Key Account Manager

Unilever; Helsinki; On-site; EUR 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Unilever Food Solutions Finland is seeking a proactive Key Account Manager to grow our foodservice partnerships. You will own relationships with workplace restaurants, caterers, educational institutions, and chains, translating insights into tailored proposals and sustainable growth.

You will lead annual business plans, conduct regular reviews, and collaborate with culinary, marketing and sales teams to expand category penetration while negotiating agreements and ensuring delivery against plans.

Qualifications

• Experience in sales, account management, business development, or customer-facing commercial roles.
• Successful track record of delivering business growth and building customer relationships.
• Experience with foodservice, hospitality, consumer goods, wholesale, or related industries.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain a strong pipeline of prospective customers and develop relationships with key decision-makers.
• Conduct regular business reviews and performance discussions with customers; support growth ideas and solutions.
• Develop annual business plans and growth strategies; identify market trends and opportunities; collaborate with culinary, marketing and sales teams.
• Prepare commercial proposals and support tender/contract opportunities; ensure agreements are implemented effectively.
• Grow category and product penetration; monitor performance and drive sustainable growth; build long-term partnerships.
• Represent the company at customer events and industry forums; share market insights with colleagues.

Skills

Sales experience

Account management

Business development

Customer relationship management

Negotiation skills

Finnish language

English language

Job description

Key Account Manager

Reporting to: Country Sales Lead

Location: Finland

Job Purpose

Grow businesses. Build partnerships. Make an impact. At Unilever Food Solutions, we are passionate about helping foodservice operators succeed. We combine culinary expertise, market insights, and a deep understanding of customer needs to create solutions that help our customers grow their businesses and delight their guests. We are looking for a Key Account Manager to join our Finnish sales team. This is an exciting opportunity for someone who enjoys building strong customer relationships, identifying growth opportunities, and making a measurable impact in a dynamic and growing market. In this role, you will work with a diverse range of foodservice customers, including workplace restaurants, contract caterers, educational institutions, healthcare providers, hospitality businesses, local restaurant groups, and national chains. You will play a key role in helping customers grow while contributing to the continued success of Unilever Food Solutions in Finland.

What You'll Be Doing

Drive New Business Growth

• Building and maintaining a strong pipeline of prospective customers.
• Developing relationships with key decision-makers and stakeholders.
• Understanding customer challenges and identifying opportunities to create value.
• Presenting tailored solutions and negotiating mutually beneficial commercial agreements.
• Converting opportunities into long-term business partnerships.

Develop and Grow Customer Accounts

• Building trusted, long-term partnerships with customers.
• Creating and executing customer growth plans.
• Identifying opportunities to increase category and product penetration.
• Conducting regular business reviews and performance discussions.
• Supporting customers with ideas and solutions that help improve their business performance.

Shape Customer Strategies

• Develop annual business plans and growth strategies.
• Identify market trends, customer needs, and emerging opportunities.
• Use customer insights and commercial understanding to drive sustainable growth.
• Partner with culinary, marketing, and sales colleagues to deliver innovative customer solutions.

Manage Commercial Agreements and Opportunities

• Preparing commercial proposals and supporting documentation.
• Supporting customer tender and contract opportunities where applicable.
• Ensuring agreements are implemented effectively.
• Monitoring contract performance and identifying opportunities for future growth.

Build Your Network and Industry Presence

• Participating in customer events, trade fairs, and industry forums.
• Building relationships with customers, distributors, wholesalers, and other key stakeholders.
• Sharing market insights and opportunities with colleagues across the business.

Success Looks Like

• Customer growth and retention.
• New customer acquisition.
• Revenue and profitability delivery.
• Successful implementation of customer growth plans.
• Strong customer relationships and satisfaction.
• Pipeline development and conversion.
• Effective management of commercial agreements and opportunities.

What We're Looking For

We're interested in hearing from people who bring a combination of commercial thinking, customer focus, and a passion for building relationships.

Experience

• Experience in sales, account management, business development, or customer-facing commercial roles.
• A successful track record of delivering business growth.
• Experience building strong customer relationships and influencing stakeholders.
• Experience within foodservice, hospitality, consumer goods, wholesale, retail, or related industries.
• Experience with commercial negotiations, contracts, or tender processes is advantageous but not essential.

Skills and Capabilities

• Builds trust and strong relationships with customers.
• Has a commercial mindset and strong business understanding.
• Is proactive, positive, and solutions-oriented.
• Thinks strategically while remaining focused on execution.
• Can work independently and manage priorities effectively.
• Enjoys collaborating across teams to achieve shared goals.
• Has strong communication, presentation, and negotiation skills.
• Is comfortable working with data, digital tools, and business systems.
• Is fluent in Finnish and has good written and spoken English skills.
• Foodservice, hospitality, culinary, or restaurant industry experience would be an advantage, but most importantly, we are looking for someone with the passion and drive to help customers succeed.

Why Join Unilever Food Solutions?

At Unilever Food Solutions, you'll be part of a collaborative, supportive, and ambitious team that is committed to making a positive impact for our customers.

We offer

• The opportunity to work with some of Finland's most exciting foodservice businesses.
• A culture that encourages learning, development, and continuous growth.
• Access to global expertise, insights, and resources.
• The chance to make a meaningful commercial impact while helping customers achieve their goals.
• A workplace that values inclusion, collaboration, and high performance.

Unilever is an organisation committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities.

We believe that diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business.

At Unilever we are interested in every individual bringing their ‘Whole Self’ to work and this includes you!