Key Account Manager (Haircare/Cosmetics)

About Flora & Curl
Flora & Curl is a UK-based haircare brand with a passion for empowering our customers to uncover healthy and more radiant textured hair. We are dedicated to putting the care back in hair care. Stocked in Boots, Superdrug and shipped to over 80 countries via our DTC site.
We’ve received amazing testimonials attesting to the results of our plant powered, botanical haircare solutions for textured hair. Rooted in science, backed by nature, and crafted with care and conscience, we love creating naturally powerful haircare products for our customers all over the world.
Job Overview
We are looking for an experienced, motivated, and knowledgeable Key Account Manager/Retail Sales Manager. We are rapidly growing as a brand and need a self-starter to support us in initiating and building key retail relationships. You will be responsible for managing our retail sales into retail. The ideal candidate will live and breathe Flora & Curl through our ethos and philosophy.
You will be responsible for increasing our key retail and distribution opportunities, working alongside our operations team (Operations Manager and Supply Chain and Logistics Manager) to process current account orders and grow our accounts.
You'll have a commercial mindset with a natural ability to reach creative results and achieve ambitious targets. You'll be highly numerate, target-driven, commercially savvy, and passionate about working in the beauty industry.
You'll be responsible for nurturing strategic partnerships with our retail partners as well as identifying new commercial opportunities, negotiating best in class reciprocal retailer support, and thinking limitlessly to bring the F&C brand in store and online.
Key Responsibilities
Prospect Accounts
Pitching
Articulately and enthusiastically pitching Flora & Curl to potential retailers; while knowing our story and products inside out and living and breathing our values.
Develop a pipeline of prospects and deliver new business wins
Own execution of sampling strategy.
Working with our marketing team to design on-brand sales presentations and documents to assist in attracting new clients and closing deals.
Work with operations to ensure we have the capabilities to grow our distribution.
Onboarding
Negotiate contracts and terms, including structural discounts, manage system set ups, product information files and back-end shipping requirements.
Managing the on-boarding process with new retailers - completing new supplier forms and ensuring the client has everything they need to launch with the brand.
Current Accounts
Management
Day-to-day management of a select book of retailers and working to revenue targets
Ensuring a positive, effective, and productive working relationship with each to encourage growth and profitability.
Order Processing, Delivery and Invoicing
Ensure all new retail orders are submitted to our warehouse and orders are always fulfilled correctly and on time.
Ensure that retailers orders are prepared to their specific requirements
Work with supply, logistics and operations to process orders and shipments
Ensure payment is made, invoices are managed efficiently and sent out on time, and the necessary communication is maintained throughout the order process
Liaise with warehouse over any issues raised by customers with regard to either orders or returns such as missing items or damaged items
Randomly check-in with retailers via e-mail to see if there is anything they need and whether their orders arrived well and without issues
Answer all post-sales order queries
Sales growth and pitching new products and more placements
Setting up regular meetings with all accounts to build personable relationships and discuss our long term growth within each account
Building strong relationships with retailers by keeping contact regularly, selling in new product
Spotting opportunities to grow revenue with each account where possible by.
Establish and maintain a process to diagnose sales performance.
Understanding each retailer’s yearly review schedules for bringing newness.
Understanding the personalities of each buyer and contact and creating a personalised approach of relationship building and communication. Each retailer and buyer is different, if a buyer changes, build even better relationships with the new buyer.
Learn new skills and techniques to pitch and win sales from prospects with a sales- and target- focused mindset.
Marketing and Content
Ensure retailer’s store front is up to date and our products are showing correctly.
Updating retailers wholesale assets in the dropbox and ensuring it contains all the assets and documentation required
Working with the Head of Marketing to develop and implement our company trade and retail marketing and promotional strategy:
Prepare and host i) seasonal Market Meeting presentations, ii) business reviews iii) and routine touch base calls specific to each major retail account.
Work with Head of Marketing to create retail plans and trade calendars.
Ensure that new product comps and content, including assets, videos, and product copy, are tracked and provided to the retailers by due dates.
Track investment, analyse ROI and uplift vs targets.
Support in brick and mortar store environments and retailer training to help maximise retail partner revenue.
Oversee significant retail projects, including stand design and updates, to enhance product visibility and consumer engagement. This includes maintaining relationships with POS design agencies to ensure effective presentation of products in retail environments and to optimise product displays and visual merchandising.
Reporting, forecasting and goal-setting
Weekly and monthly reporting on account performance
Update and deliver monthly, quarterly and annual sales forecasts indicating risks and opportunities.
Liaise with Supply Chain, Operations and Logistics to ensure stock is in correct locations, providing clear and accurate forecasts. Oversee the supply chain within the account through forecasting and delivery.
Participation in key business meetings such as forecast validation, brand updates, presenting a review of account performance identifying challenges and opportunities as appropriate.
Request sales and forecast data
Ongoing analysis of retailer and product performance and providing relevant findings
Prepare reports on returned and / or damaged products, lost or missing orders
Required Experience
Experience of managing and expanding wholesale retail accounts for a beauty brand in the UK, US and Europe.
Knowledge of UK, Europe or USA-based retail account management is preferred. Global experience is a bonus.
Minimum of 4 years’ experience in the beauty (skincare or haircare) industry in a similar role with a proven record of initiating and growing brick and mortar and digital B2B sales and profit.
Passion for, and knowledge of the beauty industry with experience in haircare.
P&L and JBP ownership experience
Required Skills & Qualities
Extensive experience of working with large, multiple retailers
Demonstrable sales success ideally with a beauty brand in the UK / US
Strong commercial awareness, acumen and negotiation skills
Structured, strategic and analytical, comfortable working with data
A drive to achieve targets, reporting metrics and demonstrating your understanding of data to improve your own results
Beauty savvy: Ability to understand cosmetics/beauty related information and its science, being able to advise customers by utilizing knowledge expertise in describing and demonstrating our product range;
Process oriented and highly organised: Have the ability to handle multiple enquiries and projects simultaneously with excellent personal organizational skills and high attention to detail.
Communication: Excellent keyboard and written skills, articulate with good spelling and grammar. Fluent English language and written skills, articulate with good spelling and grammar.
Numerical data management: Excellent knowledge of managing data, analysing and
interpreting for decision making, reporting and presentations.