Senior National Account Manager - Confectionary

Senior National Account Manager, Confectionary

Position Summary

The Senior National Account Manager is responsible for driving profitable sales growth across Walmart and other strategic national retail customers. This role develops and executes customer business strategies, manages headquarters relationships, leads contract and promotional negotiations, and partners with cross-functional teams to achieve sales, profit, distribution, and market share objectives. The ideal candidate has a proven track record managing national retail accounts within the food industry (ideally with confectionary experience) and building strong, long-term partnerships with customer headquarters teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage Walmart as the primary national account while supporting additional strategic retail customers, including Sam's Club, Kroger, Target, Costco, Albertsons, Publix, and regional grocery chains.
• Develop and maintain strategic relationships with retailer headquarters personnel, including Buyers, Category Managers, Merchandising, Replenishment, Supply Chain, eCommerce, and Private Brand teams, serving as the primary point of contact for assigned accounts.
• Build executive-level partnerships that foster collaboration, strengthen customer engagement, and support long-term business growth.
• Develop and execute annual Joint Business Plans (JBPs) aligned with customer objectives and company growth strategies.
• Lead customer line reviews, assortment planning, pricing initiatives, promotional programs, and new product introductions to maximize sales and distribution opportunities.
• Negotiate pricing, trade investments, promotional funding, and annual business agreements to deliver profitable growth.
• Analyze customer performance using POS data, syndicated data, and retailer reporting tools to identify trends, uncover growth opportunities, and optimize category performance.
• Prepare and present quarterly and annual business reviews, providing performance insights, strategic recommendations, and innovation roadmaps to customer headquarters teams.
• Own customer sales forecasts, inventory planning, and demand projections while partnering with Supply Chain and Operations to ensure high service levels and in-stock performance.
• Manage customer trade spending and account profitability by monitoring budgets, evaluating promotional return on investment, and improving overall financial performance.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Category Management, Finance, Customer Service, Operations, and Supply Chain teams to ensure flawless execution of customer programs and strategic initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to expand distribution, increase market share, and drive sustainable sales growth across assigned national accounts.
• Represent the company during retailer headquarters meetings, customer events, industry conferences, and strategic planning sessions.
• Travel as required to support customer meetings, business reviews, and company initiatives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Sales, or a related field.
• 5-8+ years of Senior/National Account Management experience within the food, beverage, or consumer packaged goods industry with a strong preference for existing confectionary product knowledge & experience.
• Proven experience managing Walmart and/or other national retail accounts - ideally at least one club account in addition to Walmart. Ability to open these type of accounts, not just manage the accounts.
• Demonstrated success developing headquarters relationships and influencing key customer decision-makers.
• Strong experience leading Joint Business Planning, annual negotiations, and customer business reviews.
• Proficiency using syndicated data and retailer analytics to drive business decisions.
• Excellent negotiation, communication, presentation, and relationship-building skills.
• Strong financial acumen with experience managing trade investments, forecasting, and customer profitability.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Walmart Retail Link, Scintilla, Circana (IRI), NielsenIQ, or comparable retailer and syndicated data platforms.
• Knowledge of category management, demand planning, supply chain collaboration, and trade promotion management.
• Experience launching new products and expanding distribution across national retail accounts.

Key Performance Indicators

• Net sales and revenue growth
• Gross margin and account profitability
• Market share growth
• Distribution and assortment expansion
• New product placement and launch success
• Trade promotion effectiveness and ROI
• Forecast accuracy and inventory performance
• Customer satisfaction and headquarters relationship strength
• Achievement of annual sales and strategic business objectives