Senior National Account Manager Ambient Food Surrey £65,000 – £75,000 + Bonus + Benefits Talent Guardian is proud to be partnering with a leading, award-winning, employee-owned ambient food business to find an ambitious Senior National Account Manager to join their high-performing commercial team. This is a fantastic opportunity to join a truly unique business — one that is employee-owned, internationally recognised, and supplies all major UK retailers and foodservice customers across both own label and branded product ranges. With an international supply base spanning 20+ countries, this is a business with real heritage, strong values and serious growth ambitions. The Role Reporting directly into the Sales & Marketing Director, this is a genuine career-defining role with real autonomy and responsibility. You’ll take ownership of major retail accounts whilst identifying and securing new business opportunities, building long-term customer relationships across all functions and working cross-functionally with procurement, supply chain, category and marketing teams. This is the kind of role where you’ll be trusted, valued and given the platform to build a credible and long-term career. Key Responsibilities
- Own and grow a major retail account with full autonomy and responsibility
- Identify and secure new business opportunities and product listings
- Build and maintain strong relationships across customer functions — Sales, Supply Chain, Technical, Product Development and Merchandising
- Work with the internal Procurement team to assess market buying opportunities
- Proactively manage customer stock levels in partnership with Supply Chain
- Deliver best-in-class customer presentations using IRI and internal data alongside the Category Insight and Marketing teams
- Manage and report on sales performance and contract balances
About You
- Degree educated (2:1 or above in a relevant business discipline)
- Minimum 3 years’ experience managing UK retail accounts
- Food industry background strongly preferred — other FMCG considered
- Own label experience a plus
- Proven new business winner with strong commercial instincts
- Confident negotiator and influencer with excellent communication skills
- Highly organised, detail-oriented and data-savvy
- Dynamic, tenacious and driven to succeed
What’s On Offer
- Competitive base salary
- Discretionary bonus + employee ownership (EOT) bonus
- Matched pension contributions up to 5%
- Healthcare and life cover
- Work from home on Fridays
- 23 days holiday increasing with service
This is a rare opportunity to join a business that genuinely invests in its people and rewards long-term contribution. If you’re a driven Senior National Account Manager ready to take the next step, we’d love to hear from you.