National Account Executive in Crawley

National Account Executive: 12 month fixed term contract

Location: Gatwick (Hybrid working – approx. 2-3 flexible days a week in our fantastic office)

Attractive Salary + potential bonus + 12 flexible days in addition to holiday entitlement + other fantastic benefits

Although this is a full-time temporary opportunity, please speak to us about what flexibility means to you as we are always open to discuss individual’s flexible working needs, don’t let this stop you from applying.

Position Summary

At Nestlé Purina, we’re on a mission to enrich the lives of pets, the people who love them, and the planet we share. Join us, and you’ll discover a world where your skills, knowledge, and passion can flourish. As part of our supportive and dynamic environment, you’ll be encouraged to challenge norms, experiment with new ideas, and drive meaningful change. At Purina, you’re not just part of a team; you’re part of a movement to create a better world for pets and people alike.

The National Account Executive plays a key role within the Purina Sales Team and is responsible for supporting the development and management of share‑winning profitable customer plans – with a primary focus on the shaping of the Customer Plan, the preparation for all Monthly Business Planning processes and supporting the externalisation of customer plans in alignment with their Customer Business Team.

Your impact

Reporting to the Customer Business Unit Controller, your key responsibilities will include:

• Own and agree the customer baselines with the Sales Planning Specialist team at the required customer/EAN level as a base for building the plan
• Own and develop promotional plan to include revenue, trade spend and promotion activation details including timing, mechanics and estimated amount sold on deal (uplift &/or total)
• Where relevant develop and continuously improve customer Joint Business Plans (JBPs) and investments plans with a pay‑for‑performance mindset
• Support the timely and accurate external execution of Customer Plans with the Customer Business Team, providing excellent communication to Customers, completing all required internal and external documentation and alignment to ensure perfect execution of customer plans
• Responsibility for E2E delivery of defined small customer P&L, or part of a larger customer portfolio with support from your Account team to deliver full year Business commercial KPI’s
• Working with Category and Marketing teams to facilitate best‑in‑class category strategies and activation. Shape best‑in‑class selling stories, in‑store activation, and promotional performance
• Request completion of relevant customer admin with the Sales Support Team in a timely and right first‑time manner through the Sales Admin Portal (Samples, New Line Forms, Artwork, Purchase Orders)
• Ownership and completion of Promotional Proposal forms E2E for your customer or Customer Business Unit including the attachment of promotional agreements to activities for compliance purposes
• Support with the timely preparation and input into all relevant internal planning processes (weekly, monthly and quarterly). Utilise multiple data sets to create guidance to build understanding of external performance dynamics
• Complete promotional pre‑ and post‑evaluation (to included commentary and proof of execution) and optimisation in conjunction with SRM throughout the year to drive return on investment and as an input into Commercial Review
• Support with the management of trade spend actuals, attendance at trade spend review, and supporting your Sales Finance Executive with accrual management and changes
• In‑store Execution – Timely communication with field ops where relevant to enable field teams at the point of purchase. Selling story's, briefs etc.

Your ingredients for success

To be successful in this role, you’ll already have some fantastic commercial experience under your belt within the FMCG sector. You will work as part of a fast‑moving team managing customer plans where accuracy and attention to detail are key to ensure a right first‑time result.

You will be motivated to be part of a team, build great relationships within the team and with stakeholders, be open to how we can continuously improve as a team, and be the best.

You will also:

• Be proficient in Excel and comfortable using other Microsoft Office programs
• Make good use of insightful information and be naturally analytical
• Be able to demonstrate a solid understanding of commercial and financial situations
• Forecasting, sales and negotiation experiences would be beneficial
• Be comfortable when working collaboratively and cross‑functionally
• Be organised and adept at planning and prioritising workloads
• Naturally curious, it is crucial that you are able to take the initiative when faced with any obstacle to solve problems and overcome barriers

Why Nestlé?

In the Nestlé Sales Team, we are creating an environment where we all feel we belong, we are the best we can be, and we win together. We want people to feel they can be themselves, dare greatly and believe their best is yet to come.

We will actively encourage you to gain different experience in a wide range of roles including our Category Development teams. We want our people to have the breadth and depth of experience and as a result an unrivalled Sales career which could lead to senior roles both in the UK and across other markets.

Supported by our industry‑leading eBusiness and Sales Academies which develops you in all aspects of eCommerce, customer and category management, you truly can achieve your full potential whatever that might mean for you.

We will provide support and coaching to help you develop yourself in your career and as an individual, as well as offering great benefits that you’d expect from a business the size of Nestlé – in the shape of a competitive salary and benefits package, bonus scheme, flexible working scheme, 25 days holiday plus bank holidays plus up to an additional 12 days flex leave, bank holiday exchange, competitive pension scheme and much more.

What you need to know

We will be considering candidates as they apply and we will occasionally close job advertisements early in the event we receive sufficient applicants, so please don’t delay in submitting your application.

At Nestlé, our values are rooted in respect and we believe that embracing diversity and fostering an inclusive environment allows everyone to reach their full potential and drives innovative thinking. We strongly encourage applications from individuals of all gender identities, ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities, parents, carers and members of the LGBT+ community. Please let us know if we can provide accommodations to ensure your full participation in the application process.

We take pride in championing inclusion and diversity. We proudly signed the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter, are committed to Disability Confidence, and have been recognised as a Times Top 50 Employer for gender equality for three consecutive years. Additionally, we are a headline partner of Diversity and Inclusion in grocery.