National Account Manager, Whole Foods/Austin TX

Essential Functions of position

• Accountable for delivering annual plan budget (Sales, Gross Profit, Trade).
• Lead the development of annual operating plan and trade strategy for Whole Foods Market account.
• Partner with Marketing team to develop and implement omnichannel plan at customer level.
• Conduct presentations to sales and executive leadership teams to communicate annual operating plan, customer strategy shifts, and incremental growth opportunities.
• Facilitate meetings with customer to review state of the business, present new items, conduct line reviews, and develop promotional strategy/calendar.
• Build and manage relationships with multiple Category Managers and other cross-functional contacts within Whole Foods Market.
• Provide excellent merchandising and category recommendations to support growth.
• Utilize syndicated data to track consumption trends, monitor competitive brand performance, evaluate pricing strategy, and identify growth opportunities.
• Translate data-led insights into actionable solutions for the customer.
• Build volume forecasts for base business, promotions, and new product launches.
• Manage trade spend and forecast using spend management system, including input of promotional plans and authorization of deductions.
• Partner with UNFI National Sales Manager to align customer demand forecast, inventory challenges, and new item acceptance.
• Proactively identify gaps or opportunities, report any risk or upside to Director with specific action plans to address.
• Provide relevant market information to Director.
• Facilitate internal/external cross-functional connectivity.

Education

• Bachelor’s Degree – Preferred or other job-related or equivalent business experience.

Experience

• 5-7 years of progressive account management responsibility in medium-large consumer goods organization, specialty grocery or distributor.
• Previous experience with Whole Foods Market 
• Complex selling knowledge with proven ability to create strategies, execute plans and key initiatives.
• Very strong analytical skills and understanding of translating category data (consumption, baseline trends, incremental lift) into insights to influence decisions. ROI mindset.
• Very strong oral & written communication, report writing, presentation preparation and delivery, and verbal communication.
• Proficient to advanced-level Microsoft Office skills, specifically Excel and PowerPoint.
• Comfortable in a fast-paced internal & external environment with a commitment and aptitude to learn and develop new skills while delivering against timelines.
• Knowledge of trade fund management, forecasting, and common business analytics.
• Proven ability to manage needs and concerns of multi-layered stakeholders across various business systems.
• Must have excellent customer service, selling, relationship building, and thought leadership skills.