Strategic Account Manager at British American Tobacco

Level: Experienced Professional
Appointment Type: Permanent

British American Tobacco has an exciting opportunity for an experienced Strategic Account Manager to join our team in Nairobi.

Purpose statement:

• Within the EAM (East African Markets) Supply Chain be responsible for the implementation of the integrated Supply Chain customer facing strategy in line with global service strategy and EAM business strategy
• It is the Job holder’s responsibility to be the liaison between the local supply chain and the East Africa Markets commercial teams in order to drive the midterm strategy for the BAT East Africa End Markets by ensuring that the local supply chain delivers to the objectives within the End Market Account Plans in line with the BAT service strategy and business strategy

This includes:

• Providing leadership and strategic direction within the integrated supply chain and drive a customer focused culture in support of BAT EAM business deliverables.
• Representing the BAT Operations business in commercial forums; Working with the Supply Chain Manager & above market SNO teams to translate the Commercial plans for growth and productivity into tangible action plans for the operations business whilst ensuring that they are aligned and fit with the business strategy.
• Establishing relationship and managing requirements and expectations within the integrated Supply Chain (end to end) and our customer base, in order to ensure speed to market for New Product Introductions, and drive reliable and cost-effective services
• Taking an end to end view to enable best business decisions to be made at the End Market, Area level and within operations e.g. Collaborating with the Commercial & SNO teams to manage delivery to demand, management of Stock Holding Policies, Finished Good Durations for our Delivery of Shipments to our End Markets.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES:

Business

• Collaboration with SNO & local Supply of On time delivery and supply of FG to achieve volume and profit targets for their respective EM’s.
• Delivery of overall Service effectiveness
• Performance deliverables for your respective EM’s < >Conformance to SLA, On Time in Full (OTIF Received/Available to Clear) Conformance to MTS/ MTOFG working Capital targets (Durations and Cost), Contribute to the optimised EAM SC business objectives and performance by supporting the integrated SC functions
• Collaborate with the Supply Chain Manager to translate the EM’s Commercial plans for growth and productivity into operational action plans
• Provide strategic input and insight to optimise our Cost to Serve within the EAM Ops Business (differentiated/segmented supply and service solutions).
• Provide operations input into EM’s annual Company Plan
• Provide input and insight on behalf of EAM SC into the Commercial Area Business Review to allow informed decision making/recommendation to the Area S&OP and Regional S&I.
• Continuously foster supply chain performance improvement by defining and implementing actions to improve Customer Focused KPI results.
• Escalation and resolution of all queries within the designated EM’s, so that they can be resolved within an agreed timeframe
• Ensure the right balance between a standardised Supply Chain approach (standard SLA’s, standard Supply Chain processes…) and a segmented Supply Chain approach (fulfilling EM’s specific needs and requirements) with a clear focus on the end-to-end Supply Chain and Customer Satisfaction

Leadership

• Delivery of the business change to embed the Global Service Strategy within the scope of responsibility e.g. ensure above- market way of working & customer facing teams drumbeat.
• Responsible for their functional teams, (account management and customer facing teams) within the EAM SC to deliver high customer satisfaction, and conformance to customer (EM’s) SLA’s
• Challenging the status quo and act as catalyst for new ideas to deliver a competitive advantage.
• Achieves high performance by coaching and motivating people, valuing different approaches and visibly supporting team decisions whilst maximizing individual and team capabilities
• Ensure the integrated supply chain’s commitment to Service strategies and initiatives through communication, education/awareness.

Management

• Ensuring raw materials to finished product is achieved in the most flexible, cost effective and efficient way practicable, whilst satisfying EM and business needs.
• Work with the SNO, local supply chain & commercial teams in order to provide a valid input in the EAM Business Review and Area S&OP meetings
• Responsible for ensuring the EM’s in their Area are conforming/adhering to order policy Understand order cycle trends and escalate appropriately any deviations for timely resolution.
• Ensure that joint development plans across your End Markets are receiving the necessary focus, support and resources
• Support the CFT to ensure full EAM SC commitment to Service Strategy and initiatives through communication and education/awareness
• Support development and improvement of customer focused KPIs reporting and performance, to achieve EAM SC and End Market targets, ensuring that performance is measured and reported in a way that demonstrates commercial and competitive advantage

Relationship

• Internal (EAM SC)

-    Build effective working relationships with all touch points across the supply chain organisation
-    Promote the understanding of the end-to-end supply chain to enable individuals to own and solve    issues in a systematic and complete manner

• External (Areas & End Markets) < >Ensure account management “touch points” are identified, owned and developed appropriately at End Market levelDevelop sound relationships with key stakeholders within the Area Directors & Leadership Teams < >Develop sound relationships with key stakeholders within the End MarketsEnsure customer facing contact point and escalation processes are defined within their customer base. 
• Develop networks that enhance our ability to transfer skills and capabilities across the marketing and operations functions, and encourage sharing of knowledge and key learning’s

Innovation

• Translate Area and EM’s requirements in a way that can be effectively met and not constrained by the current ways of working/set-up Identify any constraints and recommend the optimal way to meet the customer requirements. E.g. Giving Customers greater visibility of their orders within the Supply Chain, and giving Service teams improved visibility and ownership across the customer base, improved customer issue logging and resolution via the CFT process.
• Instigate continuous improvement initiatives with customers, managing resource and actions from other functions into this process to deliver quality enhancement and cost reductions.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

• Strong leadership skills, with previous experience of successfully leading teams of managers
• At least 4-6 years of experience at management level in a FMCG company, managing customer relationships and or demand management processes
• Strategic thinking, be able to absorb complex issues and opportunities to be able to contribute to the overall strategy balancing pro’s and con’s in several environments 
• Proven Customer engagement skills
• Profound Supply Chain Knowledge
• Good analytical and planning skills
• Influential and convincing.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills