National Account Manager

Nestlé; Crawley; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading food and beverage company in the UK is seeking a National Account Manager. This role involves developing customer relationships, managing the P&L, and executing marketing initiatives. Candidates should possess strong sales and negotiation skills, with opportunities for career growth within a supportive team. The position offers a flexible hybrid work model, competitive salary, and comprehensive benefits package.

Benefits

Attractive salary

Potential bonus

Flexible working hours

25 days holiday plus bank holidays

Pension scheme

Qualifications

• Experience as a National Account Manager is ideal.
• Strong negotiation skills are essential.
• Solid analytical and numeracy capability.

Responsibilities

• Develop and agree customer specific joint business plans.
• Manage the customer's P&L including revenue and profit targets.
• Proactively manage relationships and develop key accounts.
• Oversee execution of marketing plans in-store.
• Monitor industry and competitor activity.

Skills

Sales experience

Negotiation skills

Analytical skills

Relationship management

Customer centricity

Job description

Position Snapshot

Business Area: Nestlé UK&I

National Account Manager

Location: Flexible across either our York or Gatwick offices (Hybrid working – approx. 2 flexible days a week in one of our fantastic offices)

Salary: Attractive Salary + potential bonus + 12 flexible days in addition to holiday entitlement + other fantastic benefits

Note: Due to succession planning and internal moves, we have fixed term contract and permanent National Account Manager opportunities within our Sales team at Nestlé. More information available throughout the interview process for successful candidates.

Championing diversity and inclusion is important to us; when we embrace different perspectives and give everyone the chance to be the best they can be, we can think in new, creative ways that grow and enhance our business.

At Nestlé, we support equality of opportunity that supports employees to blend work life and commitments through hybrid and flexible working arrangements. Speak to us to understand what this could look like for you.

Position Summary

What can you expect from a career in the Nestlé Sales Team?

Every day and Everywhere, we are building a Sales community of unique people, that thrive together, make a positive difference and deliver market leading results.

As Nestlé’s multi-category sales team, we manage and develop our Customer relationships across Confectionery, Coffee, Food, Purina, Dairy and Nutrition. In one organisation you can build the strongest Sales career by moving across categories and managing customers and channels from Out of Home and Convenience, through to Value Retail, Grocery Multiples and eCommerce. You are encouraged to gain experience in roles within our Category Development teams to deepen your experience and pursue a Sales career that could lead to senior roles in the UK and other markets. Supported by an industry leading Sales Academy which develops you in all aspects of customer and category management, you can achieve your full potential as part of the Nestlé Sales Team.

A day in the life of a National Account Manager

In this role, you will be responsible for developing customer relationships and delivering sustainable, profitable growth and market share improvements. You will work closely with experienced colleagues within the Customer Business Team and the Category Development Team to develop your customers and your own customer management skills.

Responsibilities

Your responsibilities will include:

• Develop and agree customer specific joint business plans (JBP’s) to successfully achieve Nestlé’s and the customer’s commercial goals.
• Have management and accountability of the customer’s P&L including sales revenue, trade spend, market share and profits targets.
• Pro-actively manage the relationship between Nestlé and the customer whilst when required developing key accounts that enable future growth opportunities
• Build and develop effective relationships through an engaging and forward-thinking contact strategy, utilising different functional teams to deliver a best-in-class partnership.
• Co-create and execute robust channel strategies, ensuring we have the tools we need to win in channels and customers for the long term.
• Provide all the required inputs for the Monthly Business Planning cycle for the customer group.
• Oversee and ensure Nestlé Category and Marketing initiative plans are executed in store by working in conjunction with Activation Managers and our Field Sales teams.
• Pro-actively work with a range of cross functional stakeholders to deliver great results.
• Ensure all day-to-day account issues are dealt with effectively and efficiently with a customer centric approach.
• Closely monitor industry and competitor activity, to ensure our strategic commercial vision is in line with market demands in a constantly changing, competitive environment that we work in.

What Will Make You Successful

To be successful, you’ll already have a fantastic breadth of sales experience under your belt, ideally operating as National Account Manager. You will be passionate, tenacious, results focused and enjoy working in a highly energetic and exciting environment. Acting as an ambassador for our Nestlé brands, you will have commercial capability and have experience of influencing across all levels. It’s a given that you will know the importance of being able to flex your style whilst working in an environment that can be, at times, ambiguous.

You will also:

• Be a skilled negotiator and have the ability to conduct multi-faceted negotiations.
• Have a understanding of forecast planning principles.
• Demonstrate a solid level of analytical and numeracy capability including the basics of customer Profit and Loss statements.
• Understand the importance of working in a customer centric way.
• Be curious! Specifically, to help develop your Category Management skills and techniques.
• Be courageous, we’re not afraid to think differently and embrace new ideas. We want you to disrupt what we do in the right way to drive great results and change.
• Demonstrate the ability to learn quickly and take ownership of your personal development journey.

What You Need To Know

What can we offer in return? Great benefits you’d expect from a business the size of Nestlé – in the shape of a competitive salary and benefits package, bonus scheme, flexible working scheme, 25 days holiday plus bank holidays plus flex leave, pension scheme and a real focus on personal development and growth.

Job advert posting date 01/10/2025

Job advert closing date 15/10/2025

We will be considering and interviewing candidates as they apply and we will occasionally close job advertisements early in the event we receive sufficient applicants, so please don’t delay in submitting your application.

EEO and Diversity

At Nestlé, our values are rooted in respect. When we embrace diversity and give everyone the chance to be the best they can be, we can think in new, creative ways that grow and enhance our business. People of all gender identities, ethnically diverse individuals, people with disabilities, and members of the LGBT+ community are strongly encouraged to apply. If there is anything we can do to accommodate you to participate fully in the application process, please let us know. We take pride in championing inclusion and diversity, our people make up a number of Colleague Networks who represent different experiences and communities who hold us accountable in creating a sense of belonging for all, and our values create the conditions for us to respect the unique contribution you bring. Find out more about our Colleague Networks here: Diversity, equity and inclusion | Nestlé (nestle.co.uk)

We are committed to equal opportunity for all and we may collect relevant data for monitoring purposes during our candidate registration process. Be yourself, everyone else is taken!

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