Senior Key Accounts Manager

Location: South Africa
Reporting To: Commercial General 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 market development, building an established business base and achieving sustained growth within the food, ingredients or flavours industry.
• Strong techno-commercial background within the ingredients and flavours business.
• In-depth understanding of the food and beverage industry and relevant legislation.
• Proven experience managing strategic key accounts and developing long-term customer relationships.
• Experience working with senior-level R&D, Procurement, Marketing and Quality Assurance stakeholders.
• Experience developing and managing customer and territory budgets.
• Strong understanding of competitor activities and market dynamics within the region.
• Proven negotiation and project management experience.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and relationship management skills.
• Ability to lead, motivate and develop talent.
• Excellent English language proficiency.
• Strong commercial awareness and strategic business development capabilities.

Advantageous Experience

• Experience within a multinational food, beverage or ingredients organisation.
• Established relationships with major multinational food and beverage manufacturers.
• Experience managing global beverage accounts, including alcoholic beverage manufacturers.
• Experience within retail and industrial food and beverage channels.
• Exposure to multinational customer account structures and regional commercial operations.
• Experience managing P&L responsibilities and strategic pricing initiatives.
• Strong knowledge of flavour systems, food ingredients and beverage applications.
• Experience developing route-to-market strategies.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams across multiple countries.
• Exposure to new product development, innovation and technical customer solutions.
• Experience managing complex project pipelines and strategic commercial initiatives.

Technical & Commercial Competencies

The successful candidate should demonstrate strong knowledge and practical capability in:

• Strategic key account management.
• Business development and market expansion.
• Food ingredients and flavour solutions.
• Alcoholic beverage and FMCG markets.
• Profit and loss (P&L) management.
• Strategic pricing and margin management.
• Customer and territory budgeting.
• Sales forecasting and commercial planning.
• Route-to-market strategy development.
• Product strategy and innovation.
• Project pipeline management.
• Market intelligence and competitor analysis.
• Customer relationship management.
• Supply assurance and operational coordination.
• Commercial negotiation and contract discussions.
• Cross-functional stakeholder engagement.

Key Performance Outcomes

The successful candidate will contribute towards:

• Achievement of sales, revenue and margin targets.
• Sustainable growth across strategic customer accounts.
• Expansion of the customer base and market footprint.
• Successful management of major multinational food and beverage accounts.
• Development of a strong and commercially viable project pipeline.
• Increased new product wins and customer innovation opportunities.
• Effective pricing and profitability management.
• Improved customer satisfaction and long-term supply partnerships.
• Successful execution of account and business development strategies.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration and operational alignment.

The Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is an experienced Senior Key Accounts Manager with a strong entrepreneurial track record in the food, beverage, ingredients and flavours industry.

You have extensive experience developing strategic customer relationships, managing major multinational accounts and delivering sustained commercial growth.

You understand the technical and commercial requirements of the ingredients and flavours business and can confidently engage senior stakeholders across R&D, Procurement, Marketing and Quality Assurance.

You combine strategic thinking with hands-on commercial execution and have proven experience managing P&L responsibilities, pricing strategies, customer budgets and complex project pipelines.

You are comfortable operating within a multinational environment and collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver innovative solutions, profitable business growth and exceptional customer partnerships.

Application Requirements

Applicants should submit an updated CV clearly demonstrating:

• Relevant tertiary qualifications.
• Experience within the ingredients and flavours or FMCG industry.
• Strategic key account management experience.
• Experience managing multinational food and beverage customers.
• Exposure to alcoholic beverage accounts, where applicable.
• Proven business development and market growth achievements.
• P&L management and commercial responsibilities.
• Pricing, budgeting and forecasting experience.
• Product development and project pipeline management exposure.
• Cross-functional and senior stakeholder engagement experience.
• Availability and notice period.

If you have at least 10 years' experience within the ingredients and flavours or FMCG industry, a proven track record in strategic key account management and the ability to drive profitable growth across major food and beverage accounts, we would like to hear from you.

Apply now by submitting your updated CV.

Only candidates meeting the minimum qualification and experience requirements will be considered.

Should you not be contacted within two weeks, please take your application as unsuccessful.