's overarching UK&I commercial objectives with customer-specific growth drivers to deliver a seamless plan that fuels growth.

With a proactive approach to activity planning and control, you'll keep promotional activities on track, monitoring them to ensure alignment with negotiated terms. Every decision will be backed by precise sales forecasts and real-time performance tracking of customer metrics. Your keen eye for detail will also help you keep a pulse on customer performance metrics, sell-in/sell-out rates, stock dynamics, and share, while your insights optimize field force coverage for maximum impact.

When it's time for negotiation, you'll prepare and present contracts and Joint Business Plans with conviction. In collaboration with Trade Marketing and Category Management, you'll craft compelling sell-in materials tailored to each customer's role in Ferrero's strategy. Your vision and commitment will drive promotional initiatives, consistently ensuring they align with the overarching UK&I marketing and Trade Marketing guidelines.

As Account Director, you'll also be the bridge between Ferrero and your customers, actively communicating Ferrero's channel strategies and ensuring alignment with UK&I's brand initiatives. When challenges arise-whether it's delivery logistics or promotional adjustments-you'll provide solutions, ensuring that relationships stay strong and expectations are met.

Leading your team will be both rewarding and inspiring. You'll set a standard for excellence, fostering a culture that thrives on motivation, growth, and empowerment. By recruiting, coaching, and supporting each team member, you'll ensure they reach their full potential. Your role as a mentor and role model within the Sales Leadership Team will be vital, showcasing leadership behaviors that uplift both your immediate team and the wider Ferrero organization.

In the Account Director role, you won't just be managing accounts-you'll be shaping Ferrero's future in the UK&I, delivering value for customers and building a team that defines excellence in every interaction.

We are looking for a strategic leader with a proven ability to develop and implement long-term business plans and initiatives that drive growth and success. The ideal applicant will have a solid background in sales strategy and techniques, bringing a wealth of experience in building and nurturing strong relationships with key accounts and retail partners. Your proficiency in negotiating contracts and setting favorable terms will play a pivotal role in maximising profitability.

In addition to relationship management, you should be skilled in analysing market trends and consumer behaviors to shape effective strategies. A deep understanding of budgeting, forecasting, and the financial metrics that impact sales performance is essential. Experience in collaborating closely with marketing, supply chain, and product development teams will ensure seamless execution of strategic goals.

As a team leader, you will bring strong leadership and management skills, with the ability to inspire, motivate, and guide the sales team to achieve high performance. Your expertise will make you an invaluable asset in driving our ambitious sales targets and contributing to Ferrero's continued success., We encourage all our people to think creatively to set personal targets and objectives and push new, better ways to work. Employee contribution and engagement at Ferrero is based on the individual, team and organization dimension, so should have the ability to work independently, as a part of the team and be able to build proper relations with stakeholders at all levels. A demonstrable consumer-focused attitude and autonomy in managing relationships will help you in building your position among stakeholders and achieving expected sales outcomes.

Ferrero is a family-owned company with a truly progressive and global outlook and iconic brands such as Nutella®, Tic Tac®, Ferrero Rocher®, Raffaello®, Kinder Bueno® and Kinder Surprise®. As the love for our brands continues to grow, so too does our global reach. Represented in more than 50 countries, with products sold in more than 170, the Ferrero Group is loved by generations around the world. The secret to our global success? 40,000 dedicated employees who celebrate care and quality to craft a business, careers and brands we are proud of. Join us, and you could be one of them., Ferrero is committed to building a diverse and inclusive culture in which all employees feel welcomed and appreciated and have the same opportunities. We believe all of our people are equally talented in their own way. In nurturing the curiosity and natural abilities of our employees, we provide them, generation after generation, the means to succeed personally and professionally, enabling them to craft their journey at Ferrero. The diversity of our talents is what makes our work environment multicultural, innovative and highly rewarding.