Key Account Manager

Pastrystar; Laurel (MD); On-site; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

PastryStar is seeking a proactive Key Account Manager to lead growth and retention of strategic customer accounts in bakery and pastry ingredients. This senior individual-contributor role owns relationships, develops account plans, and coordinates with purchasing, culinary, technical, and business stakeholders.

You will manage complex sales opportunities from prospecting through trials, negotiations, and closing, with collaboration across internal teams to translate customer needs into product

Qualifications

• Bakery, pastry, or ingredient sales success with key accounts growth.
• Experience with CRM systems (Dynamics 365, HubSpot, Salesforce) and Excel.
• Ability to develop strategic account plans and build cross-functional relationships.
• Strong commercial and analytical skills including pricing and negotiations.
• Excellent written and verbal English communication.

Responsibilities

• Own and retain a portfolio of key accounts with growth plans.
• Monitor product performance and customer satisfaction; resolve issues.
• Coordinate trials, demos, and product samples with internal teams.
• Identify opportunities for new products and applications.
• Build pipeline for high-value targets and engage key decision makers.
• Prepare proposals, negotiate pricing, and close deals.

Skills

Strategic account management

Negotiation

Communication

Analytical skills

English communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business/Marketing/Communications

Tools

Dynamics 365

HubSpot

Salesforce

Excel

Job description

We are seeking a proactive, commercially minded Key Account Manager to lead the growth and retention of strategic customer accounts while developing high-value new business. This senior individual‑contributor role owns relationships with key customers within an assigned sector, builds account growth plans, and positions PastryStar as a trusted partner for bakery and pastry ingredient solutions. The Key Account Manager will manage complex sales opportunities from prospecting and qualification through product trials, commercial negotiations, closing, and account expansion. Working closely with internal teams, this role translates customer needs into product recommendations, coordinates customer initiatives, and drives long-term relationships across purchasing, culinary, technical, and business stakeholders. The ideal candidate brings bakery, pastry, or ingredient sales experience, sound commercial judgment, and the ability to influence and coordinate others.

What you'll do

• Strategic account ownership: Manage and retain a portfolio of key accounts within an assigned sector. Develop account plans that identify customer priorities, growth opportunities, relationship coverage, and actions to expand business.
• Customer success and issue resolution: Monitor product performance and customer satisfaction. Lead internal coordination to resolve customer concerns, support service continuity, and protect long-term relationships.
• Account expansion and solution selling: Identify opportunities to introduce new products, applications, and ingredient solutions. Partner with customer and internal stakeholders to coordinate trials, evaluate feedback, and support adoption across relevant locations or business units.
• Strategic new‑business development: Build and prioritize a pipeline of high‑value target customers. Identify key decision makers, assess account potential, and develop tailored engagement strategies.
• Stakeholder relationships and targeted outreach: Build relationships with purchasing, culinary, technical, and business stakeholders. Create targeted outreach and proposals that communicate relevant product benefits and business value.
• Consultative discovery and qualification: Understand customer applications, purchasing processes, commercial requirements, and decision criteria. Qualify opportunities and establish clear next steps with customer stakeholders.
• Cross‑functional customer leadership: Coordinate product samples, customer meetings, demonstrations, and trials with internal teams. Align responsibilities, timelines, feedback, and follow‑up actions to move customer initiatives forward.
• Commercial negotiations and sales execution: Prepare proposals and quotes, negotiate pricing and terms within approved guidelines, and close new and expansion business. Balance customer needs with profitability and sustainable account growth.
• Forecasting, account reviews, and team contribution: Maintain accurate account plans, contacts, opportunities, forecasts, and follow‑up records in Dynamics 365; use Excel to analyze sales trends. Review account results, risks, and growth priorities with internal stakeholders, coordinate onboarding, and share sales practices and product knowledge with colleagues.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated success in bakery, pastry, or ingredient sales, including ownership and growth of key accounts and development of new business.
• Proficiency with Dynamics 365, HubSpot, Salesforce or comparable CRM systems and Excel, including opportunity management, sales forecasting, and account analysis.
• Ability to develop strategic account plans, build relationships across multiple customer functions.
• Strong commercial and analytical skills, including pricing, margin awareness, negotiation, and sales‑related calculations.
• Ability to communicate clearly in English during customer conversations, presentations, meetings, and demonstrations, and to explain product benefits to varied stakeholders.
• Excellent written communication, organization, and follow‑through, including tailored outreach, customer proposals, account reviews, and professional follow‑ups.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, or a related field required; equivalent related experience may be considered.
• 6–10 years of sales or account management experience preferred, ideally in food manufacturing, bakery, pastry, foodservice, B2B sales, consumer packaged goods, or a related industry.
• Experience prospecting, qualifying leads, preparing quotes, presenting products, and managing customer follow‑up preferred.
• Experience working with distributors, customer service teams, product teams, or cross‑functional departments preferred.
• Experience using CRM systems, tracking sales opportunities, and preparing sales activity reports is a plus, such as Salesforce, HubSpot, Dynamics 365.
• Experience with bakery ingredients, food applications, product samples, or customer demonstrations is a plus.

Job Type: Full‑time

Salary: up to $150,000 inclusive of commission

PastryStar is more than a food manufacturer—it’s a team driven by passion, craftsmanship, and innovation. Founded by a French pastry chef and rooted in over 35 years of expertise, we create high‑quality, clean‑label ingredients that help professionals bring exceptional desserts to life. At PastryStar, we don’t just make products—we solve problems, elevate standards, and build something meaningful together.

The pay range for this role is:

100,000 - 150,000 USD per year (Laurel, MD)