Assistant Business Development Manager - Unilever Professional Europe

Job description

MAIN JOB PURPOSE:

Unilever Professional’s mission is to make Sustainable Cleaning and Personal Care Solutions from Unilever’s well-loved consumer brands commonplace Out of Home.

Currently, Unilever’s Professional businesses are spread across the markets and managed by local operating companies - from Latin America to Australia.

Unilever Professional has been set up as a Global Business Unit that is part of Unilever International – one of Unilever’s Fastest growing Business Units. We aspire to be an exponential organization leveraging strategic partnerships in key markets to establish a global footprint swiftly and achieve our mission.

The incumbent will assist the Business Development Manager (BDM) to drive growth in this business. This business unit focusses on following institutional customer groups: Hotel, Restaurants & Café (HORECA) distributors, Professional Cash & Carry’s, Office Supply companies, specialized Janitorial & Sanitation (J&S) distributors.

While the incumbent will assist the Manager on new business development initiatives, he/she will also coordinate with Multi-functional Teams to manage existing customers and their orders.

JOB SUMMARY
New Business Development:
· Conduct detailed research to understand: market/channel size, channel insights, customer/consumer profile and needs, core consumption categories, customer buying cycle/process, current share of Unilever products, competitor products and pricing, optimal route-to-market.
· Meet prospective customers to understand the channel and their requirements in detail.
· Assist the BDM in developing product proposals, optimal route-to-market and negotiation strategy.
· Organize exhibits and meetings with prospective clients in trade events
· Work with x-functional team to ensure new business/customer requirements are included in supply plans, financial forecasts and market activity plans.
Sales Operations Management:
· Drive and coordinate Business Plan process for logistics and planning, in close cooperation with Internal Business Partners
· Share actual sales performance with Internal Business Partners, provide in-depth analysis and propose corrective actions
· Ensure speed to market for New Product Development
· Ensure timely management of customer complaints and relevant claims
· In-Market Activities Report & Competitor Data
Business Development Projects Management:
· Support Business Development Manager in Operationalization of agreed initiatives.
· Provide clear network update – on actual vs planned.
· Lead coordination meetings of the Multi-Functional team for customer-specific projects. Escalate if critical milestones are likely to be missed.

KEY REQUIREMENTS
· University graduate in any discipline.
· Minimum 3 years’ experience in Sales / Customer Development in Commercial Cleaning or B2B distribution sector
· Self-confident integrity is a must, as the difficulties of the job will test incumbents regularly on their values and they will be often carrying difficult messages to their business partners and key customers
· Entrepreneurial mindset and a can-do attitude
· Passion for growth and result-orientation
· Key Account Management (B2B)
· Excellent analytical and negotiation skills
· Good time management and ability to handle operational pressure
· Proficient in Excel and Powerpoint
· Good inter-personal skills and team working spirit

On any given day, two billion people use Unilever products to look good, feel good and get more out of life. With more than 400 brands focused on health and wellbeing, no company touches so many people’s lives in so many different ways. Our portfolio ranges from nutritionally balanced foods to indulgent ice creams, affordable soaps, luxurious shampoos and everyday household care products. We produce world-leading brands including Lipton, Knorr, Dove, Axe, Hellmann’s and Omo, alongside trusted local names such as Andrélon, Blue Band and Conimex.