Senior National Account Manager

We're Ryvita - yes, the Crispbread & Savoury Snacking legends - and we're on a mission to make healthy snacking exciting. We need someone who loves big challenges, big retailers, and big results. If you want a role where you can truly own your accounts, shape strategy, and make a real impact, this is it. You'll be part of a small, passionate team that values independence, creativity, and getting things done (with a smile).

The Senior National Account Manager is a key position within the commercial function, reporting directly to the Commercial Director. This role is responsible for owning and driving strategic retailer relationships, managing cross-functional collaboration, and leading two critical strategic customers. In addition, the role includes line management of one direct report: Commercial Executive & Office Administrator.

You will take full ownership of day-to-day account management while shaping and delivering long-term strategic plans for Ryvita across the UK and Ireland.

Key Responsibilities

•    Account Leadership: Own and manage the retailer relationship for key accounts, ensuring strong cross-functional engagement

•    Commercial Delivery: Drive sales, operating profit, volume, value, and market share growth, while delivering long-term sales and profit objectives

•    Strategic Planning: Develop tailored account plans to achieve all commercial goals.

•    Profitability Management: Ensure sustainable growth through effective pricing, promotions, activations, and budget control

•    Team Leadership: Lead, coach, and develop one direct report to enhance performance and capability

Customers
You will own the buying relationships across Tesco, Asda, and Waitrose, while building and nurturing senior-level connections across buying, category, and operations.

Sales Strategy and Strategic Business Management 

•    Construct, develop, implement and measure a tailored Account Plan to deliver sustainable and profitable sales growth in line with targets

•    Review Customer Business Plans and work with/ coaches direct report to maximise return on all trade investment

•    Plan and conduct regular 'Business Reviews' with the retailer buying teams

•    Competently use both persuasive selling and negotiation skills and techniques to support sales negotiations where required

•    Use the outputs of each budget plan to cascade target activity into implementation plans to ensure the effective use of time and resources.

•    Keep pace with the constantly changing marketplace, anticipate market trends, competitive threats and plan accordingly 

Commercial Awareness

•    Conduct a detailed and thorough promotional analysis and evaluation ensuring that there is a commercial payback from such investment

•    Drive a conditional mind set, ensuring that all trade investments are conditional and support the delivery of our market plans 

•    Work with the Commercial Director & Commercial Finance to ensure all spends are in line with the agreed plan and delivering positive ROI

•    Monitor distribution, space and availability measures to ensure we have fair representation across the market and works with the Category team to build plans to address gaps

Customer Relationships

•    To secure and then retain 'partnership supplier' status

•    Establish and build exceptional relationships with all key retailer contacts, and drive depth of contact with strategic customers to at least Buyer +1 as a minimum, and develop multi- functional relationships across customers, targeting category and supply chain teams as well as format teams operating in Convenience/

Customer service and business operations

•    Manage the account & team to ensure forecasts are updated as required with a clear focus on improving forecast accuracy

•    Regularly review the market forecast with Demand Planning and Finance to ensure alignment

•    Consider and develop ideas to reduce our cost to serve

•    Ensure invoice accuracy to reduce credit notes and to secure adherence to agreed payment terms.

•    Eliminate customer fines and penalties.

Communication (Internal / External)

•    Communicate with clarity at all levels both internally and externally

•    'Set the standard', clearly demonstrating our company values with a can do attitude at all times

•    Lead the sales function in the market as part of the sales leadership team.

Performance Management    

•    Drive performance improvement of the team through clear objective setting, feedback and coaching through regular 1:1s, quarterly performance reviews and annual appraisal

•    Seek to improve and continually raise their 'Performance bar' by knowing themselves, measuring performance and capability on a regular basis

Environment and Ways of working    

•    Responsible for adhering to safe systems of work processes and acting in a safe manner to always protect the health and safety of yourself and others. 

•    Promote a culture of positive safety behaviours within your team, demonstrate strong safety leadership and address unsafe behaviours and working practices to coach the right behaviours. 

•    Successfully manage key stakeholder relationships and interfaces – within ABF, Jordans and Ryvita.

•    Ensure that the business has in place effective and appropriate controls and governance.

•    You've managed major retailer accounts before—Tesco, Asda, Waitrose? Even better.

•    Commercially sharp, strategic thinker, but happy to roll up your sleeves.

•    Relationship builder extraordinaire, buyers love you, and so do your colleagues.

•    Resilient, energetic, and ready to thrive in a hybrid setup.

•    You're a natural leader who loves coaching others.