Key Account Manager

IKEA Gruppe; Hyderabad; On-site; Confidential; Full time

Job summary

IKEA Gruppe in Hyderabad seeks a Senior Key Account Manager to lead large account partnerships in the Home Furnishing sector. You will drive growth, build long-term relationships with business customers, and oversee end-to-end project sales in defined segments.

The role requires 10+ years in modular furniture sales, strong negotiation and cross-functional collaboration, and the ability to navigate local market regulations.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in modular furniture sales.
• Experience in leading and influencing teams/co-workers.
• Broad knowledge of sales mechanisms and market dynamics.
• Strong negotiation, communication and project management skills.

Responsibilities

• Drive business for large accounts in defined segments or geography to build long-term profitable relationships.
• Lead and negotiate terms for key account deals and coordinate execution across teams.
• Analyse local market and customer needs to improve shopping experience and sales performance.
• Develop KAM strategy and action plans with input from stakeholders and management groups.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to maximize impact and ensure sustainability initiatives.

Skills

Key account management

Negotiation

Stakeholder management

Analytical skills

People leadership

Job description

Who you are

As a person you are passionate about people, business, IKEA’s purpose and continuously driving better performance. You are energized by increasing customer value, driving business growth and contributing to overall success and results through people as well as motivated by leading and developing people.

The candidate should have 10+ years of experience in modular furniture sales. Good knowledge of Hyderabad region would be an added advantage. Candidate experience in (in)directly leading and influencing co-workers and teams. Experience from retail, preferably home furnishing sector or B2B/ KAM Experience in planning, driving output and measuring performance (business and people) is preferred.

Candidates should have broad knowledge about legislations, requirements and compliance standards in the identified key B2B segments in the local market and have a broad knowledge about key account management. They should also possess a broad knowledge of sales mechanisms and the pulse of the market (customers, competition, news). Candidate should have experience in project management, analytical and numerical skills.

Candidates should be motivated by the IKEA culture and values and the unique IKEA ranges by increasing customer value and thinking customer first. Candidates should be energized by driving business growth and contributing to the overall success of IKEA through collaboration. Candidates should be passionate about understanding the behaviours of the many companies, their co- workers and clients and current Home Furnishing trends and life at work trends, about selling and following the customer journey to the end. Candidates should be motivated by working cross-functional and with many stakeholders.

The candidate should have the ability to understand the complexity of IKEA business and the role of Sales as an integrated part of the business, prioritise and make decisions with speed and simplicity. Candidate should have the ability to follow up and measure performance of output and capture learnings to improve planning and performance moving forward. Candidate should have strong collaboration, multi-tasking skills, negotiation and communication skills.

Locations: Hyderabad, Indore and Orissa/West Bengal

Your responsibilities

Candidate’s responsibilities would be to drive the business for large accounts in defined customer segment or geographic territory to create and sustain long‑term profitable relations with customers to enable extraordinary growth. Act as a member of the Store Sales team and proactively contribute to commercial plan/output to deliver to the common objectives and goals. Analyse the local market, specifically business customers and their business needs, and use this knowledge to improve the business customers’ shopping experience. Create the KAM strategy and action plan to deliver to the market business plan with input from key stakeholders. Build long‑lasting relationships with local business community and actively spread awareness of IKEA as a brand and partner for business in the local market. Present and sell larger projects to the customers, stakeholder/management groups. Analyse sales and customer KPI performance and use this knowledge to prioritise initiatives and improve performance. Secure knowledge of the IKEA product range and services, business‑approved range, national priorities, volume commitments, local market conditions and local store and online competitors. Actively cooperate with all key stakeholders within commercial and beyond to secure integration, common focus and to maximise impact – for example CFF (Customer Fulfilment), CAL (Commercial Activity Leader),Legal, Accounting, BNOF (Business Navigation Operations & Finance), Home Furnishing & Retail Design (HF&RD), Digital, Sustainability. Lead negotiations in finalising terms and pricing for RFPs and other Key Account deals, follow‑up on customer journey and see projects to completion. Candidate will be responsible for overseeing execution of won deals, coordinating and collaborating with co‑workers across the business to proactively manage the process and avert issues. Candidate would be responsible to lead after‑sales care for key account deals – follow up with help and information to secure long‑term business relationships and excellent customer experience. Candidate would be an active player in driving an open and sharing climate, being a role model of the IKEA values and contribute to the transformation of IKEA. Be an active player in working on sustainability initiatives within selling through ensuring sustainability priorities are reflected across offering (e.g., Home Solar, Energy Efficient Lighting).

Together as a team

We are the ones meeting our customers – in our stores, online, in our catalogue and beyond. We have knowledge of the IKEA product range, local markets and customer needs and we constantly find new ways of making real connections with our customers to maximise sales and profitability. Together with thousands of colleagues around the world we’re a diverse team working for the continued global success of the IKEA Concept – a concept that helps millions of customers create a better everyday life!

At IKEA, we value diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We are committed to providing coworkers with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. We encourage individualism and invite you to come join our team and be yourself with us! We are an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability status, or any other applicable characteristic protected by law. All employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit and business need.