Sales Manager Global Sweet Specialties - IBC & Dings Décor

About the role 

• The Sales Manager Global Sweet Specialties - IBC & Dings Décor is responsible for profitably growing the specialties business in his/her territory
• This is best done by driving a strong value solution-oriented proposition combining trend knowledge, standard portfolio and services, working across functions together with chocolate and cocoa sales colleagues to generate long-term value for our customers
• The brief is both to profitably grow with existing customers and to acquire new customers across all market segments, deploying a suitable Route-to- Market (direct or indirect).
• The key metrics are the delivery of volume, penetration of existing chocolate/cocoa customer base, financial business objectives (e.g. margin) and customer satisfaction (NPS).
• Focus, resilience, change management, project management, influence management (internally and externally), hunting spirit and creativity are the main engines that fuel your growth
• The role focuses on Benelux with a global scope  via export and reports to the VP Sales Lead - Global Sweet Specialities 
• It is a great opportunity to be part of the team that underpins 1 of the 4 BC Next Level key strategic pillars:
  “Scale up specialities 2x”, generating high profitability and demonstrating solution selling capabilities.

Key responsibilities include

Cross-functional commercial leadership

• As customers are usually focused mostly on their chocolate/compound or cocoa purchases, growing their Sweet Specialties portfolio implies working with and through other BC commercial teams and indirect channel (distribution) to deliver End-to-End solutions (E2E)
• Therefore, the role is about engaging colleagues across functions (sales, pricing, supply chain, quality, R&D etc…) to develop and deliver E2E solutions to the customer where Sweet Specialties contribute to differentiation in the market.
  Engaging means (not exhaustive): motivating, training, empowering, supporting, driving with impact, project managing, helping the team to find the path to success, especially in ambiguous or complex situations: leading by example on ownership
• Crucially, the role will work hand in hand with the customer account team, in particular the chocolate account manager, the chocolate specialities sales manager and cocoa sales manager, in order to implement ONE BC face to the customer.
• It is also critical to identify the right stakeholders at customers, who may be different from chocolate or cocoa buyers.
• To deliver value to customers and be part of the customer account team, it is important to become a deep expert in the relevant portfolio, products and applications as well as be familiar with chocolate specialties, in the spirit of delivering Barry Callebaut solutions
• The role also supports operational customer related topics (e.g. pricing, fulfillment and other customer issues in close coordination with other functions (Pricing, CSD (Customer Supply Development) Team etc…) to ensure high quality and timely answers to customer needs
• Ultimately, customers who are happy with BC come back and grow with us (higher stickiness), thus an improvement of customer Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a key metric of success in the role

Hunt for new customers

• Develop and align a profitable growth strategy through a formalized customer and competitor market mapping (clarity on volumes, who buys what from whom, price points etc..)
• Based on the agreed strategy, identify, engage and win new customers, both via direct and indirect Route To Market
• Deeper penetration in Gourmet, Semi-Industrials and Export
• Expansion in segments or customers which are less seasonal

Grow share and new applications at existing customers (cross- and upselling)

• Grow share of wallet with existing customers by proactively proposing and executing new projects, which could be new innovations or improvements on their existing products (e.g. Design To Value), in conjunction with chocolate and cocoa commercial colleagues
• In line with aligned strategy, manage and execute contract/business negotiations in cooperation with account team for existing supply and new projects, engaging relevant internal and customer stakeholders to yield major incremental and profitable volume increase 
• Manage existing Route-To-Market for by regularly evaluating performance and drive for changes/adjustments as needed

Meet internal governance needs with high efficiency and effectiveness

• Forecasting
• Working capital management (A/R, inventories)
• Salesforce.com as a tool to drive growth and streamline customer information sharing
• Push back / ask for help early in case higher customer focus is required from the organizatio

About you

• Master in Economics/Business/Food Engineering or equivalent
• English, Dutch (full proficiency and ability to conduct complex negotiations).
  Any other language (French)  is a plus
• Outstanding commercial skills, value & solution selling, negotiation
• Strong project and change management skills
• You are familiar with salesforce.com and use it to effectively keep the rest of the organization informed and aligned on customer activities. You keep your growth opportunities pipeline, account plans and visit reports up to date in salesforce.com at all times.
• You are motivated to travel >60% of your time across your territory, enhancing relationships with existing customers, developing new customers (e.g. at trade events) and deepening your knowledge about the market landscape and growth opportunities.

• At least 6-8 years of proven track record and commercial experience a B2B environment with value in use / technical offering
• Strong experience with export markets is a serious advantage
• B2C experience in food / ingredient markets is a plus
• Proven track record in growing profitably different types of customers (from Artisans to Distributors, Key Accounts and FMCG multinationals) both in direct and indirect route to market settings
• Key Account Management: you find energy in engaging different types of customer stakeholders, from production worker to sourcing manager to CEO, to build win-win customer relationships
• Strong knowledge of Sweet Specialties portfolio / ability & curiosity to learn it quickly
• You are familiar with winning/core portfolio concept and have successfully implemented it in your career to drive penetration

• As a person you are a team player, an inspiring leader for cross functional group of peers, persistent in translating vision into action, agile, thriving when driving change
• You are comfortable working through others, keeping in mind the ultimate goal to provide customers with the best One BC experience, and knowing when to be in second line and when to take ownership and lead/step in
• You have a positive mindset and you are able to deal with ambiguity
• You combine hands-on mentality with a strong strategic view
• You can influence with impact peers & colleagues across functions, in particular, Supply Chain, Pricing, R&D, Quality
• You are comfortable at communicating across a wide range of stakeholders concisely and timely, adapting your style to the situation and audience
• You are reliable, attentive to detail and excellence in execution
  
  

The incumbent will cooperate closely with the Chocolate Specialties sales team to optimize internal processes.
Alignment with main account managers (usually chocolate sales team) and cocoa sales colleagues is also critical to ensure a seamless customer experience