Account Manager, Food Manufacturing

Role Summary

The Account Manager drives profitable sales growth by developing existing accounts and securing new business within the food and beverage manufacturing sector. The role represents Ecolab’s integrated F&B United offering, bringing together F&B Hygiene and Water F&B capabilities to provide customers with a coordinated, total-plant approach. This includes Ecolab hygiene and sanitation solutions together with Nalco Water products, services and expertise.

Key Responsibilities

Business Development

• Achieve sales, profitability and account-growth targets.
• Develop and manage the opportunity pipeline and account-acquisition plan.
• Identify, qualify and close new business opportunities.
• Coordinate customer conversions, programme start-ups and implementation.
• Identify opportunities to introduce hygiene solutions to water customers and water-management solutions to hygiene customers.
• Implement commercial initiatives, account action plans and targeted price increases.
• Represent a customer-centric One Ecolab approach that brings together Water F&B and F&B Hygiene.
• Assess customer operations holistically to identify sanitation and water-management opportunities.
• Develop joint account plans with Hygiene, Nalco Water, technical and corporate-account colleagues.
• Coordinate joint customer meetings, plant surveys, technical reviews, trials, proposals and conversions.
• Engage the appropriate technical specialists while providing customers with a simple and cohesive experience.
• Position integrated solutions against customer priorities such as food safety, product quality, productivity, operating cost, sustainability and risk management.
• Identify, quantify and communicate the combined value of hygiene and water programmes.

Account Management

• Build relationships with customers across operations, quality, engineering, utilities, procurement and management.
• Deliver agreed service levels and coordinate resources across the F&B United team.
• Conduct regular business reviews and present programme performance, value delivered and improvement opportunities.
• Manage account profitability, contract renewals, customer-retention risks and service issues.
• Implement corporate-account commitments and provide updates on results, risks and initiatives.
• Support timely collection of outstanding receivables.

Customer Value Delivery

• Develop solutions that improve customer performance, service and total operating cost.
• Document baseline conditions, agreed actions and measurable outcomes.
• Communicate Total Value Delivered from integrated hygiene and water-management solutions.
• Maintain accurate account, opportunity and pipeline information in relevant CRM and business systems.
• Coordinate resolution of technical, service, supply or customer-risk issues.

Job Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in food science, biotechnology, microbiology, chemical engineering, chemistry, environmental engineering or a related discipline.
• At least five years of experience in:
  • Food or beverage manufacturing, including production, QA or QC; or
  • Sales or business development within F&B, food safety, industrial hygiene or water treatment.
• Good understanding of food-manufacturing operations and customer needs.
• Experience developing business plans, qualifying opportunities, presenting value propositions and closing deals.
• Ability to engage plant stakeholders across multiple functions and organisational levels.
• Exposure to CIP, sanitation, industrial water treatment, process utilities or sustainability improvement is advantageous.
• Strong commercial judgement, communication, analytical and relationship-management skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and CRM tools.
• Ability to travel frequently.
• Bilingual or multilingual capability is advantageous.