Key Account Manager

The purpose of the role is to develop and implement a strategic business plan for the allocated Off-trade Key Account customers that will deliver against PRSAs objectives in the South African domestic spirits market.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

Key deliverables of the role:

• Support the Channel Director in delivering Pernod Ricard South Africa’s business goals of turnover, profit and market share
• Implement key account strategy including resource allocation proposition (e.g. Off-trade clients investment management)
• Implement tools to achieve the strategy and business objectives (e.g. trade terms, customer joint business plan, trade marketing plan, segmentation)
• Support the Channel Director in key business periods during the fiscal year (e.g. budget, price increase)
• Live the Pernod Ricard vision and values internally as well as with external stakeholders

Commercial Strategy & Planning

Ability to implement and get alignment behind a commercial plan, considering the short and long-term view:

• Define and monitor short to long term business plan and priorities: growth opportunities, objectives, actions, resources… at channel, customer, and brand levels
• Set KPIs, to monitor commercial activities and manage commercial performance at channel, customer, and brand level.

Business Intelligence

Ability to get a deep understanding of the market – competitors, channels, categories & customers to transform it into business opportunities:

• Get a deep understanding of the market dynamics - direct / indirect competition, channels, customers - by collecting & analysing internal / external information, data, and trends, using digital tools when relevant.
• Monitor competitive intelligence.
• Identify and define business opportunities and key drivers of growth.
• Identify risks and opportunities of market changes (competitor moves, new channel development, changes in legal and regulations).

Negotiation

Ability to manage customer’s needs and requests through appropriate negotiation cycle and techniques, to achieve global business objectives:

• Understand complex customer’s business stakes, environment, needs and challenges in the negotiation process.
• Use negotiation resources and techniques to reduce gap between customer’s demand and business objectives, in line with the commercial strategy.
• Identify win-win states and common interest grounds to establish customer partnerships.
• Anticipate customer’s behaviours, changes, risks / opportunities, or conflicts and adapt the negotiation cycle (process, style) accordingly.

Project Management

Ability to plan and organize diverse tasks in a transversal project, managing and maximizing performance of project teams (internal & external), to achieve objectives in time:

• Define and plan a project: scope, objectives, responsibilities, planning, KPIs, resources.
• Manage a project: resources and planning monitoring, cost, and risks evaluation.
• Foster collaboration, coordinate and motivate project team members, to maximize the team performance.
• Engage stakeholders around the project and get their buy-in, communication and promotion of the project within organizational culture.

Influencing & Partnering

Ability to establish and develop trusting and impactful relationships with internal and external stakeholders:

• Demonstrate influencing skills, internally and externally.
• Develop an efficient network through strong interpersonal skills and a good understanding of organizational and individual issues.
• Create partnerships through the development of successful long-term relationships, that will positively impact the business
• Listen actively.
• Present clear and compelling ideas, and transmit impactful messages, making the most of presentation tools and technologies.

Drive for Business Results

Ability to recommend, implement and evaluate effectiveness of business activities (Commercial and Marketing) to optimize business performance and ensure excellence in execution:

• Demonstrate an overall understanding of business environment and company’s vision.
• Focus on priorities, meet deadlines and objectives to drive business results.
• Define and monitor the most appropriate set of KPIs.
• Propose evolutions in business priorities, resource allocation and organizational structure.

Experience Planning 

Ability to co-develop and monitor the touchpoint plan to bring to life the consumer & brand experience, in line with the brand & portfolio strategy:

• Identify the relevant touchpoints and influencers, ensuring holistic experience across the consumer journey
• Define and monitor short to mid-term plan
• Prioritize and allocate resources and budget for each touchpoint
• Set clear KPIs, to evaluate the performance of brand and portfolio strategies and improve touchpoints plan accordingly

Price Management     

Ability to navigate all aspects of pricing, understand how pricing affects our business performance and develop pricing tactics in day-to-day activities:

• Understand key pricing concepts (positioning, elasticity, value perception),
• Implement and manage effectively the pricing strategy across countries, channels and customers.
• Implement the pricing strategy, with a focus on price to consumer (for marketing) and on price to customer (for commercial) to include Trade Terms optimization.

Financial Acumen

Ability to integrate revenue and profitability aspects within all activities to generate greatest ROI within budget guidelines:

• Understand the brand / portfolio P&L, customer P&L, COGs and stocks.
• Understand financial ratios (ROI, ROCE, net sales...) and their implication.
• Partner with the brand team in order to optimize the portfolio P&L, to optimize business performance (budget control, resources allocation optimization, cost optimization, pricing strategy, inventory monitoring).

Insights into Action

Ability to get a deep understanding of the consumer, shopper behaviour from observation, to transform insights into actions & business opportunities:

• Know and use the key sources (qualitative and quantitative research, panel, and initiatives, traditional and digital – social networks, blogs, analytics…) of consumer information, and methodologies to get a deep understanding of the behaviours (“walk in shoes” of consumers)
• Leverage trends, category and consumer understanding into insights and opportunities.
• Size and prioritize insights to recommend actions and unlock growth.

Digital Acumen

Ability to navigate into a digital environment, understand how to succeed in a digital world, use technologies and new digital tactics in the day-to-day activities.

• Be familiar with web, mobile and social media.
• Understand digital environment, on-line channels, and their specific business characteristics and levers, in order to help to reach, interact and delight consumers and customers.
• Apply digital knowledge and tactics in the business activities when relevant.

Brand & Portfolio Strategy

Understand and influence the ambition and the strategic objectives & concepts to differentiate the brand & portfolio from the competition and to develop PR business:

• Understand the brand ambition, anticipating mid- to long-term changes within the environment, business opportunities and risks.
• Leverage market, consumer & shopper insights, consumer journey and route-to-market opportunities, to define priority targets, develop effective strategies and activations;
• Set KPIs, to monitor, manage and adjust off-trade strategy

Creativity

Ability to emerge new business opportunities through generation, inspiration and exploration of new and relevant ideas, services, solutions and designs with both internal and external partners.

• Think out of the box, show curiosity, push boundaries, have an explorative mindset to generate ideas, and solve problems.
• Champion creative ideas, and bring them to life (e. g. solutions, services, digital initiatives, alternative channels) to create differentiation and new revenue sources, and to be continuously one step ahead.
• Implement and foster a creative culture through new approaches and mindset.

Key Competencies and Experience

Minimum Educational Requirements and Work Experience:

• Bachelor of Commerce Degree or similar Tertiary equivalent
• At least 6 years’ experience within a commercial environment 2 of which must have been in a management capacity or at least 8 years relevant sales experience.
• Experience within the Off – Trade environment is essential.
• Driver’s License

Behavioural competencies:

Strategic Planning, Commercial Awareness, Problem Solving, Influencing Skills, Teamwork, Building and Maintaining Collaborative Working Relationships, Adaptability

Job Posting End Date:

Target Hire Date:

2026-02-01

Target End Date: