Commercial Team Lead in Preston

CHEP helps move more goods to more people, in more places than any other organization on earth via our 347 million pallets, crates and containers. We employ approximately 13,000 people and operate in 60 countries. Through our pioneering and sustainable share-and-reuse business model, the world’s biggest brands trust us to help them transport their goods more efficiently, safely and with less environmental impact.

This role requires a proven leader who can drive commercial performance through effective account management, customer retention, and portfolio growth while ensuring strong governance, risk mitigation, and operational excellence. The position is critical in developing high-performing teams, strengthening strategic customer relationships, and collaborating cross-functionally to deliver sustainable business growth and exceptional customer outcomes.

Key Responsibilities May Include:

• Manage, lead, and develop a team of Account Managers to achieve individual and team objectives, including account reviews, audits, asset management, and risk mitigation.
• Protect and grow the assigned customer portfolio by delivering on budget targets, driving growth, and achieving commercial excellence.
• Enhance customer engagement by broadening and deepening relationships across roles, from equipment controllers to executives.
• Act as the point of escalation and approval for complex customer issues, including negotiations, contract discussions, and challenging audits.
• Embed and optimize processes and systems to improve proactive account management and ensure consistent delivery of customer service excellence.
• Collaborate with wider commercial, Supply Chain, and Transformation Teams to identify and implement opportunities for growth and value creation.
• Recruit, train, and develop new team members while fostering a culture of engagement and continuous improvement across the team.
• Deliver and implement customer-specific improvement plans and share best practices with commercial teams to optimize regional and organizational outcomes.
• This role includes the management of our Inside Sales Team which involves working as part of a wider commercial function, focusing on growth and encouraging the identification and progression of new leads and opportunities.
• Your primary role is to develop a team of sales-oriented individuals, encouraging a growth mindset while ensuring we have the best processes in place to ensure a great customer experience as part of our onboarding process.

Improved Customer Experience

• Have the freedom to challenge the status quo and facilitate change, continuously improving our processes for our internal teams & our customers.

Accelerate Growth

• Use alerts and KPIs to proactively identify where support is needed for your team and work with individuals to solve problems and remove blockers.

Marketing Initiatives

• Collaborate with other areas of the business to grow existing business, driving the use of new products & services through targeted marketing campaigns.

Protect & Win

• Ensure customers are onboarded efficiently while eliminating threat from our competitors, build effective proposals and apply negotiation skills to win business and retain existing business.

Innovation

• Be at the forefront of our newest products and service offerings, often being the first to trial new ideas and ways of doing business.

Authority & Decision Making

• Management and distribution of team workload.
• Negotiation/decision making to resolve audits, disputed invoices for a large group of small existing customers.
• Upskilling team members to develop a strong team with a growth mindset.
• Key decision making on new processes, improvements and large projects.

Skills to succeed in the role:

• Account Management
• Building Rapport
• Coaching
• Collaboration
• Commercial Sustainability
• Customer Experience (CX)
• Customer Partnerships
• Data Storytelling
• Digital Customer Solutions (Dcs)
• Disruptive Thinking
• Feedback
• Inclusive Leadership
• Leading Change
• Leading Customer Centric Teams
• Motivating Teams
• Negotiation
• Our Business
• Prioritization
• Relationship Management
• Sales Communications
• Self-Awareness
• Value Propositions

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, and we are committed to developing a diverse workforce in which everyone is treated fairly, with respect, and has the opportunity to contribute to business success while realizing his or her potential.

Summary Location: Manchester, Lancashire, United Kingdom Type: Full time