National Account Manager

Benefits

• £45K–£65K salary DOE
• 5% discretionary bonus
• Hybrid working: 4 office days, 1 home day
• Free onsite parking
• Supportive, inclusive culture aligned with company values

Role Purpose

The National Account Manager (NAM) leads strategic commercial relationships with key national retail and wholesale partners. The role drives profitable growth, builds long-term customer partnerships, and ensures commercial excellence across assigned accounts. Acting as the link between senior leadership and the sales organisation, the postholder develops and delivers joint business plans, manages full P&L responsibility, and oversees execution across in-store and digital channels. The NAM also supports the development of high-performing account teams and promotes data-driven, customer-centric decision-making.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and manage strong commercial relationships with national customers, serving as the main contact for strategy, category reviews, and supply chain collaboration.
• Lead pricing, terms, contract, and promotional negotiations to deliver mutual value.
• Develop and execute Joint Business Plans (JBPs) aligned with business goals.
• Own full P&L for assigned accounts, achieving targets for revenue, volume, margin, and trade spend.
• Identify growth opportunities through distribution gains, NPD, and promotional programmes.
• Analyse performance, market trends, and competitor activity to inform strategy.
• Deliver accurate forecasting and partner with supply chain teams to maintain service levels.
• Manage and optimise trade spend, ensuring ROI and continuous improvement.
• Work cross-functionally with Marketing, Category, Finance, and Supply Chain to deliver customer initiatives.
• Lead internal account reviews, presenting insights, risks, and opportunities to senior stakeholders.
• Ensure flawless execution across stores and online, including pricing, merchandising, and activation.
• Resolve compliance issues promptly and maintain documentation for audit requirements.

Core Attributes

• Takes full ownership of commercial performance and proactively identifies risks and opportunities.
• Builds trusted partnerships and leads high-impact negotiations confidently.
• Creates compelling commercial plans that deliver profitable growth.
• Applies data, insight, and CRM tools to drive forecasting and performance improvement.
• Demonstrates strong financial acumen across P&L, margin, and trade spend.
• Leads teams with clarity and ambition, fostering a high-performance culture.
• Tackles underperformance quickly with effective corrective actions.
• Collaborates effectively across teams to align strategy and ensure delivery excellence.

Required Skills & Experience

Essential

• Strong sales leadership and people management experience.
• Proven commercial track record delivering revenue, margin, and profitable growth.
• Experience managing national accounts and complex negotiations.
• Advanced negotiation, influencing, and value-based selling skills.
• Expertise in forecasting, budgeting, and performance management.
• Strong analytical ability with CRM and sales data tools.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Experience influencing senior leadership.
• Degree in Business, Marketing, Management, or equivalent experience.

Desirable

• Experience in senior sales leadership roles
• Exposure to category development, innovation, or cross-functional commercial projects.