Lead sales and profitability strategies for UK & Ireland, managing a ~100-person team across various sales channels, and develop major customer relationships for business growth.
Job Description
We are looking for a senior commercial leader accountable for driving sales, profitability and channel penetration across the UK & Ireland business (£1.2bn GBP). Reporting to the Managing Director for UK&I, this role leads a team of ~100 individuals across omnichannel commercial execution (retail, discounters, convenience, e-commerce and Away-From-Home/foodservice), owns customer relationships and negotiations with major retailers and wholesalers, and delivers growth through range, innovation and go-to-market excellence.
Essential Functions & Responsibilities:
Expected Experience & Required Skills:
Location(s)
London - The Shard
Kraft Heinz is an Equal Opportunity Employer - Underrepresented Ethnic Minority Groups/Women/Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity and other protected classes.
We are looking for a senior commercial leader accountable for driving sales, profitability and channel penetration across the UK & Ireland business (£1.2bn GBP). Reporting to the Managing Director for UK&I, this role leads a team of ~100 individuals across omnichannel commercial execution (retail, discounters, convenience, e-commerce and Away-From-Home/foodservice), owns customer relationships and negotiations with major retailers and wholesalers, and delivers growth through range, innovation and go-to-market excellence.
Essential Functions & Responsibilities:
- Define and deliver the UK&I commercial strategy aligned to objectives: Recapture brand love, Be Preferred, Be in More Occasions.
- Full P&L accountability for UK&I sales performance (NSV, gross profit and contribution to EBITDA), driving both volume and margin improvement through pricing, mix, cost-to-profit and fixed cost absorption initiatives.
- Lead the Omnichannel sales organization (retail multiples, discounters, convenience, e-commerce, category development, sales finance, Ireland and Away-From-Home), empowering the team to execute customer plans and deliver targets.
- Own major customer relationships and commercial negotiations with key external partners: Grocery Multiples (Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons, Co-op, Waitrose), Discounters (Aldi, Lidl), national wholesalers and major foodservice chains/operators; secure ranges, promotions, and strategic partnerships that increase distribution and share of shelf/occasion.
- Accelerate Away-From-Home (AFH) strategy to make AFH the #1 driver of Heinz penetration - win chains and independents, develop chef-led innovation & pack formats, relaunch FOH equipment and digital, and build brand experiences in AFH locations.
- Drive innovation and NPD pipeline (flavours platform, new formats/packaging, adjacencies) and translate it into commercial wins with customers and operators.
- Collaborate with Procurement, Supply Chain and Operations to optimise service, cost and availability (including co-packer management), and to reinvest savings into growth.
- Build commercial capabilities and the Brand Growth System across people: recruit, develop and retain high-performing sales, category and e-commerce teams.
- Represent the voice of the customer internally; align marketing, shopper and field activation to maximise impressions and sell-through.
Expected Experience & Required Skills:
- Senior FMCG commercial leader with extensive UK & Ireland experience (ideally experience across Grocery Multiples, Discounters and foodservice).
- Proven track record of P&L ownership and delivering strong topline and margin results.
- Experience leading large omnichannel sales functions (c.100 FTEs or comparable scale) and cross-functional teams.
- Strong negotiator and relationship builder with national retailers, wholesalers and foodservice operators.
- Demonstrable success in innovation-led growth, pack/format innovation and activation that translates into sales.
- Commercial and financial acumen: ability to model trade-offs, price/mix optimization and value-engineering to free investment.
- Excellent leadership, stakeholder management and capability building skills.
- Comfortable operating in a matrix environment, working closely with Procurement, Supply Chain, Marketing and Category teams.
Location(s)
London - The Shard
Kraft Heinz is an Equal Opportunity Employer - Underrepresented Ethnic Minority Groups/Women/Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity and other protected classes.
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