Customer Business Development Lead

With 3.4 billion people in over 190 countries using our products every day, Unilever is a business that makes a real impact on the world. Work on brands that are loved and improve the lives of our consumers and the communities around us. We are driven by our purpose: to make sustainable living commonplace, and it is our belief that doing business the right way drives superior performance. At the heart of what we do is our people – we believe that when our people work with purpose, we will create a better business and a better world. 

At Unilever, your career will be a unique journey, grounded in our inclusive, collaborative, and flexible working environment. We don’t believe in the ‘one size fits all’ approach and instead we will equip you with the tools you need to shape your own future.

CATEGORY/FUNCTION INTRODUCTION

Customer Development (CD) is what we call our Sales organization at Unilever. Customer Development is responsible for translating the strategy into execution with customers and in-store to achieve our business goals. We work closely with our customers to pioneer new products, build categories, and best deploy best-in-class retail and shopper capabilities.

JOB PURPOSE

Find your purpose at Unilever. You will lead innovations, big and small, that will make our business win and grow. You will learn from brilliant business leaders and colleagues in a truly global and diverse culture to ultimately become a better you.  The Customer Business Development Director is responsible for development and execution of the customers and channels strategy and customer business plan, to achieve short and long-term business results. He/she owns contacts with the customer and is the custodian of Customer and Channel understanding within the Go-to-Market unit. He/she is responsible for development of CD excellence and market competitiveness within his team of account management.

WHAT WILL YOUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES BE

• To develop and manage the long and short-term plan for the relevant account(s)/channels in line with the agreed targets set in the strategic plan.

• To develop and deliver the Annual Plan, both in terms of topline growth and gross margin. 

• To manage the strategic interface between Unilever and the relevant Customer and set the strategic priorities for the Customer Business Plan. This involves developing excellent relationships with contacts in Supply Chain, Marketing and Finance.

• Achieve substantial business results on the Customer P&L

• To work closely with the Category Strategy and Planning Teams to deliver category growth opportunities and champion the Category strategies within the account.

• To provide strong leadership of the account team. In particular, to provide ongoing coaching and development to ensure that the team members have the opportunity to realise their full potential.

• To establish and continuously develop the customer team framework for delivery of the long- and short-term plan. 

• To work closely with relevant stakeholders to develop and execute the overall Customer Development strategy and to contribute to the overall company strategy.

• Responsible for delivering the total annual sales plan.

• Responsible for the development of Customer Development capabilities for the future.

• As a member of the Leadership Team, jointly responsible for operations, communication and the leadership of organisational and behavioural change

• To lead the development of the account managers in his team

• To build CD excellence and market competitiveness within his team

• To lead for the equity, diversity and inclusion ambition of the Customer Development function

• Provide strong people leadership and coaching to his account management team.

• To work closely with the Unilever Field Sales execution team, and CBD team to drive. key metrics in-store to drive growth

Experiences & Qualifications

• 12+ years of Sales experience, preferably cross-functional

• Strong customer facing experience and proven track record is a must  

• Strong Category management experience

• Proven people management capabilities

Desirable:

• Cross functional experience in Customer Marketing, Trade Category Management, Shopper Marketing and Field Sales operations.

Skills

• Developing the Customer / Channel Business Plan

• Customer Management and Selling Essentials

• Optimising Promotion Sell-out

• Implementing the Customer / Channel Business Plan

• Leveraging Strategic Customers

• Developing Customer Relationships

• Business Planning (S&OP)

• Developing the Customer Service Strategy & Segmentation

• PoP Execution and Monitoring

• Business Strategy and Formulation

• Business Planning and Implementation

Leadership

• You are now a Leader of Change. People look to you to provide safety in a storm, and you also appropriately challenge to get even better results. You role model resilience and care. You navigate these uncertain times by flexing plans and your leadership style, always with authenticity.

• You are still responsible for delivering to the highest standards. You must be resilient so you can lead others to deliver with passion through uncertainty and create opportunities through the core and beyond. You must be able to flex your style and your plans to guide others through difficult times.

• Critical Unilever Behaviours

• CARE DEEPLY:  About how consumers & shoppers experience our brands everyday and about our people’s development and our impact on the planet. We care about our performance, to a point where it hurts when we don’t win. 

• FOCUS ON WHAT COUNTS:    Ruthless prioritisation on what really, really matters, allowing us to do better on fewer things. We set clear and stretching goals and recognise maximum performance impact.

• STAY THREE STEPS AHEAD:  We think boldly and creatively to make breakthroughs in performance. We are always curious and confident ─ anticipating and staying ahead of consumer needs and external trends to beat the competition.

• DELIVER WITH EXCELLENCE:   We deliver everything we do with excellence and pace.  We take personal ownership and hold each other to account – always finding a way to do what we’ve said we will do.

Unilever is an equal opportunities employer and committed to diversity and inclusivity in the workplace.  We are intentional in employing the best talent that reflects the demographics of our country and which will help build representation of currently under-represented groups. We therefore invite applications from all candidates representing diversity of age, sex, disability, sexual orientation, race, religion or belief. When appointing potential candidates, the South African Employment Equity and Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Legislation will be considered.  
We are required by law to verify your ability to work lawfully in South Africa. If you are applying as a foreign national, please note that you may be requested to provide supporting documents supporting this. 

Unilever is an organisation committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. At Unilever we are interested in every individual bringing their ‘Whole Self’ to work and this includes you! Thus if you require any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of your application so that we can support you through your recruitment journey.