National Account Manager

Cranswick Country Foods PLC; Manchester; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Cranswick Continental Foods in the UK is seeking a commercially driven National Account Manager to own key retail accounts and steer profitable growth across categories. You will partner with NPD, Marketing and Operations to bring innovative products to market and translate insights into winning strategies.

You will build influential relationships with customers, shape pricing and forecasting, and drive category opportunities while delivering outstanding results for retailers across the UK.

Qualifications

• Proven experience managing major retail or foodservice accounts within FMCG.
• Strong commercial acumen with pricing, margin management, forecasting.
• Excellent relationship-building and negotiation skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead and prioritise the day-to-day commercial agenda for your accounts, ensuring opportunities, projects and customer actions are delivered effectively.
• Build strong, lasting relationships with key retail and foodservice customers, becoming a trusted partner.
• Develop a deep understanding of the wider Out of Home and food manufacturing market to drive mutual growth.
• Spend time with customers, translating insight into winning commercial strategies.
• Own the commercial performance of your accounts, using margin analysis and market insight to maximise profitability.
• Lead cross-functional teams to deliver exceptional customer service and operational excellence.

Skills

National accounts

Retail management

Strategic planning

Cross-functional

Job description

Cranswick Continental Foods is one of the UK's leading manufacturers and suppliers of premium continental food products. As part of Cranswick PLC, we supply all major UK retailers with a diverse portfolio including continental meats, olives and antipasti, cooked products, fresh pasta, houmous, premium dips and a range of other European specialities.

We operate in a fast-paced and highly customer-focused environment where quality, innovation and service are central to our success.

We're proud of our strong team culture, entrepreneurial mindset and genuine passion for food. While we strive to develop robust systems and processes, we are equally focused on remaining agile and responsive to the opportunities and challenges that come with supplying the UK's leading retailers.

Why Join Us?

• Manage and grow partnerships with major UK retail customers
• Lead exciting innovation and product launch projects from concept to shelf
• Work with talented teams across Sales, NPD, Marketing and Operations
• Make a visible impact on business performance and future growth
• Be part of a high-performing, commercially driven culture
• Build your career within one of the UK's most successful food manufacturing groups
• Make great food happen for some of the nation's favourite retailers

Ready to make your mark with major retail customers?

We're looking for a commercially driven National Account Manager to take ownership of key retail accounts and help drive the next phase of our growth. You'll be at the heart of developing winning customer partnerships, delivering profitable sales growth, and identifying new opportunities across our categories.

Working closely with NPD, Marketing, Operations and the wider commercial team, you'll help bring innovative products to market and turn great ideas into customer success stories. You'll build strong, influential relationships with customers, champion their needs internally, and use data, insight and commercial acumen to deliver outstanding results.

If you thrive on winning business, growing accounts, and seeing the products you help develop on supermarket shelves across the UK, we'd love to hear from you.

What You'll Be Doing

• Lead and prioritise the day-to-day commercial agenda for your accounts, ensuring opportunities, projects and customer actions are delivered effectively and communicated across the business.
• Build strong, lasting relationships with key retail and foodservice customers, becoming a trusted partner who understands their goals and challenges.
• Develop a deep understanding of the wider Out of Home and food manufacturing market, identifying trends and opportunities that drive mutual growth.
• Spend time with customers, understanding their needs and translating insight into winning commercial strategies.
• Act as the primary point of contact for your accounts, confidently managing challenges and finding solutions that strengthen customer relationships.
• Drive projects from concept to launch, coordinating cross-functional teams to deliver exceptional customer service and operational excellence.
• Own the commercial performance of your accounts, using detailed costing models, margin analysis and market insight to maximise profitability and sustainable growth.
• Develop a strong understanding of manufacturing operations, labour efficiencies and site capabilities to support informed commercial decision-making.
• Champion our product portfolio and production capabilities, bringing enthusiasm and expertise to every customer interaction.
• Build strong partnerships with operational, technical, NPD and marketing teams to ensure customer needs are met and opportunities are maximised.
• Lead and influence NPD and EPD activity, helping to bring exciting new products and category opportunities to market.
• Continuously look for ways to improve service, enhance customer satisfaction and unlock new revenue streams.
• Develop a thorough understanding of supplier capabilities and supply chain dynamics to support successful delivery of customer requirements.
• Monitor and deliver against agreed customer KPIs, ensuring consistent service and high levels of customer satisfaction.
• Successfully manage product launches, promotions and range reviews, ensuring projects are delivered on time and to the highest standard.
• Resolve customer issues quickly and professionally, using strong negotiation and influencing skills to achieve positive outcomes for all stakeholders.
• Support and develop Account Executives, helping them build their commercial knowledge, confidence and capability.
• Lead regular team meetings and contribute to a collaborative, high-performance culture.
• Deliver compelling customer presentations and provide guidance and challenge to ensure all presentations represent the business professionally and effectively.
• Actively support colleagues across the team, providing cover and maintaining continuity during periods of absence.

What Success Looks Like

• Delivering profitable sales growth across key accounts.
• Building strategic customer partnerships that drive long-term business success.
• Identifying and securing new opportunities for growth through innovation, category insight and commercial excellence.
• Developing high-performing team members and fostering strong cross-functional collaboration.
• Becoming a trusted voice internally and externally, representing the business with confidence and credibility.

What You'll Bring

• Proven experience managing major retail or foodservice accounts within food manufacturing or FMCG.
• Strong commercial acumen with experience of pricing, margin management, forecasting and account planning.
• Excellent relationship-building, negotiation and influencing skills.
• Strategic thinking combined with a hands-on approach to delivering results.
• Strong understanding of sales, marketing, category and NPD processes.
• Outstanding organisational and project management capabilities.
• Excellent presentation and communication skills.
• A proactive, resilient and customer-focused mindset.
• Strong IT skills, including Microsoft Office and commercial reporting tools.

Equal Opportunity Statement

We are an equal opportunities employer. At Cranswick we know that diverse teams are more likely to have greater innovation, creativity and understand of our customer needs. These are many of the things we are passionate about.

Did you know that some demographics may be less likely to apply to job adverts than others? For example, women are likely to apply only if they fit all of the skills listed. If you’re reading this and perhaps don’t tick every skill, then please still make yourself known to us. We’d love to hear from you so we can assess this.

We also want to ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the interview process, therefore please contact us to request any assistance required.