Account Manager: Pick 'n Pay & Boxer at Diageo

• Our Sales team love building relationships, connecting with customers to sell our much-loved brands in new and vibrant markets where they can thrive. They help sell our iconic brands across 180 countries every year.
• We’re operating across different markets, channels, and areas of expertise. Using your curiosity and passion, you’ll make the most of consumer insight and digital platforms, reaching new customers, markets, and celebrations to help us achieve our growth potential. We’ll support your learning and growth as you develop your career with us and work with people across our business to realise your fullest potential.

About the role:

Financial Complexity

• Diageo SA is part of a dual listed (London and New York) global organisation operating within a complex local environment. Financial complexity is driven through the reporting, planning and forecasting requirements of our global shareholder along with ensuring compliance with local legislation. In addition, compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley codes of good practice is required due the Diageo listing on the NYSE.
• The complexity of the market place, with multiple customer segments and routes to market, drives complexity in understanding the creation of value from Retail Selling Price through the P&L. We consistently work to identify and maximise opportunities across the value chain through pricing and promotional strategy across our customer base.
• The volatility of the South African macro-economic environment drives a level of complexity when managing global targets, local input costs and product imports. Cost drivers such as inflation and global vs local exchange rates impact our cost base strongly and need to be managed closely.

Market Complexity

• Diageo SA operates in a complex, constantly evolving and extremely exciting market environment. Diageo SA has emerged as the leading spirits business in South Africa facing competition from long established competitors such as Distell and aggressive emerging players such as Pernod Ricard SA and The Really Great Brands Company (RGBC).
• The liquor market in South Africa operates through multiple customer channels and routes to market. This is in order to effectively service consumers across an extremely diverse range of socio-economic circumstances, cultural affiliations and geographical ranges.
• Our extensive spirits brand portfolio service consumers across our diverse nation, and we must continuously strive to keep up with the fast changing market trends and challenges inherent in that

Leadership and Functional

• Stands for what they feel is right and important, whatever is the audience. Builds and sustains trust with others through real relationships.  Demonstrates the kind of personal integrity that inspires others.  Shows commitment to outstanding team work.
• Think in the future, anticipate trends and opportunities.  Bring possibilities to life, demonstrating the ability to move from ideas to action.  Is imaginative in finding solutions to issues and pursuing opportunities for the business.
• Understands the Diageo purpose and brings it to life.  Values the differences in people, treating everyone with respect and dignity.
• Takes ownership for the performance outcomes that the team needs to deliver.  Celebrates the successes of the team.
• Demonstrates deep personal accountability for great performance.  Is focused on priorities – demonstrate rigour and brilliant execution.  Has a positive outlook, channelling their energy into finding opportunities and solutions even in times of uncertainty and ambiguity.
• Has humility - is open to learning and ideas from others.  Demonstrates self-awareness. Is committed to grow his / her own capability and experience.

Purpose of Role

• Own, develop and drive the relationships and commercial agenda with customers – this is a customer facing role first and foremost
• Develop customer management capability
• Deliver breakthrough business performance within their account base

Role Responsibilities:

• Develop truly world class collaborative customer partnerships and strategies
• Management of profit and NSV targets – “owning the numbers”
• Empower sales teams behind clear, simple and powerful customer strategies.
• Develop and orchestrate end-to-end relationships via a cross functional network within Diageo and the customer base
• Drive the highest standards of execution for all specified channels.
• Obtain and apply facts and data, driving excellence in planning, decision making and performance measurement and taking corrective action as required.
• Contribute to shopper and category insight, resulting in powerful and breakthrough category strategies
• Develop and co-ordinate tailored brand activity by channel and major customer.
• Nielsen interpretation and development of corrective action plans.
• Develop accurate forecasting through demand planning resource
• Monitoring, evaluating and advising on Brand/Customer volume, trends and dynamics.
• Create and develop elite account plans
• Put into action and enhance relevant performance measures

 Qualifications

• Suitable university degree.
• High cognitive ability

Experience

• 6–10 years’ experience gained across commercial and other functions – cross functional experience an advantage. 
• Exposure across different channels and different levels of customer sophistication (e.g. National Accounts, Key Accounts and Field Sales)
• Track record of success in highly demanding sales organisations (FMCG) and in alcoholic beverages
• Strong knowledge & demonstrated delivery in challenging trading environments; understanding of channel, pricing, negotiations and strategy development
• Exposure resolving numerous conflict-filled situations
• Negotiation and conflict resolution with powerful customers
• PnP & Boxer experience is a plus!

Skills

• Leadership, sound commercial record, networking, influencing, communication, selling skills, planning, negotiating, training and development, performance management, problem solving and analysis and high degree of systems literacy.

Barriers to Success in Role

• Lack of personal drive and self-discipline
• Inability to grasp complexity of market (multiple channels, languages, cultural differences, norms and practices)
• Lack of commercial track record highlighting successes to date (through commercial awareness, creativity and astuteness)
• Inability to influence people across the regional sales team and leadership team.
• Lack of financial competence
• Low tolerance of ambiguity and lack of flexibility
• Unable to focus on detail and big picture simultaneously
• Finds conflict of personal risk excessively stressful
• Is not motivated by feedback
• Lacks competitive drive and focus
• Lack of ability to inspire change and momentum
• Inability to balance multiple priorities and work to a series of tight deadlines.
• Lack of passion for customers, shoppers and categories
• Lack of positive thinking – preventing the ability to create new possibilities
• Lack of technology literacy and interest