Key Account Manager CEE (Central and Eastern Europe)

The Opportunity:

At this position you will in charge to find and develop sales from new customers and to maintain and develop sales from existing customers in CEE (Central and Eastern Europe) in the market sectors we choose to serve. Activities with Customers outside of CEE are possible where the account responsibility involves multi-national customers.

How you will impact on WestRock:

·       Generating profitable sales growth by:

Generating leads and following them up to establish contacts with potential new customers.

Establishing a robust, multi-level rapport with customers with the goal of raising entry barriers to competitive suppliers penetrating the customer and identifying all opportunities to increase business levels with the customer.

·       Preparing targeted commercial proposals maximising the profitability to WestRock (WRK), to present them effectively to the customer and then ensure comprehensive follow-up.

·       Organising and running multi-functional meetings/teams at customers as well as internal WRK project teams when commercially required to manage and develop a customer account.

·       Negotiating with customers in order to maximise the positive impact on the WRK business.

·       Preparing and maintaining internal sales systems, notably forecasting and core key account planning tools, to a high level.

·       Coordinating and managing the total relationship between the customer and the WRK – working with internal management, carton design, customer service, engineering and ultimately suppliers, to ensure a common high level of professionalism and commitment to the customer.

·       Expand the relationships with existing customers by continuously proposing solutions that meet their objectives.

·       Resolve any issues and problems faced by customers and deal with complaints to maintain trust.

·       Acquire a thorough understanding of key customer needs and requirements.

What do you need to succeed:

·       3-5 years of experience in similar position.

·       Experience in long-cycle sales of capital value, non-commodity solutions, to both blue-chip and smaller customers.

·       Fluent in English; other languages are an asset (German, French, etc…).

·       With professional stature and ability to gain customer credibility.

·       Self-motivated, persistent and entrepreneurial.

·       Logical and analytical - able to develop, structure and present sales and negotiation arguments at all customer hierarchy levels – from shop-floor operator to global procurement director.

·       Ability and desire to network.

·       Ability and desire to listen to customers and identify customers needs.

·       Ability to work independently – without needing supporting services/personnel but understanding the need to communicate internally (i.e. a team player who doesn’t need a team to do their job).