National Account Manager Grocery

National Account Manager – Irish Grocery | FMCG

The Company

Our client is an innovative and dynamic player in the Irish FMCG market, home to some of Ireland's best-known and most-loved brands across multiple categories. With a strong presence on shelf in Ireland's leading grocery retailers, they are now looking for a commercially sharp and ambitious National Account Manager to join their high-performing Commercial team.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone who truly understands how Irish grocery retail works — from Head Office negotiations right through to store-level execution.

The Role

The National Account Manager will take ownership of a portfolio of key grocery retail accounts, driving commercial performance across a range of categories and brands. You will build and execute customer business plans — including trade activation plans and promotional calendars — working closely with Brand, Trade Marketing and Business Development teams to maximise in-store presence and profitability.

This role is fast-paced, commercially demanding, and highly rewarding for the right person.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and own Key Account Plans across your assigned customer portfolio
• Achieve Forecast and Budget Revenue targets
• Manage Price Promotions and Trade Spend in line with agreed budgets
• Manage all elements of the customer Price File, including full delivery of all CPIs
• Deliver accurate and timely Sales Forecasts by SKU
• Develop and execute Joint Business Plans with key customers
• Achieve company NPD, Range and Distribution targets
• Work with Commercial Finance and Trade Marketing to develop customer-specific promotional plans that maximise profitability
• Manage one or more product categories across your customer portfolio
• Analyse complex data and translate insight into actionable commercial solutions
• Learn from previous executions and continuously adapt and optimise future plans
• Support and develop key team members, acting as a leader within the broader Commercial team

About You

To be considered for this role, candidates must have direct experience managing grocery retail accounts at Head Office / buying team level. This means you will be well-versed in presenting range reviews, negotiating promotional programmes, managing trade investment, and delivering Joint Business Plans within a structured grocery retail environment.

If your experience has been primarily at field sales or territory management — rather than in a Head Office-facing account management capacity — this particular role may not be the right fit at this time.

We are looking for someone who can hit the ground running and immediately engage with senior buying contacts in a credible and commercially confident manner.

The successful candidate will have:

• Proven experience in National Account or Key Account Management within the grocery retail channel, operating at Head Office buyer level
• A strong track record of managing multiple retail grocery accounts simultaneously, with full P&L and trade spend responsibility
• Deep understanding of how grocery retail buying teams operate — ranging from range reviews and promotional planning through to CPIs and JBPs
• Experience working across branded FMCG categories (food, beverage, household, personal care, or similar)
• A degree in a business-related discipline
• High level of commercial awareness and strong numerical ability
• Excellent negotiation, communication and relationship-building skills
• Strong planning, organisational and analytical capabilities
• Resilience, self-motivation and the ability to work on their own initiative
• Change management skills and a growth mindset

Why Apply?

This is a genuine opportunity to join a business with strong brand equity, real category leadership, and a culture that rewards ambition and accountability. The role offers significant scope for career progression within a growing commercial team

Candidates without Head Office-level grocery account management experience are unlikely to be shortlisted for this position.