Regional Account Manager, Collegiate

Company Description

The Regional Account Manager (RAM) is a key member of Red Bull North America’s On-Premise National Account team. This individual supports volume, share, and distribution objectives by developing strategy, selling, and executing plans for all assigned university and bookstore accounts within the College and University (C&U) Non-Commercial channel.

This role requires a dynamic, results-oriented manager who can build and maintain relationships and implement complex programs across multiple university partners to deliver against business plans.

The ideal candidate has exceptional sales, business, and financial acumen, with a proven track record in complex negotiations, joint business plan development, business problem-solving, forecasting, program development, communication, and presentation. This individual leads and inspires a direct and indirect sales organization to effectively execute priorities while collaborating closely with cross-functional stakeholders.

Job Description

STRATEGIC ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT

Manage accounts and relationships with Red Bull’s key university partners and bookstore partners, ensuring compliance with partnership agreements and delivering mutually beneficial outcomes for Red Bull North America (RBNA) and the universities.

Demonstrate a deep understanding of account management fundamentals, including the development of customer strategies and key business drivers, strategic category and item management, customer relationship building, and consultative selling.

Use all available resources to collect and analyze relevant category, customer, and consumer data in order to develop insight-led business plans.

Lead joint annual business planning between key university accounts and Red Bull management teams, with a focus on developing and implementing strategic national and regional programs and integrated annual calendar plans that drive volume and distribution with a positive return on investment. Ensure flawless execution by collaborating with national account teams and field sales to achieve 100% compliance at the store level.

Conduct regular business reviews and participate in customer activities to strengthen relationships and build deep engagement across national accounts.

Oversee ways of working across all routes to market (RTMs), including DSD, Vistar, and broadline partners.

Manage the contract negotiation and renewal process for all university account partners.

BUDGETS/ANNUAL PLANNING

Assist in developing, tracking, and controlling budgets to ensure alignment with the annual business plan.

Manage expenses in accordance with the assigned budget.

Control account volume forecasting and spending through accurate and regular updates in Customer Program Management (CPM) systems.

CHANNEL DEVELOPMENT

Develop and drive channel strategy for university accounts and field operations.

Maintain a deep understanding of the college and university landscape, and implement a coordinated field team approach for each channel, leveraging key resources effectively.

Lead contract negotiations with key partners and strategic accounts, and communicate with Red Bull stakeholders across Sales, Finance, Marketing, and Distribution to close distribution gaps and ensure sustained growth.

INNOVATIVE PROGRAMMING

Lead national and regional programs and activations with university partners to increase execution and awareness, while delivering clear value to those partners.

Collaborate closely with the Trade Marketing and Point-of-Sale (POS) teams to develop asset programs that achieve account goals and support effective, permanent displays; ensure all displays are executed in accordance with headquarters’ channel guidelines.

Assess return on investment (ROI) before recommending specific programs or customized POS solutions, and conduct post-promotion analyses to evaluate the effectiveness of promotional activities.

FOSTERING RELATIONSHIPS FOR INFLUENCE

Develop and maintain personal and professional cross‑functional relationships with key individuals across both internal and external functions.

CROSS FUNCTIONAL COMMUNICATION 

Experienced in navigating a matrixed organization to drive business results and facilitate collaboration between national and regional teams.

Use appropriate communication processes (e.g., Chain Alerts and other tools) to keep Non-Commercial Sales, Marketing, and Distribution teams informed of all programs and initiatives.

Communicate regularly and work effectively with headquarters, Non-Commercial, and regional teams, leveraging input from marketing, finance, and category management experts to develop strong plans and compelling conceptual selling stories.

Lead channel training ses