Account Manager

Account Manager | Food & Beverage

Stevenage, Hertfordshire | £35,000 + bonus | Hybrid working

Are you an Account Executive ready to take ownership of your own customers, or an Account Manager looking for a role where you can have more commercial impact?

I'm working with a growing food and beverage business to find an Account Manager who can develop relationships with established customers across food service, wholesale, coffee chains and quick-service restaurants.

This isn't a role focused on cold calling or chasing new business. You'll inherit a portfolio of existing customers and work closely with them to understand their plans, identify opportunities and help bring new products and menu ideas to market.

You'll take ownership of a portfolio of medium-to-large accounts, building relationships that go beyond day-to-day order management. That could mean spotting an opportunity to introduce another product range, working with a customer on a seasonal drinks menu or coordinating a new product brief with the internal teams.

You'll also be responsible for:

• Developing account plans that support customer retention, sales growth and profitability.
• Identifying opportunities for new listings, cross-selling and product-line expansion.
• Leading customer meetings, presentations, proposals and commercial discussions.
• Working with Marketing, NPD, Technical, Customer Service and Operations to take customer briefs through to launch.
• Managing forecasts, pricing information and CRM records, while keeping a close eye on account performance.
• Visiting customers, attending product demonstrations and representing the business at industry events.

You'll have the support of an established sales and innovation team, but you'll be trusted to manage your own priorities and take responsibility for your accounts.

You'll need experience in B2B account management or commercial sales, with examples of how you've developed customer relationships and grown business within existing accounts.

Experience in food service, beverages, FMCG or hospitality would be particularly relevant, although an experienced Account Executive who is ready to step up could also be a good fit.

You'll be organised, commercially aware and comfortable managing several customer priorities t as importantly, you'll enjoy getting to know your customers, asking good questions and spotting opportunities that might not be obvious from a sales report.

Experience working with wholesalers, distributors, coffee chains or multi-site operators would be useful, as would exposure to menu development, product launches or NPD.

A full driving licence and willingness to travel to customers are required.

The salary is £35,000, with an annual bonus of up to 25% linked to performance across your account portfolio, including customer retention and product-line growth.

The role is based in Stevenage, with four days in the office and one day working from home. There's flexibility around office attendance when you're travelling to customer meetings.

You'll also receive 23 days' annual leave plus bank holidays, increasing with service, a half-day off on your birthday, staff discounts, Perkbox membership, wellbeing support and a salary sacrifice pension scheme.

If you enjoy building customer relationships but want to do more than maintain them, this is an opportunity to take ownership of a portfolio and play a direct part in its growth