Job Description

The Account Manager drives profitable sales growth by developing existing accounts and securing new business within the food and beverage manufacturing sector. The role represents Ecolab’s integrated F&B United offering, bringing together F&B Hygiene and Water F&B capabilities to provide customers with a coordinated, total-plant approach. This includes Ecolab hygiene and sanitation solutions together with Nalco Water products, services and expertise.

Key Responsibilities

Business Development

• Achieve sales, profitability and account-growth targets.
• Develop and manage the opportunity pipeline and account-acquisition plan.
• Identify, qualify and close new business opportunities.
• Coordinate customer conversions, programme start-ups and implementation.
• Identify opportunities to introduce hygiene solutions to water customers and water-management solutions to hygiene customers.
• Implement commercial initiatives, account action plans and targeted price increases.
• Represent a customer-centric One Ecolab approach that brings together Water F&B and F&B Hygiene.
• Assess customer operations holistically to identify sanitation and water-management opportunities.
• Develop joint account plans with Hygiene, Nalco Water, technical and corporate-account colleagues.
• Coordinate joint customer meetings, plant surveys, technical reviews, trials, proposals and conversions.
• Engage the appropriate technical specialists while providing customers with a simple and cohesive experience.
• Position integrated solutions against customer priorities such as food safety, product quality, productivity, operating cost, sustainability and risk management.
• Identify, quantify and communicate the combined value of hygiene and water programmes.

Account Management

• Build relationships with customers across operations, quality, engineering, utilities, procurement and management.
• Deliver agreed service levels and coordinate resources across the F&B United team.
• Conduct regular business reviews and present programme performance, value delivered and improvement opportunities.
• Manage account profitability, contract renewals, customer-retention risks and service issues.
• Implement corporate-account commitments and provide updates on results, risks and initiatives.
• Support timely collection of outstanding receivables.

Customer Value Delivery

• Develop solutions that improve customer performance, service and total operating cost.
• Document baseline conditions, agreed actions and measurable outcomes.
• Communicate Total Value Delivered from integrated hygiene and water-management solutions.
• Maintain accurate account, opportunity and pipeline information in relevant CRM and business systems.
• Coordinate resolution of technical, service, supply or customer-risk issues.

Job Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in food science, biotechnology, microbiology, chemical engineering, chemistry, environmental engineering or a related discipline.
• At least five years of experience in:
  • Food or beverage manufacturing, including production, QA or QC; or
  • Sales or business development within F&B, food safety, industrial hygiene or water treatment.
• Good understanding of food-manufacturing operations and customer needs.
• Experience developing business plans, qualifying opportunities, presenting value propositions and closing deals.
• Ability to engage plant stakeholders across multiple functions and organisational levels.
• Exposure to CIP, sanitation, industrial water treatment, process utilities or sustainability improvement is advantageous.
• Strong commercial judgement, communication, analytical and relationship-management skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and CRM tools.
• Ability to travel frequently.
• Bilingual or multilingual capability is advantageous.