National Account Manager - Unitas

Overview

Job Title:
National Account Manager - Unitas

Location:
Field Based

Contract and working pattern: 37.5 hours per week

We are all about Being Your Best Barr None and having a career with real Moments that Matter!

Employing around 850 people across the UK, we are a responsible business that takes care of our people, values diversity, gives something back to our communities and works to minimise our environmental impact. For 150 years AG Barr has been building great brands and is home to some of the nation’s favourite flavours, including IRN-BRU, RUBICON, Boost, FUNKIN, and MOMA.

There’s never been a better time to join us!

We’re looking for a National Account Manager to manage the strategic development and commercial growth of the Unitas Buying Group Central Office & Regional customer portfolio. This role retains full accountability for the Unitas Centre relationship and P&L responsibility for the Unitas regional account base, while providing critical leadership, direction and motivation to a direct team of three Regional Business Development Managers (RBDMs).

The scope covers day-to-day planning, development, and evolution of sector trading strategies, translating these into winning customer plans, and managing the accounts to deliver growth within agreed Commercial Investment budgets. The ultimate goal is to lead the Unitas team to deliver budgeted growth across four key performance measures:
Invoiced Revenue, Contribution, Market Share and Forecast Accuracy, while maintaining a relationship with the Unitas Central Trading team and delivering on AG Barr’s trade terms and promotional strategy.

• Achieve all agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) across the Unitas Buying Group regional account base within annual budget costings (Invoice Revenue, Customer Contribution, Market Share, Forecast Accuracy).
• Manage and increase overall Invoice Contribution % through strategic SKU mix management and effective commercial structuring.
• Monitor promotional activity to ensure brand strategies are delivered. Challenge key buying group contacts to maximise ROI of promotional spend based on rigorous analysis of sales data.
• Budgetary Control:
  Manage the allocated Commercial Investment proportionally against turnover and growth potential, ensuring accuracy within AG Barr’s commercial systems.
• Line Management:
  Provide direct line management, support, and motivation to three Regional Business Development Managers (RBDMs) to optimise regional execution and alignment with national account objectives.
• Team
  
  Collaboration:
  
  Support the wider account team in creating and executing their plans, facilitating seamless management of Route-to-Market (RTM) customers.
• Multi-Level Networking:
  Build, manage, and network across a broad spectrum of customer contacts within the Unitas Buying Group and Wholesale membership (including Business Owners, Buying Directors, Category Managers, Marketing, Supply Chain, and eCommerce teams).
• Joint Business Planning:
  Establish robust customer business plans that target and deliver agreed sales fundamentals, including distribution, pricing, promotion, display and visibility.
• Field Force Execution:
  Set targets (via agreed KPIs) and communicate effectively with the sales force to ensure excellence in-depot and in-store execution is delivered in line with AG Barr expectations.
• Commercial Toolkits:
  Oversee the creation of relevant support materials for the sales team (e.g., visual aids, commercial sales stories) ensuring timely delivery for monthly planning cycles.
• Brand Visibility:
  Increase in-depot and in-store visibility and display effectiveness, creating a strong presence for the AG Barr portfolio.

• FMCG
  
  Experience:
  
  Significant commercial experience within an FMCG company, with strong knowledge of marketing, sales promotion, and P&L management.
• Account Management:
  Proven track record in Head Office / Buying Group account management within the FMCG sector.
• People Management:
  Demonstrated experience in people management, coaching, developing, and leading sales professionals/BDMs.
• Communication:
  Excellent communication, negotiation and relationship-building…