Customer Account Manager

Job Title: Customer Account Manager

Business Function: Customer Development

Location: Kingston

Scope:

This role is responsible for managing the commercial relationship with the customer trading team across the personal care category. You will work within the wider Health & Beauty and D-comm team and gain experience managing established relationships and brands externally, as well as having ownership of a portfolio internally, working closely with the cross-functional teams.  

CATEGORY/FUNCTION/TEAM INTRODUCTION

This role will allow you to get a broad breadth of experience on established brands within our Personal Care portfolio. You will work closely with the Cross functional team to ensure our plans land with impact and are aligned to the customer job to be done. This will require you to build strong relationships across Shopper Marketing, Category Management, Retail Media, Supply Chain and Brand Teams.

JOB PURPOSE

The Customer Account Manager is responsible for building strong working relationships with the customer buying teams, developing and executing customer business plans which deliver USG, Market Share and Profitability. They are accountable for the day to day contact with the customer buyers, supply chain, shopper marketing, internal category & brand contacts.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Build strong and sustainable customer relationships
• Manage the Joint Business Plan across Skin Cleansing
• Negotiate effectively with your customer, e.g. to agree trade terms, trade funding, and counterparts according to the UL strategy on his/her categories
• Manage the relationship aspects of key customer ‘events’, e.g. launching of new products, cost price changes, breaches of trade terms
• Develop and deliver the customer strategic business plan for relevant categories, and the joint customer business plan, working closely with Category Managers and Shopper Marketing
• Develop and deliver an optimal integrated category promotional plan (including selling the plan with the customer)
• Manage promotional and non-promotional investments with the customer and ensures all agreements are properly documented and stored
• Work closely with the Genpact teams to ensure administrative aspects of promotions are completed
• Manage the launch of new products with customers, e.g. selling in the new product, providing samples etc
• Ensure effective in-store activation of key events (e.g. promotions, range reviews), providing clear briefings to the Retail Operations Team
• Manage the customer P&L for relevant categories and the overall level of customer investment
• Manage in-month performance vs forecast, working closely with the line manager and Customer Operations
• Ensure customer is compliant with agreed trade terms; where these are breached seek a resolution and monitor implementation
• P&L Management: Delivery of Turnover & Business Building Terms targets for specific category
• S&OP Forecasting
• Provision of clear up to date inputs into Business Processes (Promotional Evaluation, Customer Business Planning, sales updates, in store tracking, price claim management etc)
• Delivery of required admin for the customer – pricing, rebates, NLF, promo proposals, trade terms, contracts

ALL ABOUT YOU

Experiences & Qualifications  -

• Customer management & selling essentials - ideally previous experience of performing a CAM role
• Prior commercial experience and exposure to P&L  - ideally performing a CAM role
• Proven history of working within a team environment
• Minimum of Two years working in a relevant function; e.g. Account Management, Customer Strategy & Planning, Field Sales or Category Management.

Skills

• Financial acumen to own a P&L, deliver monthly and annual business targets
• Ability to build and lead strong external customer relationships as well as internal cross functional relationships.
• Customer management & selling essentials
• Strong Communication skills
• Proactive and curious mindset
• Stakeholder management
• Strong negotiation skills
• Strong leadership skills and ability to influence key senior stakeholders
• High level analytical skills

Key UL Behaviours (Optional)

• PASSION FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE: Takes personal responsibility and accountability for execution and results. Has an owner’s mindset, using data and insight to make decisions. 

• PERSONAL MASTERY: Sets high standards for themselves. Actively builds own wellbeing and resilience. 

• CONSUMER LOVE: Whatever their role, always looks for better ways to serve consumers. Invests time inside and outside to understand the needs of consumers. 

• PURPOSE & SERVICE: Has humility, understanding that leadership is service to others, inside and outside Unilever. 

• AGILITY: Explores the world around them, continually learning and developing their skills. 

NOTES

About Unilever

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Food, Home and Personal Care products with sales in over 190 countries and reaching 2 billion consumers a day. Unilever has more than 400 brands found in homes around the world, including Dove, Tresemme, Lynx, Lifebuoy, Shea Moisture, Persil, Domestos, Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum, Marmite, The Vegetarian Butcher, Graze and Pot Noodle.

Faced with the challenge of climate change and the need for human development, we want to move towards a world where everyone can live well and within the natural limits of the planet. That’s why our purpose is ‘to make sustainable living commonplace’ 

ONLY IF ADVERTISED @ 100VE and Kingston

Location

In June 2020 we announced our plan to consolidate a number of Unilever’s offices across the South East of England into a new Unilever campus in Kingston-upon-Thames in or around early 2025. However, on the 08 August 2024 we announced to our existing staff our proposal to retain our central Head Office in London, 100 Victoria Embankment (“100VE”) until our lease expires in 2027. As a result of this new proposal, we will be consulting with our existing staff, and new joiners who join during this period of consultation at 100VE, on the proposal made in August 2024. During consultation we will clarify the future location of each team and function. This means your role will either be based in 100VE until 2027 or in Kingston-Upon-Thames from early 2025. As we are yet to commence consultation on the proposal you agree, until such a time when consultation has concluded, your normal place of work as set out in the enclosed Statement of Terms & Conditions will be 100VE. You agree that on the conclusion of the consultation your place of work will be 100VE or 100VE until early 2025 and then Kingston-upon-Thames ("the locations") and you will be notified of which of the locations will be your place of work after that consultation ends.

What We Offer

Not only do we offer a competitive salary and pension scheme, we also offer an annual bonus, subsidised gym membership, a discounted staff shop and shares. You’ll have the opportunity to work directly with our renowned and exciting brands in a flexible and hybrid working environment.

Whilst the role is advertised on a full-time basis, we would be happy to discuss possible flexible working options and what this may look like for you. We are a key advocate of wellbeing and offer a variety of support for our people including hubs, programmes and development opportunities. We strive to achieve a family-friendly and inclusive workplace and to, above all, create possibilities for all.

Diversity at Unilever is about inclusion, embracing differences, creating possibilities and growing together for better business performance. We embrace diversity in our workforce. This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants and continuing development of all employees regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity. We are also more than happy to provide reasonable adjustments during our application and interview process to enable you to be present your best self. To find out more, including about our Employee Resource Groups, please click here Equity, Diversity & Inclusion at Unilever | Unilever.

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How is Unilever tackling this?

Many of Unilever’s recruitment sites publish a warning to candidates about recruitment fraud. The Cyber Security team also proactively scan for signs of people setting up fake Unilever sites and act to close them down.

What can I do?

If you become aware of potential recruitment fraud, spot fake Unilever recruitment adverts or fake LinkedIn profiles, report them via Una Live Chat.

Unilever does not accept responsibility or liability for any candidates who are financially impacted by recruitment fraud. Your vigilance is key!