Head of Commercial

Head of Commercial – Newtownards Role Purpose

The Head of Commercial will lead the commercial strategy across both retail and food service channels while driving new business growth throughout the UK and Ireland. This role is responsible for managing major national and regional accounts, securing new opportunities, developing long-term partnerships and delivering commercial and profitability targets. The position requires a strategic and proactive commercial leader with strong relationship‑building skills and a proven ability to win and grow business.

• Customer & Account Leadership
  • Lead senior-level relationships across key retail and food service customers.
  • Develop account strategies that deliver sustainable, profitable growth.
  • Ensure all commercial agreements, service levels and category expectations are delivered.
  • Act as the primary customer contact for escalations, commercial discussions and joint business planning.
• New Business Development
  • Identify, target and win new business across retail and food service channels.
  • Lead tenders, pitches, commercial proposals and full product presentations.
  • Develop strong connections with buyers, category teams, procurement and culinary teams.
  • Collaborate with NPD and Technical to launch new products tailored to customer needs.
• Commercial Performance
  • Own forecasting, budgeting and full P&L responsibility for allocated accounts.
  • Analyse sales, margin, pricing and promotional performance.
  • Negotiate annual terms, cost recovery, pricing models and joint business plans.
  • Ensure commercial decisions balance customer needs with business profitability.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Work closely with Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, Technical and NPD to ensure consistent delivery to customers.
  • Support factories in preparing for customer reviews, visits and audits.
  • Feed category and market insight back into the business to support strategy and innovation.
• Leadership & Influence
  • Provide leadership, coaching and support to the wider commercial team.
  • Help develop junior account managers and account executives to strengthen the commercial function.
  • Drive a high-performance, customer-focused culture across the organisation.

• Experience managing major retail and food service accounts within FMCG.
• Strong track record of securing new business and growing existing portfolios.
• Excellent relationship management, communication and negotiation ability.
• Experience running commercial tenders, business proposals and category reviews.
• Strong analytical capability with experience owning a commercial P&L.
• Strategic, organised and commercially minded with the ability to influence at all levels.
• Self‑driven, proactive and confident working in a fast‑paced commercial environment.