Business Development Manager

In line with the regional and ANZ Nutrition strategy, the role will play a crucial part in driving the growth and success of the Pet Nutrition ANZ business in the ANZ and APAC region by identifying new market opportunities, nurturing strong supplier relationships, and implementing successful sales strategies to increase profitability and market share.

With a strong business acumen and excellent communication skills, the role will manage a portfolio of assigned customers and support business development for customers managed by Account Managers.

Key Responsibilities / Accountabilities:

• In close collaboration with the Head of Sales Nutrition, plan and implement business development strategies at a customer, market, and supplier level to increase market share and profitability.
• Manage, build, and maintain strong relationships with key customers, suppliers and industry stakeholders operating in the ANZ Pet Nutrition market, ensuring a high level of engagement and customer/supplier satisfaction.
• Collaborate closely with cross functional teams to align business strategies and achieve targets.
• Monitor industry, market dynamics, and stay up to date with industry best practices, regulatory requirements, and technical development within your area of expertise.
• Coordinate the sales and product strategic alignment between Principal, customer, and market.
• Prepare and deliver persuasive sales presentations and new business development proposals to build existing and new partnerships and contracts.
• Accountable for the effective management of:
  • Pricing and contract negotiations
  • In conjunction with Supply Chain, manage stock to appropriate levels balancing customer excellence/satisfaction whilst minimising working capital through effective forecasting.
  • Credit terms and debtor management
• Proactively manage and grow customers (existing and new), develop existing and new products, and create market opportunities and new sales leads within your own and associated Account Managers Portfolio.
• Increase GP and product portfolio by initiating opportunities to drive cross-selling / range-sell / value-based pricing.
• Identify high potential accounts and determine strategies for converting prospects.
• Following sales protocols and procedures, generate new leads and improve/increase conversion rates and sales interactions.
• Reactivate lost/idle customers.
• Acting as the key Principal contact, manage, build, and maintain strong Principal. relationships and manage a defined Principal portfolio as well as selected customer portfolios.
• Work closely with Principals to obtain regular updates regarding supply and market insights on ingredients for regular reporting to the Account Managers.
• Negotiate pricing with Principals utilizing market data around freight, commodity, and other ingredients to validate movement in pricing.
• Conduct Quarterly Business Reviews with Principals in accordance with timelines agreed.
• Coordinate Principal visits and arrange technical and product training for the commercial teams relevant to the principal/customer portfolio as required and ensuring communication is effective and timely.
• Communicate pricing strategies and price management to the commercial team ensuring accuracy and completeness of pricing data.
• Organise audits of suppliers on customer requests.
• Initiate and prepare product presentations to Account Managers and the broader market that is related to the Principal products, utilising the support from the Food Application Development Centre Team.
• Ensure all business activities are conducted according to the corporate guidelines.

Strategy Development

• Contribute to the development and maintenance of the Food & Nutrition Business Unit strategy in collaboration with the Head of Department, ensuring the strategy is effectively communicated and executed by the commercial team and achievement is measurable via PPM/KPI outcomes.

Financial

• Manage sales targets and forecasts and track performance metrics of your suppliers and associated customer portfolio.
• In conjunction with Management:
  • Co-ordinate the preparation of annual financial budgets and provide financial forecasting as required.
  • Set and achieve regionally agreed budgeted sales and gross margin targets and report back on business performance and variances to plan.

Industry Involvement

• Maintain appropriate involvement in industry bodies and exhibitions (on behalf of both company and principals) and contribute to the broader development of the Food & Nutrition industry for ANZ.

Reporting

• Provide comprehensive analysis of market and competitor activities to Principals from various sources including the commercial team and market surveys.
• Provide Principal reports ensuring all analysis and development communications are handled in an efficient and timely manner.
• Analyse and report on market trends, gap analysis and potential cross selling opportunities
• Complete monthly reporting and provide ad hoc reporting as requested.

Customer Experience

• Identify and assist in implementation of process improvement opportunities in conjunction with senior management.
• Manage Customer Service Excellence as measured by external customer feedback.
• Work cohesively with internal/external stakeholders ensuring a customer centric culture is achieved and maintained.

Non-conformance Management

• Review Job7's and follow through to action improvements, addressing areas of sub-optimal performance.
• Manage and report all non-conformances, acting on repetitious non-conformances.
• Identify and implement changes to ensure a measured reduction in non-conformances and overall operation efficiency gains and continuous improvement initiatives are achieved.

General

• Consistently demonstrate Brenntag values and expected behaviours through exemplary standard setting.
• Actively participate in the annual Performance, Planning & Review Process (PPM), establishing individual KPIs and monitoring performance to ensure targets and effective work outcomes are achieved.
• Take ownership of learning and development opportunities by creating an Individual Development Plan (IDP), strengthening your personal and professional development.
• Perform such other duties and activities which may be assigned to you from time to time.

Competencies / Personal Attributes:

• Strong commercial and business acumen with demonstrated strategic agility.
• Proven leadership skills with ability to coach, develop, mentor, and inspire.
• Highly developed interpersonal skills – active listener and outstanding communicator.
• A strong work ethic, flexible in approach and supportive of others.
• Must have a "best practice" continuous improvement and customer centric mindset.
• Results orientated with a solutions-based sales approach.
• Agile, highly collaborative with an early adopter mindset.
• Ability to manage complexity and change in a dynamic environment.
• Analytical skills and high attention to detail.
• Strong persuasion and presentation skills.
• Highly motivated with a demonstrated ability to work under pressure managing and prioritising to meet tight deadlines.
• Demonstrated negotiation and influencing skills and ability to work well as part of cross functional teams.
• Excellent IT Skills and practical knowledge of MS Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint).

Qualifications / Experience:

• Tertiary qualified in a related field with relevant postgraduate qualifications - (science/chemistry).
• Minimum 8 + years' experience in a Food/Nutrition/Ingredients and/or related industries with a significant portion of time spent in commercial/sales roles.
• Minimum 5 + years' experience leading commercial teams with evidenced sales results and service excellence outcomes.
• Evidenced ability to lead change, improve engagement and deliver results.
• Working knowledge and experience in the chemical industry advantageous.
• Working knowledge and experience of SAP, MRP and CRM systems.