Retail Channel Manager

Company Description

The Retail Channel Manager is an entrepreneurial role in charge of the development, implementation and tracking of Red Bull’s sales strategy. He/she is responsible for developing and executing the business strategy for modern trade channels, which typically includes large-scale retail formats such as supermarkets, hypermarkets, and chain stores. Thereby delivering sales, volume, and profitability targets for major national Off Premise Customers are crucial responsibilities. This role requires a sharp, analytical, and persistent individual who can identify opportunities, set targets, and deliver on key initiatives. 

Job Description

Account Management

• Establish productive, professional relationships with key personnel in the Modern Trade channel.
• Meet assigned targets for profitable sales volume and strategic objectives in assigned accounts/channel.
• Lead a joint company-strategic account planning process that develops mutual performance objectives, financial targets, and critical milestones for a one and three-year period.
• Develop and implement a customer-specific account plan to fuel category growth, increase sales, and maximize profitability.
• Develop the category per customer and improve the brand’s in-store execution level.
• Resolve any issues and problems faced by customers and deal with complaints to maintain trust.
• Negotiate and close agreements with Key Channel Customers.

Channel Management

• Identify and develop a thorough understanding of the key factors driving demand in the category and market.
• Develop and implement plans that fuel the category’s growth within the channel while securing leadership within the category.
• Prepare a cohesive plan for the channel that delivers Topline/bottom line targets and improves category execution level across the channel.
• Propose and sell-in new brands/products/execution tools to the accounts.
• Assess, clarify, and validate customer needs on an ongoing basis.
• Lead solution development efforts that best address Red Bull/customer needs while coordinating the involvement of all necessary stakeholders (trade marketing, finance, supply chain, etc.).
• Monitor the market, competitor products and activities while developing mitigating strategies/actions to win over competition.

Budget Management

• Practices complete ownership over channel’s VCM to ensure meeting profitability.
• Manages budget spending/allocation across accounts while assuring achieving best ROI and improving investment levels.
• Creates budget control measures to avoid over/wrong spending and serves as the revision point for all claims received from trade or DP related to his channel.

Analysis and Planning

• Ensure the timely and successful delivery of our solutions according to customer needs and objectives.
• Track and analyze the account’s sales performance and take necessary actions to meet business goals.
• Track all expenditure activities occurring in the channel while setting budget controls and owning channel profitability.

Cross-functional Responsibilities

• Work closely with the marketing/trade marketing department to ensure the brand is being properly supported through retailer-specific marketing initiatives.
• Collaborate with supply chain and logistics to ensure product availability, delivery schedules, and inventory management.
• Collaborate with Finance to ensure that budgets are maintained and correctly tracked. Ensures that all payments to customers are made and that all claims are correct.

Distributor Partner Management

• Manages counterpart stakeholders at the DP.
• Sets DP working KPIs and targets.
• Ensure that DP is delivering the right execution and provides guidance/support when needed.
• Develops DP team through different interactions that involves (meetings, business reviews, trainings, etc.)

Qualifications

• 4+ Years of experience in Key Accounts management in an FMCG.
• Strategic ability -- develop specific, valuable, innovative, and commercially focused strategies but also grasp the ‘bigger picture’.
• Commercial acumen -- strong understanding of sales processes and financial systems. 
• Analytical skills -- strong planning and negotiation skills. Able to analyze sales and customer data, take the best conclusion, develop initiatives with the highest value for the shopper, customer, and Red Bull.
• Negotiation experience -- successful retail negotiation experience and problem-solving skills.
• Presentation skills -- demonstrate great presentation skills that provide highly relevant and commercially viable strategies/processes in a clear, concise, and empowering way.