Account Manager, Consumer Goods

Circana; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 420,000 - 660,000; Full time

Job summary

Circana, a global leader in technology and data solutions for the FMCG sector, seeks an Account Manager to lead client relationships and translate analytics into growth strategies. You will leverage Circana data assets and your market knowledge to drive revenue and margin improvements for a portfolio of retailers and manufacturers.

With responsibilities spanning team leadership, data mining, and strategic client engagements, you will deliver impactful analyses and actionable recommendations to

Qualifications

• Proven ability to present tailored solutions that meet client needs.
• Identify key decision-makers and understand their motivations.
• Address client hesitations to uncover new opportunities.
• Articulate customer needs in business language and context.
• Recover quickly from setbacks and keep others productive.
• Manage uncertainty and guide teams through change.

Responsibilities

• Lead your team to achieve all business objectives.
• Provide business advisory input across this function’s scope.
• Drive process improvements and onboarding of new staff.
• Transform EPOS and third‑party data into actionable insights for FMCG categories.
• Lead client engagements at Exco level and deliver strategic analytics.
• Develop Joint Business Planning with retailers to enhance performance.

Skills

Effective Presentations

Buying Influences

Managing Buyer Indifference

Understanding Customer Needs

Resilience

Ambiguity Management

Tools

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

Let’s be unstoppable together!

Circana is a leading provider of technology, AI, and data solutions for consumer packaged goods companies, manufacturers, and retailers. Our predictive analytics and Liquid Data® platform help clients measure market share, uncover consumer behavior, and drive growth—powered by six decades of expertise and an expansive, high-quality data set.

Let’s be unstoppable together!

Circana is a leading provider of technology, AI, and data solutions for consumer packaged goods companies, manufacturers, and retailers. Our predictive analytics and Liquid Data® platform help clients measure market share, uncover consumer behavior, and drive growth—powered by six decades of expertise and an expansive, high-quality data set.

At Circana, we are fueled by our passion for continuous learning and growth, we seek and share feedback freely, and we celebrate victories both big and small in an environment that is flexible and accommodating to our work and personal lives. We’re a global company dedicated to fostering inclusivity and belonging. We value and celebrate the unique experiences, cultures, and viewpoints that each individual brings. By embracing a wide range of backgrounds, skills, expertise, and beyond, we create a stronger, more innovative environment for our employees, clients, and communities. With us, you can always bring your full self to work. Join our inclusive, committed team to be a challenger, own outcomes, and stay curious together. Circana is proud to be Certified™ by Great Place To Work®. This prestigious award is based entirely on what current employees say about their experience working at Circana.

Learn more at www.circana.com.

Our Critical Sales Skills

At the heart of our commercial success is a team of professionals who combine strategic insight, customer-centricity, and executional excellence. These skills represent the core capabilities required to drive value for our clients and sustainable growth for our business.

• Effectively Presents Solutions: Delivers tailored, compelling solutions that align with customer needs and drive action.
• Knows the Buying Influences: Identifies key decision-makers and understands their motivations and influence.
• Manages Buyer Indifference: Recognizes and explores customer hesitation to uncover new needs or opportunities.
• Understands Customer Needs: Operates as a recognized expert to articulate customer needs in the customer's business language and business context.
• Being Resilient: Bounces back from setbacks with composure and positivity; helps others stay productive during tough times.
• Manages Ambiguity: Stays focused and calm in uncertain situations; guides others through change.

What will you be doing?

The Account Manager drives internal team performance and C-suite client collaboration and relationships. They do this by having a solid amount of experience in the FMCG/Retail space, have established relationships and networks and can utilise our technology and their analytics experience to help the client understand their performance and gain competitive advantage. The Account Manager is a sounding board of guidance and advice to their team and understands that their team development and client outputs are critical to their role.

Job Responsibilities

Team Leadership

• To lead your direct reports to achieve all business objectives
• To provide advice to the business on areas within this function’s responsibility
• Show initiative in coming up with new ideas and process improvements
• Conduct Performance reviews for all staff under direct report
• Drive collaboration across all business streams
• Support the onboarding, training, development and mentoring of the team

Data Mining & Analysis

• Extraction and interpretation of EPOS data, and several third-party data sources, for various FMCG categories
• Understand and assess current market, consumer, and category dynamics for a portfolio of clients.
• Incorporating various third-party data sources acquired independently or supplied by the client into the analysis
• Identifying market and consumer trends, gaps & opportunities across various consumer categories to provide
• Recommendations for clients based on what has been identified
• Brief-based or Ad-hoc Analysis using the “funnel” analytical approach (drilling down), starting from the macro-economic situation and funneling down to key micro-economic factors and recommendations, such as pricing, promotional and distribution factors
• Brief-based or Ad-hoc Reviews – Business, Strategic, Category, Retailer, Basket, Competitor, Pricing, Special Interest and Seasonal Events e.g., Easter, Christmas, Black Friday, retailer promotions and deals
• Compiling analyses in a clear, summarised format & layout with actionable recommendations and key take outs
• Leading and delivering analysis and insights to a variety of client seniority levels and departments, engaging in both
• strategic and tactical discussions to highlight areas of strength, weakness, and improvement.
• Workings & outputs are based in Excel & PowerPoint, with the use of internally developed software to support this

Commercial Leadership

• End to end ownership of commercial processes for client portfolio
• Drive Revenue and Margin growth initiatives for client portfolio
• Expert in Circana Revenue management processes and software
• Ownership of client contract negotiation and legal processes surrounding this

Client and Key Stakeholder Engagement

• Account & Project Management
• Presentation Development & Delivery - ownership of the end-to-end presentation process
• Leading engagement with Exco level stakeholders and being a trusted advisor to clients
• Formal participation in the client’ meetings and face to face engagements
• Both formal and informal meetings with the client to discuss their portfolio of categories
• Structured reviews of the client’s key competitors’ performance and unpacking their drivers of growth, followed by suggestions of response strategies to turn performance around
• Develop and present Joint Business Planning (JBP) presentations to Retail partners to enhance the client’s performance and service levels
• Assist the client in unlocking additional retailer data feeds to bolster their data universe and expand market coverage to gain a competitive edge and first mover advantage over competitors
• Draft proposals for additional services i.e., category reads, retailer feeds, and Strategic Analytics projects
• Develop new analytical frameworks to bring a fresh and data driven perspective to the client

Technology & Product Advocates

• To play the lead role in in implementation of global applications and products
• To drive future direction and adoption of Circana Products
• Commercial awareness as to how the products are utilized by clients

Requirements

• Tertiary Education with 6 – 8 years working experience
• Demonstrated ability to lead a team
• Demonstrated ability to manage and grow key stakeholder accounts and relationships
• Have the credibility of a trusted advisor
• Experience in the FMCG/ Market Research/ Retail environment.

Circana Behaviors

As well as the technical skills, experience and attributes that are required for the role, our shared behaviors sit at the core of our organization. Therefore, we always look for people who can continuously champion these behaviors throughout the business within their day-to-day role:

• Stay Curious: Being hungry to learn and grow, always asking the big questions
• Seek Clarity: Embracing complexity to create clarity and inspire action
• Own the Outcome: Being accountable for decisions and taking ownership of our choices
• Center on the Client: Relentlessly adding value for our customers
• Be a Challenger: Never complacent, always striving for continuous improvement
• Champion Inclusivity: Fostering trust in relationships engaging with empathy, respect and integrity
• Commit to each other: Contributing to making Circana a great place to work for everyone

Location

This position can be located in the following area(s): Johannesburg, South Africa