Senior National Account Manager in Leek

Reports to: Commercial Controller

Location: Ornua Foods UK, Leek

Salary: Generous salary available depending on experience

Hours: hours per week

Benefits: Free onsite parking, Car Allowance, Generous annual leave entitlement, Matched Company Contribution Pension, Subsidised Staff Canteen, Company Shop offering discounts on Ornua products, Sports & Social Club, Staff Lottery, Discount on Bikes & Tech Scheme, Confidential Employee Assist Programme.

Ornua (meaning “new gold”) is Ireland’s largest exporter of Irish dairy products, proudly bringing the unique taste of Irish dairy to the world for over 55 years.

Are you an experienced Senior Account Manager looking for the challenge of taking a mission driven organisation to its next level of success? Do you have experience working with the Top 4 Retailers in the UK? Ornua is actively seeking a Senior Business Manager to join our Commercial department as we continue our growth trajectory. The Senior Business Manager will work alongside the Commercial Controller to build a strategy and business plan across Own Label and Brands for our strategic partner customers.

Why Ornua?

Ornua operates from 10 business units worldwide, including 12 production facilities, and has sales and marketing teams working in-market across all four corners of the globe. The Group is structured across two divisions: Ornua Foods and Ornua Ingredients. Ornua Foods is responsible for the marketing and sales of Ornua’s consumer brands including Kerrygold, Pilgrims Choice. Ornua Ingredients is responsible for the procurement of Irish and non-Irish dairy products and for the sale of dairy ingredients to food manufactures and foodservice customer across the world. Our co-operative ethos lies at the heart of how we do business as a purpose and values-led organisation, creating value for Irish dairy farming families. Our Values lie at the core of everything we do. Our five values encourage us to Seek and Embrace New Ideas, Make It Happen, Be Our True Selves, Show You Care, and Achieve Great Things Together.

Dynamic Working policy in place which facilitates flexible hours and hybrid working. We invest in our people and foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement. Career Progression including Global Mobility opportunities. Comprehensive Benefits with regional specific offerings.

Why This Role Is Valuable:

• Customer Relationships: Build and maintain strong and sustainable day to day relationships that strengthen the position of Ornua within your allocated accounts.
• Target Delivery: Deliver budgeted volume and profit targets in all accounts.
• New Business Development: Investigate, make recommendations, and progress any agreed opportunity for the generation of new business.
• Deliver our Private Label business plans: Understand and deliver the packing business commercial priorities in each retailer, ensuring good communication and strong relationships and optimisation of the synergy between Ornua Foods UK and our retailer customers. Ensure YoY creation and delivery of all cost saving and efficiency initiatives.
• Sustainability: Work to deliver Ornua and Customer alignment on strategies and targets. Ensure progress and communication of all initiatives.
• Sales and Forecasting: Monitor sales performance across accounts, share updates and recommend/implement plans as needed. Responsible for forecasting, interaction with the demand planning team and for the final process sign off.
• Brands: Work with the Marketing team to execute the Brand strategy across the total product portfolio, including EDP/NPD delivery, managing pricing, promotions and price increases; implementing plans through JBP’s or promotional slots with key accounts; analysing and reporting on the effectiveness of promotions.
• Commercial Models: Manage relevant commercial agreements as well as necessary supplier relationships including overseeing cheese price tracker models. Take the lead role in facilitating cross functional quarterly reconciliation meetings.
• People Leadership: Provide day to day & career development support within the commercial team.
• Internal Relationships: Be an advocate of great ways of working between the Commercial function and all other functions of the business. Represent and lead the virtual team across internal meetings such as status 3, offcut utilisation etc as necessary.
• Personal Development: Expand network and contacts across the industry and supply base. Support the Commercial Controller in the delivery of the 5-year Strategic Plan.

What You Bring To The Role:

• Extensive experience in retail/ commercial
• Retail/Top 4 experience
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills
• Strong numeracy and analytical skills
• Business development experience
• Persuasion & negotiation skills and experience
• Leadership and motivational qualities

Our interview process is designed to be thorough yet supportive. This process includes a first stage via Teams to allow us to get to know you better and to understand your skills and experiences and, if successful, a second stage face-to-face interview that will build upon the first stage and give you the opportunity to get a feel for Ornua and the environment in which you will be working.

Ornua has ambitious growth plans and we’re building a team to help enable and accelerate that growth. We are looking for people who share our values, are curious, forward-looking, take ownership and work together to build a future for themselves and Ornua. Would you like to make an impact?

To learn more, please visit Ornua at Ornua values diversity and inclusion and welcomes applications from candidates with diverse backgrounds. We also strongly encourage women and other underrepresented groups in the manufacturing industry to apply. Your unique perspectives and experiences are highly valued and will be instrumental in driving our company’s continued success. Join us in shaping a more innovative, inclusive, and sustainable future.

Ornua is committed to creating an inclusive and accessible workplace. We will make every effort to provide for any reasonable accessibility needs you may have during your employment with us. If you require accommodations at any stage of the recruitment process or in your role, please let us know — we’re here to support you.