Account Manager

General Summary

This position will enable Market Partner sales and manage direct accounts for the sale of colors in North America for the Oterra and Food Ingredient Solutions (FIS) by Oterra. You will be responsible for increasing profitable sales by developing current and prospective accounts into commercial sales. You will also be responsible for developing multi-level contacts with key customers and supporting new product development efforts by collaborating with internal customer service, technical, marketing, operations, and product management to deliver on customer expectations. 

You will be working in our corporate office or in a home office setting, depending on your geographical location. The balance is in the field with customers – car and/or air travel about 40% of time varying by demand. 

Duties and responsibilities

Market Partners

• Manage Market Partners as an external sales force: training, promotions, initiative development, negotiating, contracting, target setting, and performance evaluation
• Organize and lead periodic reviews with Market Partners
• Steer and drive Market Partner strategy in the region in line with global Market Partner Excellence guidelines

Direct Sales

• Meet or exceeds sales budget targets on a year-to-year basis
• Secure existing business from regular customers and find new business from prospective customers
• Negotiate contracts and other legal documents involving in-depth product, industry, pricing and competitive information 
• Conduct monthly forecasting input and overviews for the customer portfolio using the required tools
• Formulate and recommend an in-depth account strategy for assigned territory based on customer needs and requirements and carries out as approved
• Generate sales leads and opportunities within assigned territory, as well as following up on leads to qualify prospects and convert prospects into customer
• Develope and execute key account plans for focused customers identifying areas of opportunity for growth
• Maintain multi-level contacts with key customers; keeps them informed of price trends, new products and new uses in the development of sales
• Support new product development efforts at targeted accounts, including generating ideas for new products from the field, working from product creation through manufacturing to product sales and delivery
• Provide timely reports and information as required by management

Who are we looking for?

• Minimum of 3-5 years of experience in roles of increasing responsibility in a commercial environment working with food and beverage manufacturers. Role includes commercial sales, applications, business development, account management, product marketing
• Experience in food industry is required and passion for food a plus
• Possess solid negotiation and follow-up skills
• Strong analytical and technical problem solving skills
• Ability to develop, plan, and implement short and long range goals
• Must have technical skills to know the right questions to ask of customers and connect our products to customer needs
• Self-starter with drive and initiative and work with little supervision
• Possess a working knowledge in Microsoft Office programs and previous experience with Salesforce.com a plus.
• Ability to travel up to 40% of working time
• These characteristics are normally acquired through a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field like food science and a minimum of 5-7 years of sales or customer-facing experience.

What can we offer?

We can offer an exciting opportunity in an ambitious organization, where commitment is strong, and where we work with the purpose to improve our processes and results. We have an informal tone, and put a high value on teamwork, working together, and transparency.

The practical details

This position requires a valid driver’s license and good driving record.  The employee must be able to meet the travel requirements of the job.

Physical Demands

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit, talk, hear, use hands to finger, handle or touch objects, keyboard and occasionally lift up to 10 lbs.  Specific vision abilities required by this job include vision, color vision, depth perception and the ability to adjust focus.