National Account Manager

Location: Hybrid – National Coverage, with regular travel to HQ

Salary: Competitive, dependent on experience

An established and growing UK food and drink business is looking for a commercially driven Food service National Account Manager to join its sales team.

This is a high-impact role focused on both growing existing food service accounts and winning new business across scaled end users and multi-site operators
. You’ll have significant autonomy to identify opportunities, build relationships and drive growth across an established portfolio of well-known food and drink brands.

The business is a long-established UK distributor with a strong reputation for bringing distinctive, high-quality food and drink brands to market.

Its food service portfolio includes leading international brands across Asian, Italian and American categories, alongside a growing selection of drinks and better-for-you products. The portfolio includes major names in sauces, pesto, pasta, rice, hotdogs, condiments and premium soft drinks.

With a combination of established brands, new product development and strong supplier relationships, the business is continuing to grow its presence across the UK food service market.

As Food service National Account Manager, you will be responsible for driving profitable growth across both wholesale and end-user customers, with particular emphasis on securing new business with scaled end users and multi-site operators.

You will:

• Manage and grow an existing portfolio of food service accounts, delivering against sales, margin and brand objectives
• Identify and secure new business opportunities across scaled end users and multi-site operators
• Build relationships with key decision-makers across wholesalers and end users
• Work closely with internal account teams to unlock opportunities within their customer bases
• Develop and implement customer Joint Business Plans and trade plans
• Grow distribution, assortment and visibility of the portfolio across food service
• Use customer and market data to identify and prioritise new business opportunities
• Present new product launches and brand opportunities to customers with confidence and impact
• Work closely with commercial, brand, finance, forecasting and account management teams to maximise opportunities
• Build strong relationships with brand principals and external partners
• Take ownership of your territory and pipeline, combining strategic account management with a genuine new-business mindset

The successful candidate will have a strong understanding of the food service sector and ideally an established network of contacts across wholesalers and/or end users.

You’ll bring:

• Proven experience within food service, either in account management, business development or a relevant culinary/commercial background
• Existing relationships across food service wholesalers and/or scaled end users
• A strong track record of winning and growing business
• Excellent commercial awareness and negotiation skills
• Confidence presenting to senior decision-makers and customers
• The ability to build long-term relationships while maintaining a strong focus on results
• A proactive, entrepreneurial approach to identifying and pursuing opportunities
• Strong communication and stakeholder-management skills
• The ability to work independently while collaborating effectively with wider teams
• A genuine passion for food, brands and the food service industry

This role would suit someone who enjoys being close to the customer, spotting opportunities others might miss and having the autonomy to turn those opportunities into commercial growth.

• Join a long-established and growing UK food and drink business
• Work with a diverse portfolio of recognised international brands
• Take ownership of a national food service remit with genuine scope to develop the customer base
• Combine strategic account management with new business development
• Work with a collaborative, entrepreneurial team
• Have the opportunity to make a visible commercial impact across a growing food service operation