Strategic Account Executive
Location: Washington & Oregon
Reports To: Sales Manager
Position Type: Full-Time
Position Summary
The Major Account Executive is responsible for retaining, strengthening, and growing Medosweet's largest and most strategic customer relationships, with a primary focus on food manufacturers and other high-volume accounts throughout the Pacific Northwest.
This position serves as the senior commercial contact for assigned customers and is accountable for customer retention, revenue growth, gross profit performance, contract management, and identifying new opportunities within existing relationships. The Major Account Executive develops deep knowledge of each customer's business and works collaboratively with Purchasing, Operations, Logistics, Customer Service, and Executive Leadership to deliver solutions that support customer success while achieving Medosweet's financial objectives.
The successful candidate is a strategic relationship builder who balances customer advocacy with business discipline and actively contributes to Medosweet's long-term growth strategy. The role aligns with company initiatives to grow manufacturing business, expand profitable customer relationships, and increase share of wallet within existing accounts.
Essential Responsibilities
Strategic Account Management
- Own and manage a portfolio of Medosweet's largest and most strategic accounts.
- Develop long-term account plans that drive customer retention, growth, and profitability.
- Build executive-level relationships with customer leadership, purchasing teams, operations managers, production leaders, and ownership groups.
- Conduct regular business reviews that reinforce Medosweet's value proposition and identify opportunities for improvement.
- Ensure customer satisfaction through proactive communication and issue resolution.
- Maintain a thorough understanding of each customer's business objectives, challenges, operational requirements, and future growth plans.
Revenue Growth & Business Development
- Increase sales volume, margin contribution, and product penetration within assigned accounts.
- Identify opportunities to introduce additional dairy and specialty food categories.
- Expand relationships across multiple locations, divisions, and decision-makers within customer organizations.
- Develop strategies to protect and recover at-risk business.
- Collaborate with Sales Leadership to pursue new large-account opportunities that fit Medosweet's strategic direction.
- Support contract negotiations, annual pricing agreements, and long-term supply partnerships.
Manufacturing Market Development
- Serve as Medosweet's lead relationship manager for key manufacturing customers.
- Understand customer production schedules, demand forecasts, quality requirements, and inventory expectations.
- Coordinate supply strategies that support production continuity and supply-chain reliability.
- Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and strengthen customer partnerships.
Cross-Functional Leadership
- Partner closely with Purchasing to align sourcing strategies with customer demand.
- Work collaboratively with Operations and Logistics to ensure service excellence and delivery performance.
- Coordinate with Customer Service to provide exceptional support and responsiveness.
- Engage Executive Leadership on significant opportunities, risks, and strategic initiatives.
- Act as the customer's internal advocate while balancing company profitability and operational capabilities.
Financial Management
- Achieve annual sales, gross margin, retention, and profitability objectives.
- Monitor account profitability and recommend pricing strategies when appropriate.
- Support forecasting and budgeting processes by providing accurate customer demand projections.
- Identify trends, risks, and opportunities affecting account performance.
Market Intelligence
- Monitor competitive activity, industry developments, and dairy commodity market trends.
- Maintain awareness of emerging opportunities within manufacturing and large-account channels.
- Provide market feedback that supports strategic planning, supplier partnerships, and product line development.
Qualifications
Required
- Minimum of 5 years of successful B2B sales or account management experience.
- Demonstrated success managing large strategic customer relationships.
- Proven ability to grow revenue within existing accounts.
- Strong negotiation, presentation, and relationship-building skills.
- Excellent verbal and written communication abilities.
- Strong business acumen and financial understanding.
- Proficiency with CRM software and Microsoft Office applications.
- Ability to travel throughout Washington and Oregon as needed.
Preferred
- Experience selling dairy products, food ingredients, specialty foods, or foodservice products.
- Background working with food manufacturers, processors, or large-volume commercial customers.
- Knowledge of food distribution, supply chain management, and category management.
- Existing relationships within the Pacific Northwest food industry.
Key Performance Indicators
Success in this position will be measured by:
- Customer retention rate
- Revenue growth within assigned accounts
- Gross margin achievement
- Share-of-wallet growth!
- New product/category penetration
- Contract renewals and extensions!
- Customer satisfaction and service performance
- Forecast accuracy!
- CRM utilization and account planning discipline
- Contribution to overall company profitability
Core Competencies
- Relationship Building
- Strategic Thinking
- Customer-Centric Mindset
- Negotiation & Influence
- Consultative Selling
- Financial Acumen
- Collaboration
- Accountability
- Problem Solving
- Communication Excellence
This role provides the opportunity to help shape the future growth of Medosweet by protecting and expanding some of the company's most important customer relationships.
