National Key Account Manager

The National Key Account Manager is responsible to initiate, develop and manage the sales activities necessary to provide full service to assigned customer ensuring the achievement of the company’s business objectives and the customers KPI’s.

**Duties and Responsibilities**
- Develops and implements a customer plan for the assigned customer(s) that will deliver budgeted growth targets in key customers per product grouping; and support programs, within budgeted levels, which are devised to achieve such targets and aims to achieve vertical alignment with the relevant brand and customer activities.
- Continually monitors and analyzes key account performance against the set objectives, in order that, if required, corrective action is timeously implemented.
- Delivers on an annualised basis the customer budgeted net sales and mix within the required marketing allowances.
- Utilisation of a promotional evaluation tool for all national promotions, with key learning’s shared within the team and the achievement of targeted GMROI by customer.
- Manages the listing process to ensure that new products are taken to market in line with the agreed pricing parameters, listing fees, placement on shelf and support required - 80% distribution of new lines within 6 weeks of launch.
- Has regular 6-weekly contact with buying staff within the assigned customer - agree cycle pricing, promotional activities, current performance etc. Formalised business reviews to be conducted in each 6-weekly cycle in the prescribed format.
- Taking cognisance of shopper insights, category objectives and brand initiatives when devising customer plans and/ or activities to ensure that the customer activities implemented are aligned to the aforementioned and drives mutual profitable growth for both Kellogg and the customer(s)
- Initiates and develops an effective working relationship between the relevant Field and Key Account team to ensure the successful implementation of all marketing and customer promotional activity at the POP within the assigned customer(s).
- Ensures interaction of team members with other Kellogg’s functional teams to ensure that required service levels and responsiveness to trade needs are effected.
- Close liaison with the Customer Service and Distribution teams to ensure that targeted customer service levels are met, and that correct business priorities are actioned from order to shelf.
- Works closely with the demand planner in preparing the necessary growth trend analysis, future projections based on activities and timing considerations, in order to produce an accurate demand forecast on a 6 month rolling basis. These sessions to take place monthly.
- Has frequent interaction with Customer Marketing to ensure that an adequate level of co-differentiated activities take place within the assigned customer(s) in order to establish and/ or maintain competitive advantage through retailers/wholesalers.
- Effectively controls both retail advertising and marketing allowance budgets in a manner consistent with agreed policies & procedures, and to the maximum return of the company utilising pre and post promotional evaluation systems benchmarked against GMROI objectives.
- Ensures adherence to all sales policies and procedures, in particular the management and control of pricing. This includes the multi-departmental collaboration to eliminate pricing claims, accurate input of pricing deals into SAP and the management of DSO to within the company’s targets.
- Actively prepares for and participate in the monthly promotional planning meeting to ensure adequate brand support at a customer level, and at a brand level, and with the aim to avoid trade promotional clashes between customers. The promotional grid should be kept up to date on a 6 month rolling basis.
- Implementation and use of forecasting system by assigned account and responsibility for co-ordination of monthly national forecasts by product grouping and achievement of agreed accuracy levels.
- Achievement of a 98% case fill level by customer and forecasting accuracy on volume not exceeding a maximum tolerance level of 5%.

**Qualifications and Experience**

A commercial 3 year degree (e.g. BComm) with at least 5- 8 years’ experience in FMCG Sales.