Customer Account Manager - Publix

At Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, we are excited to start a new chapter of accelerated growth as part of Froneri – a global pure-play ice cream leader. Come help us transform DGIC into the #1 ice cream brand! With nearly 100 years of winning experience in the U.S, a robust portfolio of powerhouse brands that consumers know and love such as Häagen-Dazs, Drumstick, Dreyer’s & Edy’s, and the backing and coaching of European-based ice cream experts, we know we have the winning recipe.

Headquartered in Walnut Creek, the Bay Area’s hub for up and coming food trends, our teams across our offices and factories are raising the bar on all things ice cream. We are investing in significant capital expansions to grow our Operations and Supply Chain, and are transforming how we work at every level to become agile, accelerate growth and elevate our quality. With a renewed focus on frozen treats, our tight-knit team of ambitious innovators are fully immersed in the business and encouraged to flex and make decisions quickly. We are committed to pursuing every great idea and delivering the best ice cream experience for our consumers, when and where they want it.

Unleash your potential at Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream and discover what a sweet career we have in store for you!

MAIN PURPOSE OF JOB:

Drive Category Growth at the Customer(s) – You will be the main contact for Publix responsible for driving category growth and achieve annual sales and commercial spend targets. This role is deeply involved in the activation of Category Roadmaps and uses them in the development and activation of customer-specific Category Business Plans (with a category first approach) to achieve objectives. Deliver goals on new item distribution and base volume gains. Build and maintain strong connection to Customer & Category Management to partner to bring category and shopper insights to drive category results. Drive and own strategy and execution for total account portfolio standard margin increases. Build relationship with account portfolio as ice cream category and quality expert. Ensure that respective account portfolio is up to date with payments to DGIC (direct contact with account and DGIC accounts receivable). Maintain all necessary reporting, promotion calendars and forecast volume as required.

• Work with Customer & Category Management Team on development of customer-specific category plans anchored in the category growth drivers (category 1st mindset)
• Present and launch New Item Plan and develop initial field forecast
• Develop customer promotion plans
• Perform bottom-up build of Integrated Customer and Category Plan using appropriate Planning System to create Customer Plans
• Clearly execute all DGIC priorities and deliver the growth and goals for your accounts

• Achieve annual sales and trade targets through effective selling and negotiation. Utilize Thoughtspot and Exceedra to develop winning plans to meet or exceed standard margin and sales revenue budget. Drive for forecast accuracy at respective account portfolio. Develop strong reporting capabilities in Thoughtspot and Exceedra.
• Continuous improvement on forecasting to update, as required, to hit forecast as described within the annual performance evaluation goals.
• Frequent customer interaction to implement the annual plan, drive execution of the plan, gain distribution on new and d-build items, activate the customer category strategies, shopper marketing, and any urgent communications such as service level issues or product quality issues
• Identify gaps between customer plan and customer feedback and propose resolutions to gaps
• Ensure achievement of agreed Customer(s) targets/KPIs (Category growth, Sales, Customer service and in-stock levels, etc.)Understand respective account portfolios transportation and logistics network and be able to facilitate conversations related to transportation and logistics internally and externally.

• Present Customer Category Plan and supporting Implementation Calendar to customer via joint business planning (JBP)
• Monitor and review customer category plan
• Drive execution of customer category plan
• Communicate in store issues raised by the customer/buyer to both your Team Leader/Director and also the CCM team.

• Support deduction management by working with the AR Team ensuring proper documentation is received and drive payback or removal of unapproved deductions
• Support customer invoice payment by working with AR Team when needed to ensure assigned customers are paying invoice on time (per terms) and in full
• As the customer owner ensure invoice accuracy, ensuring all terms and pricing are correctly listed on all invoices

• Continual interaction and work with the standardized reports, business insights, and category growth driving opportunities
• Collaborate with team members to share best practices and drive Customer related initiatives, as well as, other functional groups like customer facing supply chain, finance manager, and category sales development.

Objectives:

• Communicate as needed with the retailer to collaborate and execute promotions.
• Create new item presentations with data specific information to hold and gain shelf space.
• Create and consistently modify sales forecasts in each category.
• Negotiate monthly promotions with customer.
• Understand customer contracts and work within guidelines to ensure policy compliance.
• Manage trade spend to maximize profitability with maintaining good customer relations.
• Collaborate with outside vendors to create promotional synergies.
• Analyze promotion effectiveness through IRI and other data reports.
• Maintain all necessary reporting, promotion calendars, and forecast volume as required.
• Execute all Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream (DGIC) priorities.
• Collaborate with team members to share best practices and drive Customer related initiatives, as well as other functional groups like customer facing supply chain, finance manager, and category sales development.
• Become a quality agent by continuously checking our products in various stores and location. Provide feedback and challenge as necessary to help the organization understand the retail experience.

Maintain Customer Relations: Frequent customer interaction to implement the annual plan, drive execution of the plan, gain distribution on new and d-build items, activate the customer category strategies, shopper marketing, and any urgent communications such as service level issues or product quality issues

• Identify gaps between customer plan and customer feedback and propose resolutions to gaps
• Ensure achievement of agreed Customer(s) targets/Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Category growth, Sales, Customer service and in-stock levels, etc.

Sales (net sales to goal) MEASURABLE OUTCOMES (as defined in the annual performance review goals)

• Sales (Net Sales to Goal)
• Trade spend (to goal)
• Share growth (Year over Year)
• Profitability (Gross margin to Budget)
• Forecasting accuracy (for your accounts)
• Reporting and Administration Accuracy (Promotional Plan)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience working with Publix
• Demonstrated ability to take initiative and be proactive in identifying customer issues, recommending solutions, and executing effectively to ensure resolution.
• Proven track record in building effective relationships with customers and internal associates.
• Strong negotiating skills to create win win outcomes for the company and customer
• Demonstrated diligence and ability to follow through on all commitments (internal and external stakeholders).
• Strong oral, written and interpersonal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to achieve performance goals with minimum direction and supervision.
• Demonstrated solid forecasting skills and the ability to research data from all internal reporting sights i.e. (IRI, PowerBI, Numertor, Kwikee, Run Report, Trade Rate Report)
• College or Undergraduate degree required