National Account Director

Job Description

Perpetual is partnering with a fast-growing premium food and beverage brand to appoint a Director of National Accounts for its On-Premise channel.

About the Role

The Director of National Accounts owns the strategy, growth, and P&L for one of the business's highest-value sales channels. Reporting to the senior leader of the On-Premise channel, this person executes the commercial vision, builds and protects relationships at the most senior levels of enterprise accounts, and translates that access into durable, profitable revenue. This is a strategic role for an operator who can both architect a multi-year channel plan and personally close the deals that define it, with real influence on how the broader on-premise business grows.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Account Management: Own the most senior relationships across national and regional customers at the C-suite, corporate procurement, and F&B leadership level. Serve as the trusted executive point of contact and grow these accounts as long-term partnerships rather than transactional buys.
• Sales Strategy & Execution: Build and own the multi-year national account strategy for the channel, setting revenue, placement, and market-share targets and the roadmap to hit them. Partner with marketing, operations, and R&D to turn customer needs into programs that win and retain business.
• Customer Development: Identify and pursue new business, lead high-stakes contract negotiations, and close enterprise deals with corporate procurement, food & beverage, and bar operations teams. Maintain a healthy, accurately forecast pipeline that supports ambitious but credible growth.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Coordinate with distribution, marketing, and innovation teams to implement promotional strategies, seasonal programs, and new product launches.
• Forecasting & Budgeting: Own the channel P&L against an agreed annual plan and trade spend envelope, including revenue forecasts, margin, promotional planning, and trade spend allocation, making the investment trade-offs that maximise profitable growth.
• Trade Events & Industry Presence: Represent the brand at trade shows, beverage conferences, and hospitality industry events.
• Team Leadership & Development: Mentor and set direction for regional account managers, and lead field sales teams, distributors, and third parties to drive consistent execution at the property level. Build a talent bench so the channel scales beyond any single individual.

Success will be measured against clear, channel-level targets, including:

• Channel revenue growth: Year-over-year revenue and margin growth against an agreed annual quota.
• New account acquisition: New national or regional chains signed and brought to first order each year.
• Account retention & expansion: Retention of existing key accounts and measurable growth in placements and SKUs per account.
• Forecast accuracy & trade spend efficiency: Reliable quarterly forecasting, with trade spend kept within budget while delivering target ROI.
• First 90 days: A documented channel account plan and active engagement with the top existing accounts.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Hospitality Management, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• 7 to 10+ years of national account management or enterprise sales experience in beverage, hospitality, or CPG, including direct ownership of a quota or channel P&L.
• Deep knowledge of the national account landscape, including key players and procurement processes.
• Experience working with foodservice distributors, beverage program managers, and bar directors.
• Proven ability to manage multi-million-dollar accounts and meet or exceed revenue targets.
• Strong negotiation skills and understanding of trade programs and promotional strategy.
• Ability to travel 30 to 50% of the time.