National Account Manager - Waitrose

MacGregor Black; West Yorkshire; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

MacGregor Black is partnering with an established food and snacking manufacturer to appoint a National Account Manager for the Waitrose account. You will own the relationship at both day-to-day and strategic levels, aligning with buying, category, technical, supply chain and product development teams to deliver value and growth.

You will lead an account plan, forecast demand, manage profitability, and build confidence across internal teams.

Qualifications

• National account management experience in grocery, gained within a food or drink manufacturer, ideally with own label or premium ranges.
• Strong analytical and commercial judgement with forecasting and margin understanding.
• Proven negotiations skills and ability to lead joint business planning.

Responsibilities

• Own the Waitrose relationship at both day-to-day and strategic level with cross-functional teams.
• Develop and deliver an account plan covering sales, margin, forecasting and range development.
• Lead forecasting and demand planning with planning and supply chain teams.
• Monitor KPIs for service, availability and quality and act on risks.
• Use EPOS, shopper and market data to drive evidence-based recommendations.
• Manage profitability including pricing, terms and promotional investment.
• Lead customer reviews and joint business planning sessions.

Skills

National account management

Grocery sector experience

Forecasting

P&L management

Negotiation

Stakeholder management

Analytical thinking

Job description

Do you have experience managing a high-volume grocery account where service and relationships matter as much as growth?

Can you use customer and category insight to identify opportunities within an established partnership?

Are you at your best when working closely with manufacturing, planning and NPD teams to deliver what you promise?

MacGregor Black is partnering with an established food and snacking manufacturer on the appointment of a National Account Manager – Waitrose.

You will take ownership of a significant, well-established relationship with one of the UK’s most quality-led grocery retailers. Current volumes are putting real pressure on the business, so your first priority will be to protect performance: keep service levels, quality standards and forecast accuracy where they need to be, and build confidence in both the customer and internal teams. Once that is secure, you will look for credible ways to develop the account where capacity, operational capability and commercial returns support them. This role suits someone who can combine steady relationship management with sharp commercial judgement, and who knows that sustainable growth depends on reliable delivery.

Key Responsibilities:

• Own the Waitrose relationship at both day-to-day and strategic level. Build strong, trusted connections with buying, category, technical, supply chain and product development teams, and become the customer’s first point of contact.
• Build and deliver a clear account plan covering sales, margin, forecasting, service levels, range development and future opportunities, aligned to the customer’s strategy and the business’s commercial objectives.
• Own forecasting and demand planning with the planning and supply chain teams, so that customer requirements match production capacity and availability is protected during peak and promotional periods.
• Monitor service, availability and quality KPIs closely. Spot risks early and put action plans in place before they affect the customer.
• Use EPOS, shopper, category and market data to understand performance drivers and make clear, evidence-based recommendations internally and to the customer.
• Manage account profitability, including pricing, cost price increase negotiations, promotional investment and terms, so that the relationship stays commercially sustainable.
• Work with supply chain, operations, technical and NPD colleagues to manage day-to-day delivery, range reviews and new product launches from brief to shelf.
• Assess new opportunities carefully against capacity, complexity and margin, and put forward only those the business can deliver profitably and consistently.
• Lead customer reviews, negotiations and joint business planning sessions with a practical, solutions-led approach.
• Handle escalations and operational issues calmly and quickly, keep communication transparent, and use each issue to strengthen the relationship.
• Represent the customer internally, so that teams across the site understand Waitrose’s standards, priorities and expectations.

What We’re Looking For:

• National account management experience in grocery, gained within a food or drink manufacturer, ideally with own label or premium ranges.
• Evidence of managing a sizeable, operationally demanding customer where service, capacity and quality were under pressure.
• Strong analytical and commercial judgement, with confidence in forecasting, P&L management, margin analysis and pricing.
• A solid grasp of how forecasting, production planning and supply chain performance affect customer service and account health.
• Proven negotiation skills, including cost price increases, terms and promotional investment.
• The confidence to challenge constructively, internally and with the customer, while protecting an important long-term relationship.
• Excellent stakeholder management across commercial, operational and technical functions.
• A calm, organised approach under pressure, with the ability to prioritise and keep several workstreams moving at once.
• A real interest in the products, and a willingness to spend time on site with the teams who make them.

Salary - TBC Competitive

For more information, please contact Alice Redmond.