Senior Account Manager

Join Oterra in making natural food and beverages easy, for a sustainable and healthy world.

Headquartered in Denmark, with production sites in Europe, Latin America, and the US, we’re a passionate team of over 1400 team members in 30 countries worldwide, serving 120 markets globally. As the leading worldwide provider of natural colors, we offer food and beverage manufacturers an alternative to artificial colors. Food and health are at the heart of everything we do and every day over 400 million people eat a product with our colors in it.

What would your role look like?

Reporting to the Sales Business Manager, this position will manage major direct accounts and is primarily responsible for the sale of natural colors in the Northeast/Central region of the United States. You will be responsible for increasing profitable sales by developing current and prospect accounts into commercial sales. You will also be responsible for developing multi-level contacts with key customers and supporting new product development efforts by collaborating with internal customer service, technical, marketing, operations and product management to deliver on customer expectations.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Meet or exceed sales budget targets on a year-to-year basis
• Secure existing business from regular customers and finds new business from prospective customers
• Negotiate contracts and other legal documents involving in-depth product, industry, pricing and competitive information
• Formulate and recommend an in-depth account strategy for assigned territory based on customer needs and requirements and carries out as approved
• Generate sales leads and opportunities within assigned territory, as well as following up on leads to qualify prospects and convert prospects into customer
• Develop and executing key account plans for focused customers identifying areas of opportunity for growth
• Maintain multi-level contacts with key customers; keep them informed of price trends, new products and new uses in the development of sales
• Conduct monthly forecasting input and overviews for the customer portfolio using the required tools
• Support new product development efforts at targeted accounts, including generating ideas for new products from the field, working from product creation through manufacturing to product sales and delivery
• Provide timely reports and information as required by management
  
  

Who are we looking for?

• Minimum of 7 to 10 years of experience in roles of increasing responsibility in a commercial environment working with food and beverage manufacturers. Relevant experience includes roles like commercial sales, business development, account management, product marketing, technical sales, and technical service
• Possess good negotiation and follow-up skills
• Strong analytical and technical problem-solving skills
• Ability to develop, plan, and implement short- and long-range goals
• Must have technical skills to know the right questions to ask of customers and connect our products to customer needs
• Must be a self-starter with drive and initiative and work with little supervision
• Must have a passion for the food industry
• Possess a working knowledge in Microsoft Office and Salesforce
• Ability and desire to travel up to 60% of working time.
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field preferred and a minimum of 4-6 years of sales or customer-facing experience
  
  

The practical details

Working environment is a home office setting about 40% of time. The balance is in the field with customers – car and/or air travel about 60% of time, and it will vary by demand. It is preferred that the employee is based in the Northeast or Central United States near a major airport. This position requires a valid driver’s license and good driving record. The employee must be able to meet the travel requirements of the job.