Account Manager Dairy

Kerry; Illinois; On-site; USD 88,000 - 164,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

Paid time off

401(k) plan

Employee Share Plan

Job summary

Kerry is seeking an Account Manager to support the dairy commercial team in Illinois. You will manage a defined set of customers, drive pipeline and execute opportunities from emerging brands to co-manufacturers, while delivering revenue and margin growth.

In this role you will own customer relationships, negotiate contracts, develop account plans, and coordinate with cross-functional teams to meet annual sales targets and 5-year growth objectives. Travel up to 50% is expected.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business, communications, food science, chemistry, or related discipline.
• 5+ years’ experience in sales, technical and/or R&D roles preferably within the Dairy industry.
• Proven expertise in the flavour and functional dairy sales channels, with unique expertise in dairy fermentation, flavours, functional ingredients, enzymes and/or preservation systems.
• Experience with building deep customer relationships and converting those relationships into increased sales, innovation, and top line growth.
• Communicate effectively with all stakeholders – employees, customers, peers, and external networks.
• Make decisions informed by strong commercial understanding balanced with deep market and consumer insights.
• Sales systems & operations knowledge: CRM, customer segmentation, customer lifecycles and analytics.
• Availability to travel up to 50%.

Responsibilities

• Assigned customer’s sales P&L ownership & delivery against key performance measures aligned to Kerry’s objectives.
• Commercial contract & long-term supply and innovation agreements ownership and negotiation to manage margin and create clear avenues for profitability.
• Directly owning and building key relationships across stakeholder functions at each of the customers and internally with cross-functional colleagues.
• Deliver on a pipeline of sustainable growth for Kerry through a deep understanding of customers and their business strategies, their functional requirements while driving customer experience & satisfaction.
• Develop and execute commercial strategies through robust account planning.
• Leading a clear and proactive pipeline of customer engagements to deliver year on year and long-term growth.
• Maintain strong knowledge of customer needs, market trends and consumer preferences to allow Kerry to successfully make sound business decisions on commercial projects and enable the prioritization of Kerry’s investments to drive growth.
• Ensure that appropriate resources and actions are recommended to address customer-based issues including competitive threats, product and service complaints, and information discrepancies.
• Lead in the development of customer specific annual budgeting & 5-year growth forecasts.
• Delivery against budget objectives and executing against appropriate actions to achieve and/or exceed sales budget targets.
• Lead the progression of key customer projects by ensuring communication flow between customer and relevant cross-functional teams to execute on plan.
• Responsible for the overall accuracy of the customer demand plan and its impact on driving improved S&OP and OTIF%.

Skills

Sales experience

Relationship building

Communication

Decision making

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business, communications, food science, chemistry, or related discipline

Tools

CRM

Analytics

Customer segmentation

Lifecycle management

Job description

Kerry is the world's leading taste and nutrition company for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries. Every day we partner with customers to create healthier, tastier and more sustainable products that are consumed by billions of people across the world. Our vision is to be our customers' most valued partner, creating a world of sustainable nutrition. A career with Kerry offers you an opportunity to shape the future of food while providing you opportunities to explore and grow in a truly global environment.

About the role

As an account manager, you will support the growth of the dairy commercial team to help drive pipeline and execute on existing opportunities across a defined segment of customers that vary from emerging brands, CPG’s and co-manufacturers.

Key responsibilities

• Assigned customer’s sales P&L ownership & delivery against key performance measures aligned to Kerry’s objectives.
• Commercial contract & long-term supply and innovation agreements ownership and negotiation to manage margin and create clear avenues for profitability.
• Directly owning and building key relationships across stakeholder functions at each of the customers and internally with cross-functional colleagues.
• Deliver on a pipeline of sustainable growth for Kerry through a deep understanding of customers and their business strategies, their functional requirements while driving customer experience & satisfaction.
• Develop and execute commercial strategies through robust account planning.
• Leading a clear and proactive pipeline of customer engagements to deliver year on year and long-term growth.
• Maintain strong knowledge of customer needs, market trends and consumer preferences to allow Kerry to successfully make sound business decisions on commercial projects and enable the prioritization of Kerry’s investments to drive growth.
• Ensure that appropriate resources and actions are recommended to address customer-based issues including competitive threats, product and service complaints, and information discrepancies.
• Lead in the development of customer specific annual budgeting & 5-year growth forecasts.
• Delivery against budget objectives and executing against appropriate actions to achieve and/or exceed sales budget targets.
• Lead the progression of key customer projects by ensuring communication flow between customer and relevant cross-functional teams to execute on plan.
• Responsible for the overall accuracy of the customer demand plan and its impact on driving improved S&OP and OTIF%.

Qualifications and skills

• Bachelor’s degree in business, communications, food science, chemistry, or related discipline.
• 5+ years’ experience in sales, technical and/or R&D roles preferably within the Dairy industry.
• Proven expertise in the flavour and functional dairy sales channels, with unique expertise in dairy fermentation, flavours, functional ingredients, enzymes and/or preservation systems.
• Experience with building deep customer relationships and converting those relationships into increased sales, innovation, and top line growth.
• Communicate effectively with all stakeholders – employees, customers, peers, and external networks.
• Make decisions informed by strong commercial understanding balanced with deep market and consumer insights.
• Sales systems & operations knowledge: CRM, customer segmentation, customer lifecycles and analytics.
• Availability to travel up to 50%.

Compensation Data

The pay range for this position is $88,100 - $163,700 in Annual Salary. Kerry typically does not hire an individual at the top or near the top of the range, as we are a pay-for-performance company, and this range is set to continue to reward performance annually while in role. Compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. The specific compensation offered to a candidate within the above range may be influenced by a variety of factors including skills, qualifications, experience, internal equity, and Location. In addition, this position is also eligible to earn a performance-based incentive compensation. Kerry offers a competitive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, paid time off, a 401(k) plan with employee and company contribution opportunities, Employee Share Plan, Life, disability, and accident insurance, and tuition reimbursement. This job posting is anticipated to expire on 06/14/2026.

Kerry is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law. Kerry will only employ those who are legally authorized to work in the United States for this opening. Any offer of employment is conditional upon the successful completion of a background investigation and drug screen. Additional information can be found at: Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal (dol.gov).