Job Description:

Mars is a family-owned business with more than a century of history making diverse products and offering services for people and the pets people love. With almost $45 billion in sales, the company is a global business that produces some of the world’s best-loved brands: PEDIGREE®, WHISKAS®, SHEBA®, DREMIES®, ROYAL CANIN®,, M&M’s®, SNICKERS®, TWIX®, MILKY WAY®, DOVE®, PEDIGREE®, ROYAL CANIN®, WHISKAS®, EXTRA®, ORBIT®, 5™, SKITTLES®, BEN’S ORIGINAL® and MARS DRINKS and COCOAVIA®. Mars also provides veterinary health services that include BANFIELD® Pet Hospitals, Blue Pearl®, VCA® and Pet Partners™. Headquartered in McLean, VA, Mars operates in more than 80 countries. The Mars Five Principles – Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom – inspire its more than 100,000 Associates to create value for all its partners and deliver growth they are proud of every day.
 
Job Purpose
This position is responsible for managing a specific key account or group of assigned key accounts of Mars Pet Nutrition segment. Key accountabilities will include developing account plans, monitoring the execution of activity plans in stores, visiting stores to strengthen relationships and identifying opportunities. The Key Account Manager is accountable for the achievement of sales value, display, distribution and spending targets.
 
Key Responsibilities:
•    Manage assigned key accounts and agree on joint business plans, applying the Mars Inc collaboration standards. Business plans will detail the overall objectives as regards sales volumes, margin, promotional activity, display, distribution and investment by account;
•    Build strong relationships with customers, acting as the key point of contact for each account and providing proactive, responsive customer service;
•    Be an ambassador for the reverse-bowtie customer-centricity approach;
•    Drive category growth by providing expertise to support sales activities;
•    Build and maintain effective relationships with Demand and Supply teams to ensure information flow to and from customer;
•    Build key relationships with internal stakeholders (e.g. Supply Chain, S&F) to ensure customer service targets are met, including maintaining information flow to Demand Planning.
Sales Execution:
•    Own the customer P&L;
•    Responsible and accountable for all trade expenditures and condition/pricing management for each account;
•    Negotiate and sell in annual account plans with customers;
•    Meet agreed KPIs across all categories;
•    Monitor execution of activity plans by conducting performance reviews with customers;
•    Feed customer insights and trends to Demand to ensure an appropriate marketing offer and materials are created for customers;
•    Plan, monitor and report on key account performance;
•    Implement agreed targets for listing and distribution for each account;
Business Development:
•    Actively seek and develop new customer opportunities;
•    Actively seek and develop opportunities to grow the level of business with each key account e.g. increase levels of SKU distribution within new and existing stores, maximize brand display in stores through promotions, product placement, etc.;
•    Provide key customer insights to the Market Director to inform BU strategy;
•    Recommend, develop and be an ambassador for cross-functional team work to foster customer development.
  
Qualifications;
•    Minimum a Bachelor’s degree;
•    3-5 years of experience in a similar position managing international key accounts in the FMCG sector;
•    Fluency in English and in local language;
•    Customer and results oriented with strong communication and negotiation skills.

Mars is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. If you need assistance or an accommodation during the application process because of a disability, it is available upon request. The company is pleased to provide such assistance, and no applicant will be penalized as a result of such a request.