Business Development Manager - Pet Nutrition

• In close collaboration with the Head of Sales Nutrition, plan and implement business development strategies at a customer, market, and supplier level to increase market share and profitability.
• Manage, build, and maintain strong relationships with key customers, suppliers and industry stakeholders operating in the ANZ Pet Nutrition market, ensuring a high level of engagement and customer/supplier satisfaction.
• Collaborate closely with cross functional teams to align business strategies and achieve targets.
• Monitor industry, market dynamics, and stay up to date with industry best practices, regulatory requirements, and technical development within your area of expertise.
• Coordinate the sales and product strategic alignment between Principal, customer, and market.
• Prepare and deliver persuasive sales presentations and new business development proposals to build existing and new partnerships and contracts.
• Accountable for the effective management of:

• Pricing and contract negotiations
• In conjunction with Supply Chain, manage stock to appropriate levels balancing customer excellence/satisfaction whilst minimising working capital through effective forecasting.
• Credit terms and debtor management
• Proactively manage and grow customers (existing and new), develop existing and new products, and create market opportunities and new sales leads within your own and associated Account Managers Portfolio.
• Increase GP and product portfolio by initiating opportunities to drive cross-selling / range-sell / value-based pricing.
• Identify high potential accounts and determine strategies for converting prospects.
• Following sales protocols and procedures, generate new leads and improve/increase conversion rates and sales interactions.
• Reactivate lost/idle customers.
• Acting as the key Principal contact, manage, build, and maintain strong Principal. relationships and manage a defined Principal portfolio as well as selected customer portfolios.
• Work closely with Principals to obtain regular updates regarding supply and market insights on ingredients for regular reporting to the Account Managers.
• Negotiate pricing with Principals utilizing market data around freight, commodity, and other ingredients to validate movement in pricing.
• Conduct Quarterly Business Reviews with Principals in accordance with timelines agreed.
• Coordinate Principal visits and arrange technical and product training for the commercial teams relevant to the principal/customer portfolio as required and ensuring communication is effective and timely.
• Communicate pricing strategies and price management to the commercial team ensuring accuracy and completeness of pricing data.
• Organise audits of suppliers on customer requests.
• Initiate and prepare product presentations to Account Managers and the broader market that is related to the Principal products, utilising the support from the Food Application Development Centre Team.
• Ensure all business activities are conducted according to the corporate guidelines.

• Contribute to the development and maintenance of the Food & Nutrition Business Unit strategy in collaboration with the Head of Department, ensuring the strategy is effectively communicated and executed by the commercial team and achievement is measurable via PPM/KPI outcomes.

• Manage sales targets and forecasts and track performance metrics of your suppliers and associated customer portfolio.
• In conjunction with Management:

• Co-ordinate the preparation of annual financial budgets and provide financial forecasting as required.
• Set and achieve regionally agreed budgeted sales and gross margin targets and report back on business performance and variances to plan.

• Maintain appropriate involvement in industry bodies and exhibitions (on behalf of both company and principals) and contribute to the broader development of the Food & Nutrition industry for ANZ.

• Provide comprehensive analysis of market and competitor activities to Principals from various sources including the commercial team and market surveys.
• Provide Principal reports ensuring all analysis and development communications are handled in an efficient and timely manner.
• Analyse and report on market trends, gap analysis and potential cross selling opportunities
• Complete monthly reporting and provide ad hoc reporting as requested.

• Identify and assist in implementation of process improvement opportunities in conjunction with senior management.
• Manage Customer Service Excellence as measured by external customer feedback.
• Work cohesively with internal/external stakeholders ensuring a customer centric culture is achieved and maintained.

• Review Job7’s and follow through to action improvements, addressing areas of sub-optimal performance.
• Manage and report all non-conformances, acting on repetitious non-conformances.
• Identify and implement changes to ensure a measured reduction in non-conformances and overall operation efficiency gains and continuous improvement initiatives are achieved.

• Consistently demonstrate Brenntag values and expected behaviours through exemplary standard setting.
• Actively participate in the annual Performance, Planning & Review Process (PPM), establishing individual KPIs and monitoring performance to ensure targets and effective work outcomes are achieved.
• Take ownership of learning and development opportunities by creating an Individual Development Plan (IDP), strengthening your personal and professional development.
• Perform such other duties and activities which may be assigned to you from time to time.

• Strong commercial and business acumen with demonstrated strategic agility.
• Proven leadership skills with ability to coach, develop, mentor, and inspire.
• Highly developed interpersonal skills – active listener and outstanding communicator.
• A strong work ethic, flexible in approach and supportive of others.
• Must have a “best practice” continuous improvement and customer centric mindset.
• Results orientated with a solutions-based sales approach.
• Agile, highly collaborative with an early adopter mindset.
• Ability to manage complexity and change in a dynamic environment.
• Analytical skills and high attention to detail.
• Strong persuasion and presentation skills.
• Highly motivated with a demonstrated ability to work under pressure managing and prioritising to meet tight deadlines.
• Demonstrated negotiation and influencing skills and ability to work well as part of cross functional teams.
• Excellent IT Skills and practical knowledge of MS Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint).

• Tertiary qualified in a related field with relevant postgraduate qualifications - (science/chemistry).
• Minimum 8 + years’ experience in a Food/Nutrition/Ingredients and/or related industries with a significant portion of time spent in commercial/sales roles.
• Minimum 5 + years’ experience leading commercial teams with evidenced sales results and service excellence outcomes.
• Evidenced ability to lead change, improve engagement and deliver results.
• Working knowledge and experience in the chemical industry advantageous.
• Working knowledge and experience of SAP, MRP and CRM systems.

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