About this Key Account Manager South Africa role at Essity
Key Account Manager South Africa
About the role:
As Key Account Manager you will be is fully responsible for growing Personal Care branded portfolio (Libresse, TENA) within assigned national retail customers by translating brand strategies into commercially actionable customer plans. This includes end-to-end ownership of the customer relationship and P&L, leading annual trade term negotiations, and driving volume, mix, and margin growth. The Key Account Manager coordinates across internal functions - Customer Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance, and Field Sales - to ensure accurate forecasting, efficient execution, and product availability. The Key Account Manager handles mainly operational tasks, from promotion planning to execution tracking. Success in the role depends on strong analytical skills, negotiation capability, and the ability to build trust-based relationships while representing the customer voice internally to influence category strategies.
What You will do:
- Manage key accounts with a growth mindset, identifying new opportunities and collaborating across teams to drive commercial success.
- Lead end-to-end customer plans, from joint business planning to execution with omni-channel ownership and tailored strategies across key formats
- Drive commercial performance, managing volume, margin, mix, and customer P&L
- Collaborate cross-functionally and externally to align stakeholders and deliver results
- Analyze and forecast performance, optimizing promotions, trade spend, and assortment
- Embed customer and market insights to shape internal strategy and category growth
- Support In-Store Execution by working with external merchandising team in order to ensure execution, availability, and campaign support
Who you are:
- Strong negotiator - securing strong trade terms and driving promo profitability
- Relationship Builder – developing robust customer partnerships
- Cross-Functional Collaborator – Aligning with internal teams to land brand plans in-store
- Analytical Thinker – Using commercial data to support pricing, mix and ROI improvements
- Commercial Planner – Translating brand priorities into customer-specific activation
- Min. 5 years of experience in FMCG or retail roles involving pricing, customer marketing, or key account management
- Knowledge of structured commercial environments with strong promotional planning
- Degree in Business, Economics, Marketing, or similar field
- Fluency in English is a must
What We Can Offer You
Our purpose, Breaking Barriers to Well-Being, provides meaning to everything we do. Join us to improve well-being for people and drive positive change for society and the environment. At Essity, you'll feel valued, empowered to grow, and challenged to achieve business results in a collaborative and open atmosphere. Innovate for Good | Excel Together | Be You with Us
About location
The role might be based in Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban.
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