Senior Key Accounts Manager

Position Overview

• A leading global organisation specialising in taste, nutrition, food ingredients and flavour solutions is seeking an experienced and commercially driven Senior Key Accounts Manager – Alcoholic Beverage Accounts to drive strategic growth and manage major customer relationships across South Africa.
• The successful candidate will be responsible for developing and executing key account strategies, expanding the customer base, driving profitable sales growth and building sustainable partnerships within the food and beverage industry.
• This role requires a commercially astute professional with extensive experience in the ingredients and flavours industry, FMCG, strategic key account management, business development and profit and loss P&L management.
• The ideal candidate will have a strong techno-commercial background, proven experience managing multinational food and beverage accounts and the ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver innovative solutions, new product opportunities and sustainable business growth.

Key Responsible Strategic Key Account Management

• Lead and manage strategic key accounts across South Africa.
• Develop and maintain long-term relationships with major food and beverage manufacturers.
• Manage relationships with global and multinational food and beverage accounts.
• Develop and execute strategic account plans aligned with customer requirements and business objectives.
• Identify opportunities to expand existing accounts and develop new customer partnerships.
• Understand customer business strategies, technical requirements and market challenges.
• Build strong relationships with senior stakeholders across R&D, Procurement, Marketing and Quality Assurance.
• Ensure high levels of customer satisfaction through effective service delivery and supply partnerships.
• Position the organisation as a strategic partner by providing innovative ingredient and flavour solutions.
• Support a coordinated, customer-focused approach across business functions and geographical markets.

Business Development & Market Growth

• Identify and develop new business opportunities within the food, beverage, ingredients and flavours markets.
• Develop and implement business plans targeting key market segments and strategic growth accounts.
• Analyse industry dynamics, market trends, competitor activities and emerging customer requirements.
• Identify market gaps and opportunities for new products, applications and solutions.
• Develop and execute effective route-to-market strategies.
• Expand market presence and strengthen the organisation's competitive positioning.
• Drive sustainable growth through new customer acquisition and expansion of existing business.
• Identify opportunities across relevant end-use markets.
• Develop commercially compelling value propositions that differentiate the organisation's products and solutions.
• Support sales teams with market insights, customer messaging and strategic selling approaches.

Commercial Management & Profitability

• Take ownership of financial and commercial performance across assigned accounts and business segments.
• Manage profit and loss P&L responsibilities in line with business objectives.
• Develop and execute commercial strategies to achieve sales, margin and profitability targets.
• Direct and manage pricing strategies to support sustainable profitability.
• Implement price increase initiatives and strategic pricing decisions where required.
• Monitor raw material risks and their potential impact on pricing, supply and margins.
• Identify opportunities to improve operating profitability and commercial performance.
• Manage customer and territory budgets.
• Monitor sales performance against agreed financial objectives.
• Ensure commercial decisions support long-term customer relationships and business sustainability.

Business Planning & Strategy Execution

• Develop and execute business plans aligned with overarching organisational strategies.
• Translate strategic objectives into measurable commercial and operational initiatives.
• Identify priority market segments, growth accounts and business development opportunities.
• Evaluate industry trends, competitor activities and market risks.
• Align commercial strategies with technology initiatives and financial objectives.
• Develop execution plans with clear priorities, deliverables and timelines.
• Identify opportunities to improve business performance and strengthen market competitiveness.
• Provide strategic input into product positioning, customer development and market expansion.
• Support initiatives that deliver meaningful improvements in organisational performance.

Product Strategy & Project Pipeline Management

• Develop and manage a strong pipeline of customer projects and new product opportunities.
• Maintain detailed knowledge of key projects, development stages and commercial potential.
• Assess project health, probability of success and resource requirements.
• Identify projects requiring additional investment, technical support or commercial resources.
• Collaborate with technical and R&D teams to develop solutions that address customer requirements.
• Drive successful new product introductions and commercial wins.
• Support the development of ingredient and flavour solutions aligned with market needs.
• Monitor project progress and ensure alignment with customer expectations and business objectives.
• Deliver new product wins, sales growth and margin improvements.
• Apply effective project management principles to ensure successful execution.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Supply Partnerships

• Work closely with country sales teams, R&D, manufacturing, procurement, supply chain, Quality Control, Quality Assurance and finance.
• Coordinate cross-functional activities to support customer requirements and commercial objectives.
• Collaborate with senior management and technical teams across regional and international operations.
• Ensure alignment between commercial commitments and operational capabilities.
• Support supply assurance and effective management of customer requirements.
• Promote consistent processes and best practices across customer accounts.
• Facilitate collaboration between commercial and technical stakeholders.
• Support coordinated customer engagement across multiple business functions.
• Identify opportunities to improve service delivery, operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Customer Insights & Market Intelligence

• Maintain a strong understanding of the food and beverage industry, including relevant legislation and market requirements.
• Monitor competitor activities, pricing strategies and product developments.
• Identify changing consumer preferences and customer innovation requirements.
• Develop customer insights that support differentiated commercial strategies.
• Provide sales teams with relevant market intelligence and value-based selling messages.
• Identify opportunities to introduce customers to new approaches, technologies and ingredient solutions.
• Translate market insights into actionable account strategies and business development initiatives.

Budgeting, Forecasting & Performance Management

• Develop and manage customer and territory budgets.
• Prepare accurate sales forecasts and commercial performance projections.
• Monitor account performance against agreed sales and profitability targets.
• Track project pipeline performance and expected commercial outcomes.
• Evaluate business risks, growth opportunities and resource requirements.
• Provide management with insights into account performance, market developments and strategic opportunities.
• Drive continuous improvement in account planning, forecasting and commercial execution.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Economics or Finance.
• Minimum of 10 years' experience within the ingredients and flavours business or FMCG industry.
• Proven track record of m