Sales Account Manager

Ingredion is a leading global ingredients solutions company. We make sweeteners, starches, nutrition ingredients and biomaterials that are used by customers in everyday products from foods and beverages to paper and pharmaceuticals.

The Account Manager will be responsible to develop maximum sales volume and margins through detailed planned sales coverage at existing and prospective accounts within the Northwest US region so that sales and profit objectives of the Ingredient Solutions plan are met. The Account Manager will call on small to medium sized accounts with some key strategic customers and distributors.

**Business** * Strategic Account Management- Develops strategic account plans to create long term value for customers. Prepares strategic account plans including account strategies, defined objectives, milestones and specific opportunities. Establishes strategic relationships with key accounts to sell products, services and alternative solutions to create competitive advantage for the customer. Mobilizes internal resources to serve the customer. Work closely with Distributors to sell our ingredients and solutions to their customer base. * Sales Strategy Development- Work with management to develop a business plan, accurate sales, demand forecast and sales strategy. Utilize technical understanding of food ingredients to introduce value selling or value price concepts. * Financial & Budget Responsibilities- Develop and achieve budget and control expenses for sales territory. * Reporting– Maintains accurate records of all sales activity, including customer call reports, territory sales analysis, quarterly updates, and salesforce.com data, etc. **Agility and Innovation** * Product and Application Development- Advises and works with customer to create innovative solutions. Advises customers and internal stakeholders using deep knowledge of Ingredion products. Designs trial plan utilizing the breadth of technical resources available to create innovation solutions. * Market Analysis- Conduct market analysis of customers, understanding market trends and competitive pricing. * Customer Value Creation- Creates solutions based on implicit customer needs. Applies deep understanding of customer strategy and an understanding of explicit and implicit customer needs to create value. Quantifies and articulates the current and potential value created for the customer. Identify opportunities to solve customer problems with existing products or new requirements. **Relationships and People** * Contract Negotiations– Negotiate annual contracts with customers and manage the development, accuracy and delivery of those contracts. Manage resale credits for distributors with accuracy. Create and conduct proposal presentations and RFPs. * Customer Relations- Continually reinforces value proposition with the customer. Manage resale credits for Distributors with accuracy. Constructs and delivers persuasive sales presentations to diverse audiences. Handles audience questions while continually reinforcing key elements of the value proposition. * Communication- Develop and maintain effective channels of communication with the field sales group in order to better communicate all issues related to pricing, market trends, sales initiatives, technical requirements, new product development applications and overall market direction. Understand the competitive landscape, monitor competitive developments and activities of competitors in the marketplace. Maintain communication with customer service and credit to assure both customer needs and contract obligations are being met. Communicate with demand planning team for timely and accurate forecasting. Effectively communicate this information to management and sales team members.

**Knowledge, Skills, and Requirements:** * Bachelor’s degree in a technical discipline (Food Science, Chemical Engineering). MBA a plus. * 3+ years of direct sales or technical sales experience with focus in the food and beverage industry. * Proven track record managing and penetrating accounts at multiple touch points and delivering results; preferably in the food industry. * Demonstrated ability to organize a sales operating strategy which permits the identification of business opportunities and variables effecting the customer and market. * Willing to travel up to 50% of the time * Knowledgeable in financial dealings with customer accounts. * Motivated, self-starting professional with excellent communication skills both written and oral. Skilled at preparing and delivering both technical and business presentations. * Demonstrated ability to engage in functional problem solving conversations with customers and internal stakeholders regarding issues and the opportunities. * Technical background or technical sales a plus. Proven track record of grasping technical data and utilizing to close business. * Strong computer skills (Word, Excel and Power Point), salesforce.com or other CRM experience a strong plus. * Strong organizational and time management skills. * Proven negotiation skills. **Desired behavior, personal attributes:** * Delivering our strategy: Proactively builds a good understanding of the customer to ensure own work is responsive to customer needs. Proactively seeks to improve knowledge of our customers, their markets and our business to ensure plan delivery. * Passionately driving for results: Consistently focuses on achieving strong results, despite balancing multiple complex demands. Utilizes data and facts to articulate the need for change and build commitment from others. * Fostering results-focused innovation: Regularly identifies areas that can be improved and constructively proposes new solutions that increase value and improve business performance. Explores multiple possibilities for tackling challenges, thinks “out of the box” to determine the best solution. * Operating with agility: Proactively builds a good understanding of their customer to ensure own work is responsive to customer needs. Accepts responsibility while managing contingencies communicates and adjust plans appropriately. * Building trusted relationships: Proactively helps others and responds to their business needs to build strong working relationships. Supports others to build relationships and work productively with internal and external partners. * Encouraging personal growth: Seeks opportunities (training, projects, etc.) that develop knowledge and skills to become a stronger contributor.