Hybrid Junior Taste Account Manager at IMCD Group B.V.

Junior Taste Account Manager

IMCD Group B.V. is a global leader in the sales, marketing and distribution of speciality chemicals and food ingredients. With a network of offices and warehouses across Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and Americas, IMCD provides its partners with the best tailored solutions for multi-territory distribution management.

We have a vacancy for A  JUNIOR TASTE ACCOUNT MANAGER  in the IMCD BUSINESS GROUP FOOD AND NUTRITION, to develop our  flavours portfolio in the Southern African region.  This position will be based in Cape Town.

The role is set within the Food and Nutrition business,  promoting and selling products from leading Food and Nutrition Suppliers who rely on IMCD to be their sales and marketing partner for SME’s (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises).  IMCD develops  close working partnership with our suppliers, which has resulted in several years of impressive growth which continues today.

This role will report to the Business Unit Director Food and Nutrition, and will be working alongside Principal Managers, Application Technologists and Account Managers to initiate and convert new taste opportunities with existing and prospective customers.

This position would ideally suit a candidate motivated by the challenge of business development and project management responsibilities within a sales context. Flavours and the food division are a fast-developing area of IMCD and, as such, offers the successful candidate an excellent opportunity to utilise and develop their technical and commercial skills, within a dynamic multinational company environment.

- Be an expert in IMCD’s Taste Portfolio
-  Work alongside the Account Managers to
   *  Maintain and grow Taste sales in the local market to existing Taste  customers
   *  Develop Taste sales in the local market to customers just buying other IMCD ingredients
-   Introduce IMCD and our Principals to target companies not currently working with us
- Present IMCD and our Principals’ Taste capabilities, trend analysis & end applications with the aim of capturing Taste briefs
-  Work closely with the commercial team and our Principals to answer briefs and prepare proactive presentations
-  Develop a pipeline of Taste projects and follow these through to end sales
-  Identify more opportunities to cross sell IMCD product range
-  Formulate the Taste strategy for the market segments covered
-  Foster excellent relations with our Principals and key customerss. 

 Personal Skills

-     Be a dynamic self-starter with excellent communication skills
-     Have a Bachelors degree (or equivalent) in a scientific discipline
-     Have solid technical background and some commercial/sales experience (1 - 5 years)
-     Be IT literate
-     Possess the ability to interface effectively with commercial and technical contacts from   a range of companies
-     Be able to work under pressure to meet deadlines and to prioritise accordingly
-     Be a team player with a friendly manner
-     Share IMCD core values
-     Enjoy travel

Core Competencies

-  Commercial focus and acumen
-  Tasting proficiency
-  B2B, ingredient experience preferable, especially flavour and colour
-  Communication and follow up
-  Organization and Prioritisation
-  Teamwork and cooperation
-  Drive to seek out new opportunities and convert them to sales
-  Interpersonal skills
-  Fluent English
-  IT literacy
-  A flavour or colour background with experience of handling Food / Beverage accounts would be a strong advantage
-  Ability to work within a dynamic team

This position will be based in Musgrave, Cape Town, South Africa