National Accounts Director I

The National Accounts Director I is accountable for developing and delivering against annual account plan objectives for customer(s) with annual sales revenue in excess of $100m, spanning four or more groups within a trade class segment. The person in this position will be expected to develop relationships at multiple levels across functions within their customer(s).  

• Directly leads one or more key customer relationships representing all Dean DSD business.
• Leads the collaborative development of account business plans and ensure alignment with Dean Dairies and customer decision-makers.
• Delivers annual customer plan for sales and gross margin across entire Dean DSD business.
• Leads and provides direction to field sales representatives with responsibility for this customer(s).
• Becomes a leading resource on customer specific trends and insights to improve Dean DSD profitability.
• Facilitates and negotiates RFP bids in conjunction with local dairies.
• Coordinates, communicates, and monitors monthly price changes.
• Provides support to local dairies to ensure collection of outstanding balances.
• Aligns dairies to support national programs (new items/ promotions) to meet customer expectations.
• Is accountable to secure customer support on national programs.
• Conducts bi-annual customer business reviews in collaboration with appropriate dairies.
• Develops relationships with customer's day-to-day contacts across different functions (i.e. Merchandising, A/R, category management, supply-chain) that positions Dean DSD as a preferred dairy supplier.
• Anticipates customer specific issues and resolve them by effectively involving cross-functional resources.
• May manage National Account Manager(s).
• Builds strong One Dean Team working relationships across sales teams.
• Performs other duties as assigned.
• Engages in the typical responsibilities of a manager requiring planning, evaluating, organizing, integrating, and controlling. 
• Has managerial responsibility involving staffing, conducting performance appraisals, training and developing employees, promotions, salary increases, terminations, disciplinary actions, etc.  

• A minimum of 10 years consumer goods company combined experience in sales, marketing, or operations.
• At least 4 years directly managing large, complex customer relationships.
• Dairy Industry experience a major plus.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite. 
• Demonstrated personal leadership that holds self and team accountable for actions and results.
• Demonstrates a passion for learning and a willingness to build new skills.  
• Must be able to define, diagnose, and resolve problems.  
• Ability to have an organization-wide perspective and understand how the business operates.   
• Ability to understand the vision of the organization and translate it into specific plans and actions that achieve desired results.   
• Must be a strong executor who has the ability to assist with strategy development at all levels of the organization to drive business performance.   
• Excellent verbal/written communication skills.
• Ability to adapt to changing organizational and operational needs; ability to lead people through change. 
• Ability to work collaboratively with all departments, management levels within the company, and external stakeholders.
• Ability to successfully influence peers and senior leadership.
• Ability to recruit, hire, develop, coach, and mentor talent for current and future needs. 
• Ability to recognize opportunities to simplify processes and create efficiencies.