VP Key Accounts EU

Tate and Lyle is a successful organisation with a clear purpose, ambition, strategy, and strong expert talent, solely focused on achieving its ambition as a world-class ingredients solutions provider. We have expanded our plant-based footprint beyond corn into tapioca, stevia leaf, chickpea protein, and soluble fibre to explore wider platforms for achieving our ambition. Achieving this ambition will require development of new capabilities, reallocation of resources, and investment to become a leaner, more agile company, leveraging the latest technology, process insight, and ways of working.

About this role

The VP Key Accounts EU is accountable for driving profitable growth with our Partner and Enterprise Accounts across the European Region. It may also cover some selected Accelerators accounts. This role is a critical commercial leadership position for unlocking growth with the company’s Partner accounts and ensuring sustained, profitable delivery with Enterprise accounts. The role sits on the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) Leadership Team and reports directly to the President / General Manager of the EMEA region.

The role is accountable for delivery of in-region annual revenue of c$150m along with coordination and negotiation for an incremental c$60m of revenue recognized in the Americas and Asia Pacific regions for Partner and Enterprise accounts and for growing both the size and health of the opportunity pipeline for the selected accounts and ensuring opportunities convert into sales at the appropriate rate and pace.

Operating at the intersection of strategy, customer leadership, and matrixed resources orchestration, the VP Key Account EU and his/her team will build and sustain multi-layered, cross-functional customer relationships and interactions, leverage and deploy cross-functional internal partner functions (Supply Chain, Operations, Science and Innovation, Marketing, Product Lines) to design, align, and execute multi-year strategic growth plans for the selected customers. These plans will be based on a deep understanding of customer’s strategic priorities, needs, and value elements. This role requires a deep understanding of Food and Beverage customer’s needs, industry trends, market dynamics along with the ability to connect and mobilize the appropriate internal resources to accelerate the pace of topline growth and pipeline development with our Key Accounts.

The VP Key Account, EU will lead a team of Global and Regional Key Account Managers whilst also owning the animation & delivery through an internal cross-functional team, requiring a strong vision and influencing skills along with a demonstrated ability to build multi-functional, multi-layered relationships with Key accounts and to drive results.

Accountabilities

• Own the development and execution of Strategic Growth Plans for EU Partners and Enterprise accounts, ensuring alignment with other regions for Global Accounts.
• Deliver the Annual Operating Plan targets (revenue, margin, pipeline build/conversion).
• Build the size and health of the opportunity pipeline with our Key Accounts and drive conversion rate by pulling appropriate internal resources/expertise/capabilities.
• Lead joint business growth plans with strategic customers, develop opportunities for long-term partnership.
• Provide strategic recommendations to leadership on account trends, risks, and opportunities, shaping regional commercial decisions.
• Act as the executive sponsor and escalation point for our Enterprise and Partner accounts in region.
• Help shape the strategic growth agenda of the EMEA region by bringing external market and customer insights to the LT.
• Act as a role model to develop senior-level, multi-layered customer relationships that strengthen partnership potential and deliver long-term value creation.
• Ensure appropriate development of joint key account plans and own and deliver sales target for their portfolio.
• Lead and "animate" an internal cross-functional ecosystem—Technical Sales, Customer Service, Innovation, and Operations—to deliver a coordinated, customer-centric approach to our Key Accounts.
• Influence prioritisation of regional resources based on strategic value and growth potential.
• Ensure connectivity with global account peers to reduce fragmentation, streamline interactions, and deliver a unified customer experience.
• Lead the negotiations and closing of complex deals for large accounts, achieving sales & profitability targets.
• Maintain a deep understanding of industry trends and competitive positions, adapting sales strategies accordingly.
• Use advanced commercial and financial insights (pricing, margin optimisation, scenario modelling) to shape decisions and unlock growth.
• Collaborate effectively with other Sales & Marketing, Customer Service, and Innovation teams to ensure seamless service delivery and high customer satisfaction.
• Provide leadership and coaching to Key Account Managers and/or broader account teams, fostering a high-performance, strategically oriented mindset.
• Build organisational capability in account planning, opportunity assessment, solutions/value selling, and negotiation.
• Promote a culture of learning, continuous improvement, and cross-functional collaboration.

Skills and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• Advanced expertise in Sales & Key Account Management, including end-to-end strategic account leadership across complex customer organisations.
• Strong ability to influence across a matrix organisation, aligning diverse teams behind a coordinated commercial vision without formal authority.
• The role needs to adapt to stakeholder’s styles, interpret and explain information to different audiences from inside and outside the organisation who are not familiar with the subject matter.
• Experience leading commercial teams and developing talent; accountable for team delivery, planning, and resource allocation. Oversees the resolution of complex or unusual issues, utilising original thought or unique approaches and sophisticated analytical techniques to guide the development of the end-to-end sales process.
• Proven ability to significantly influence departmental outcomes through effective decision-making for assigned teams.
• Ability to provide strategic insights and guide senior leadership decisions on policies, portfolio strategy, and commercial approaches.

Desired Competency Profile

• This role requires advanced ‘Portfolio & Category Expertise’. Acting as a trusted advisor to customers, this role leverages understanding of ingredient solution applications and market trends to proactively identify growth opportunities and influence senior stakeholders.
• Demonstrating advanced ‘Business Development & Opportunity Prioritisation’, this role will proactively identify and champion strategic growth opportunities, using robust financial modelling and cross-functional collaboration to secure resources and drive long-term value.
• Expert ‘Account Planning & Execution’ skills are expected in this role, enabling the articulation of account strategies and the identification of opportunities that drive significant growth. This role will also drive joint business planning with senior customer stakeholders, shaping multi-year growth strategies and plans.
• Demonstrates an expert level of 'Solution Selling' by partnering with senior customer stakeholders to understand future strategic requirements and deliver complete solutions, establishing themselves as trusted partners. Communicates impactful narratives and navigates complex customer organisations to secure cross-functional.