Key Account Manager, Core Accounts

About This Role

The Key Account Manager, Core Accounts is a senior, strategic commercial role responsible for leading and growing a select portfolio of complex, high-impact customers across the East Coast of the United States. This position goes beyond traditional account management, requiring a strong technical foundation, the ability to engage credibly with R&D and formulation teams, and the commercial acumen to influence senior‑level stakeholders across procurement, marketing, and executive leadership.

The role will own and develop strategic relationships with multinational food manufacturers driving sustainable revenue growth through a combination of base business optimization, innovation‑led growth, reformulation opportunities, and long‑term partnership development.

• Serve as the primary point of contact for a portfolio of key customer accounts, building and nurturing strong, long‑term partnerships.
• Lead commercial negotiations including annual agreements, pricing actions, and long‑term supply arrangements, balancing customer value creation with Tate & Lyle’s profitability and risk framework.
• Network and develop relationships with Key Accounts, identifying key decision makers and establishing Tate & Lyle as a top‑of‑mind solution provider for mouthfeel.
• Lead senior‑level business reviews, innovation workshops, and strategic planning sessions with customers.
• Develop and execute multi‑year account strategies aligned to both customer priorities and Tate & Lyle’s broader commercial and innovation objectives.
• Leverage a strong technical understanding of ingredients, formulations, and applications to identify and progress reformulation, renovation, and innovation opportunities.
• Partner closely with R&D, Applications, Regulatory, and Marketing teams to translate customer needs into differentiated, value‑added solutions.
• Recognize and pursue upselling potential within the assigned accounts, working with key customers to understand their evolving needs and propose customized solutions.
• Drive disciplined pipeline management, ensuring robust opportunity qualification, prioritization, and conversion.
• Anticipate and proactively resolve complex customer issues, coordinating internal resources to ensure continuity of supply and high customer satisfaction.
• Provide clear, fact‑based input into demand planning, forecasting, and portfolio prioritization for Core Accounts.
• Generate and analyze sales reports to monitor performance, identify trends, and provide insights for strategic decision‑making.

• North‑East USA (Home‑Based);
  New Jersey/New York area preferred

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• Strong understanding of the policies, objectives, operations and related activities within a Sales & Account Management team and specialized knowledge in the end‑to‑end sales process.
• Ability to manage a portfolio of large accounts, driving top‑line growth through strong annual contracting and innovation / reformulation negotiation, with a track record of commercial success at large accounts.
• Proven ability to significantly influence commercial outcomes through effective decision‑making for assigned accounts, while balancing time and resource across the owned portfolio.
• Strong communication skills to persuade and influence assigned key accounts. The role must adapt styles, interpret and explain information to differing audiences inside and outside the organization who are not familiar with the subject matter.
• Comfort speaking to customer stakeholders across multiple functions (e.g., Procurement, Formulation/R&D, Marketing, etc.) on topics ranging from market trends, formulation requirements, to pricing updates.
• Resolve customer issues that are complex or unusual requiring original thought, research, new approaches and analytical techniques.
• Interpret and leverage market data (e.g., Nielsen Scan Data) to identify opportunities for growth at owned accounts.
• Industry & category experience:
  Experience in B2B Sales a must; experience within the F&B ingredients space a significant asset; some form of technical background (Food Science) a plus.

Tate & Lyle complies with all…