Senior Commercial Manager

• Reports to: Head of Sales
• Overview of the Business

Our client is a leading food business with a strong presence across the UK grocery and retail market.

The business operates across a portfolio of established products alongside an exciting pipeline of new product development, with a clear focus on building long-term customer partnerships and delivering sustainable, profitable growth.

With a strong commercial culture and ambitious plans for continued growth, the business is looking for an experienced Senior Commercial Manager to take ownership of some of its largest and most strategically important customer relationships.

Overview of the Role

This is a senior commercial role with significant ownership across key strategic customers.

You will be responsible for developing and executing customer strategies that deliver mutually profitable growth across the core portfolio and NPD pipeline.

Working closely with the Head of Sales and wider cross-functional teams, you will act as the commercial lead for your customers, owning budgets, forecasting, P&L performance and customer strategy.

The role requires someone who can operate comfortably at both strategic and operational levels – understanding the customer's business and category priorities while also having the commercial rigour to translate those insights into clear plans, actions and results.

Responsibilities

• Customer Strategy & Commercial Leadership
• Own the commercial relationship and strategy across a portfolio of strategically important customers.
• Develop and execute customer commercial plans aligned to both customer strategy and wider business objectives.
• Build a deep understanding of customer business models, category priorities, commercial strategies and decision-making processes.
• Work closely with the Head of Sales to develop and continuously review short- and long-term customer strategies.
• Lead the internal customer business unit, creating clarity around priorities, actions and accountability.
• Build and manage strong relationships across key customer stakeholders and internal functions.
• Commercial & P&L Management
• Own delivery of customer budgets across volume, value, margin and profitability.
• Manage the monthly commercial process, working closely with Supply Chain and FP&A to deliver accurate forecasts.
• Identify, quantify and manage commercial risks and opportunities to protect budget delivery and unlock incremental growth.
• Develop customer inputs into the annual budget process, including volume, value, margin, NPD and key commercial assumptions.
• Analyse customer, category and financial data to identify opportunities and inform commercial decision-making.
• NPD & Growth
• Deliver NPD distribution and launch targets across the customer portfolio.
• Drive profitable growth across the core product range and NPD pipeline.
• Identify opportunities to develop new propositions that deliver incremental value for both the customer and the business.
• Prioritise and lead customer projects from initial opportunity through to execution.
• Proactively manage customer cost models and commercial assumptions.
• Lead the implementation of net price increases, ensuring strong customer engagement and internal alignment.
• Balance commercial objectives with the need to protect long-term customer relationships.
• Ensure pricing and margin decisions support sustainable profitability.
• Cross-Functional Leadership
• Act as the key commercial link between the customer and internal business functions.
• Create clear internal priorities based on customer strategy and commercial opportunity.
• Influence and collaborate with senior stakeholders across Supply Chain, FP&A, Marketing and wider commercial teams.
• Establish and proactively manage a structured internal and external contact strategy.
• Share regular updates on customer performance, risks, opportunities and wider business developments.

Requirements

• Minimum 5 years' commercial sales experience, ideally within food or FMCG.
• Strong experience managing major UK grocery or retail customers.
• Strong understanding of P&L management, budgeting and commercial forecasting.
• Experience developing and implementing customer strategies and Joint Business Plans.
• Strong analytical and numerical capability with the ability to turn customer, category and financial data into actionable recommendations.
• Proven ability to influence and collaborate with senior stakeholders both internally and externally.
• Experience managing complex customer forecasts and identifying risks and opportunities.
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel and Power Point.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced FMCG commercial professional to take ownership of some of a leading food business's most strategically important customers, with significant influence over customer strategy, profitability and future growth.

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