Customer Engagement Manager

DS Smith Packaging Limited; Fordham; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Discretionary bonus

25 days holiday plus bank holidays

Pension scheme

Life assurance

Income protection

Employee Assistance Programme

Employee Discounts

Cycle to work scheme

Job summary

DS Smith is seeking a Customer Engagement Manager for the UK&I Packaging division. Based at our Customer Impact Centre in Fordham, you will lead the development and execution of the customer engagement strategy, shaping ABM programs, and turning market insights into opportunities.

You will partner with Sales, Marketing, Sustainability and Design & Innovation to create inspiring workshops, events, and hybrid experiences.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in a customer-facing B2B marketing, sales enablement, or customer engagement role within FMCG, manufacturing, retail, or agency environments
• Degree or professional qualification in Business, Marketing, Sales, or a related discipline – desirable
• A passion for packaging, innovation and sustainability, along with the ability to bring customer, consumer and market insights to life through compelling storytelling and engagement experiences
• Outstanding presentation, public speaking, and workshop facilitation skills, with a track record of engaging senior decision-makers and large audiences
• Strong commercial mindset with the ability to translate consumer trends, sustainability priorities, and category insights into tangible business opportunities
• Proficient in PowerPoint, virtual collaboration tools (360° virtual environments/webinars), and end-to-end event/vendor coordination
• An energetic, proactive self-starter with a collaborative spirit, comfortable navigating ambiguity and managing diverse stakeholders across a matrix organisation

Responsibilities

• Workshop & Event Leadership – Design, facilitate, and deliver tailored 1:1 and 1:many customer workshops, webinars, and inspiration sessions across physical, hybrid, and virtual environments
• Innovation Hub & Asset Management – Maintain and continually refresh the Customer Innovation Hub experiences, ensuring brand excellence and impactful showcase of new solutions
• Sales Enablement & Storytelling – Build compelling presentation assets, co-create pitch materials, and align content with customer account plans, tenders, and ABM priorities
• Voice of the Customer – Develop a deep understanding of customer challenges, category dynamics and market trends, translating insights into compelling customer engagement opportunities and feeding these back into the business to shape future priorities, innovation and growth opportunities
• Cross-Functional Partnering – Collaborate with regional Sales, Design & Innovation squads, and sustainability leads to coordinating multi-disciplinary customer sessions
• Performance & Impact Tracking – Measure and report on customer engagement metrics, tracking CRM-linked opportunities, Net Promoter Score (NPS), and event ROI

Skills

Customer engagement

B2B marketing

Sales enablement

Storytelling

Education

Business/Marketing degree

Tools

PowerPoint

Video conferencing

Job description

About the role

Have a passion for high-impact customer experiences, compelling storytelling, and strategic collaboration? Are you seeking an exciting new challenge? We have a fabulous opportunity for an energetic, creative, and customer-focused professional to join us as Customer Engagement Manager within our UK&I Packaging division. This is a high-exposure role where you will lead the business in growing and strengthening strategic partnerships by showcasing our expertise, packaging innovations, and sustainable solutions. You would be responsible for developing and delivering the UK&I Customer Engagement strategy and roadmap, aligning activity to strategic customers, growth opportunities, account plans and business objectives. Acting as both a strategic facilitator and the vital "Voice of the Customer" back into DS Smith, you will develop and deliver our customer engagement roadmap. You will create inspiring physical, virtual, and hybrid workshop experiences across our Customer Innovation Hubs and customer locations. Partnering closely with Sales, Marketing, Sustainability and Design & Innovation teams, you will translate market intelligence, category dynamics, and supply chain insights into targeted Account-Based Marketing (ABM) programmes that drive commercial growth and solve real-world customer challenges. You would also be responsible for coaching and mentoring a team member to support you as you manage the day-to-day activity at the Customer Impact Centre. A successful candidate must be a natural storyteller and relationship builder who thrives in front of an audience, co-creating solutions with key decision-makers and elevating our customer value proposition.

Key responsibilities

• Workshop & Event Leadership – Design, facilitate, and deliver tailored 1:1 and 1:many customer workshops, webinars, and inspiration sessions across physical, hybrid, and virtual environments
• Innovation Hub & Asset Management – Maintain and continually refresh the Customer Innovation Hub experiences, ensuring brand excellence and impactful showcase of new solutions
• Sales Enablement & Storytelling – Build compelling presentation assets, co-create pitch materials, and align content with customer account plans, tenders, and ABM priorities
• Voice of the Customer – Develop a deep understanding of customer challenges, category dynamics and market trends, translating insights into compelling customer engagement opportunities and feeding these back into the business to shape future priorities, innovation and growth opportunities
• Cross-Functional Partnering – Collaborate with regional Sales, Design & Innovation squads, and sustainability leads to coordinating multi-disciplinary customer sessions
• Performance & Impact Tracking – Measure and report on customer engagement metrics, tracking CRM-linked opportunities, Net Promoter Score (NPS), and event ROI

About you

• Proven experience in a customer-facing B2B marketing, sales enablement, or customer engagement role within FMCG, manufacturing, retail, or agency environments
• Degree or professional qualification in Business, Marketing, Sales, or a related discipline – desirable
• A passion for packaging, innovation and sustainability, along with the ability to bring customer, consumer and market insights to life through compelling storytelling and engagement experiences
• Outstanding presentation, public speaking, and workshop facilitation skills, with a track record of engaging senior decision-makers and large audiences
• Strong commercial mindset with the ability to translate consumer trends, sustainability priorities, and category insights into tangible business opportunities
• Proficient in PowerPoint, virtual collaboration tools (360° virtual environments/webinars), and end-to-end event/vendor coordination
• An energetic, proactive self-starter with a collaborative spirit, comfortable navigating ambiguity and managing diverse stakeholders across a matrix organisation

Benefits

• Competitive salary
• Discretionary bonus
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays
• Pension scheme, life assurance and income protection
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Employee Discounts
• Cycle to work scheme

Location

This role is primarily based at our Customer Impact Centre in Fordham, which is our state-of-the-art customer engagement facility.

About us

We’re DS Smith, the company who are redefining packaging for a changing world. We believe a better, more sustainable tomorrow is possible with the right people, who challenge and support one another to enact positive change. Today, we operate in more than 30 different countries, supporting customers across sectors like FMCG, industrial, and e-commerce. We deliver on quality, service, innovation, and added value to deliver market-leading sustainable packaging solutions our customers need. Our industry needs to transform, and we’re building the team to drive change across Europe and North America. To fulfil our purpose of redefining packaging for a changing world, we aim to build a diverse, motivated, and engaged workforce. Our goal is to create a culture of inclusion where everyone is treated fairly, differences are valued, and everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed. Our people come from diverse backgrounds, bring different perspectives, ideas and experiences to generate unique solutions focused on present and future sustainability challenges.

We welcome all candidates to apply, even those not meeting all criteria.

#LI-NS #LIMISC

We are DS Smith, together with International Paper, we are a global leader in sustainable packaging solutions and other fibre-based products. We believe a better, more sustainable tomorrow is possible with the right people, who challenge and support one another to enact positive change. We employ more than 60,000 colleagues in North America and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), who are experts in innovation, manufacturing, design, sales, sustainability, supply chain, and much more. Together with our customers, we make the world safer and more productive, one sustainable packaging solution at a time. Become part of a world-leading organisation and do your best work with us! As the journey continues of bringing together the strengths of both organisations, during your candidate experience you may engage with our colleagues from International Paper! You could visit an International Paper or DS Smith site or office.