National Account Manager - Independent Grocery

This is a critical role where you'll take ownership of national customer relationships and drive commercial outcomes across Australia's independent grocery ecosystem, including national wholesalers and banner groups. You'll lead joint business planning, promotions and category initiatives that grow distribution, share of shelf, execution standards and ROI. This role is first and foremost about building trusted relationships, delivering disciplined execution, applying sound commercial judgement, and understanding how consumer goods move through retailers, wholesalers and stores. You'll join a high-performing, connected team that is privileged to represent tier-one brands through its partnership with Procter & Gamble. Reporting to the National Business Manager, you'll work closely with the Senior Leadership Team, customers, Procter & Gamble, and a dedicated independent field team servicing more than 800 of Australia's leading independent grocery stores.

Responsibilities

National customer management for independent grocery: own the customer plan, calendar and pipeline across Metcash and key banner groups; Annual and quarterly joint business plans: targets, distribution, promotions, displays and new product launches; Promotional strategy and ROI: brief, negotiate, execute and review campaigns; optimise trade spend and mechanics; Category development: planograms, shelf principles, merchandising standards and path-to-purchase initiatives; Forecasting: revenue and spend planning with Finance; manage risks, opportunities, claims and accruals with discipline; Field execution: partner with the operations team to deliver consistent in-store execution and close the loop between plan and instore impact; Build trusted, long-term partnerships with buyers, banner groups and internal stakeholders; be the voice of the customer internally and the voice of the brand externally; Deliver gross sales, trade spend and market share targets for your national category portfolio; Negotiate pricing, ranging, promotional programs and customer investments; manage accruals, claims and investment ROI; Use financial and commercial insight to understand the trade-offs between price, investment and margin delivery; Use modern commercial tools (Microsoft 365/Copilot, Tableau and analytics dashboards) to make faster, smarter decisions; Partner cross-functionally with Business Analysts, Field Operations, Finance, Client and Supply to resolve issues quickly and unlock growth

Requirements

Experience in account management or a closely related commercial role within consumer goods; Strong relationship-building capability across multiple stakeholders; Execution discipline: experience turning plans into delivered outcomes; Financial and commercial literacy: comfortable with revenue, trade spend, pricing and mix; Negotiation experience across customer plans, ranging, promotional programs or commercial investments; Experience working with or alongside field sales teams on retail execution; Able to prioritise and manage multiple competing deadlines in a fast-paced, multi-stakeholder complex environment; Takes ownership and accountability — comfortable being measured on outcomes, not just activity

Nice to have

Experience with national wholesalers and banner groups within independent grocery (e.g., Metcash, Drakes, Foodland, Ritchies, Foodworks); Formal category management training or experience; Experience representing tier-1 FMCG brands; Working in a principal - agency model

Benefits

Daily breakfast; Inspiring office space; Values-led team culture