National Key Account Manager

Primary Location :

At Solina, our community of close to 5,000 people share a passion for food and live our entrepreneurial culture.

We design customised savoury solutions for our clients operating in the food industry, food service, butchery and nutrition markets. With sustainability at the heart of our business model, we aim to produce food that is good in every sense of the word: delicious, nourishing, affordable, sustainable and convenient.

Solina is a fast-growing business, with around 50 production sites and R&D laboratories present in more than 19 countries mainly in Europe and North America.

By constantly rethinking culinary solutions, we make food matter for people and the planet.

If you're ready for a new adventure in a dynamic, expanding, passionate, international company, join us !

**Position summary **

Reporting to the Director, QSR & National Accounts, the National Account Manager - QSR owns a portfolio of named Canadian Tier 1 quick-service restaurant  and FSR customers. This is a national account role, not a geographic territory or distributor-led sales position. The incumbent is accountable for profitable growth, retention, customer strategy, commercial agreements, forecasting and the successful commercialization of customer-specific solutions. The role leads senior customer relationships and coordinates Solina teams across Sales, Culinary/R&D, Marketing, Commercialization, Operations, Supply Chain, Quality and Finance to deliver commitments and build long-term partnerships. 

**Key responsibilities **

National Account Strategy and Growth

• Develop and execute a multi-year strategy and annual account plan for each assigned national QSR/FSR customer, aligned with Solina Canada’s growth and profitability objectives.

• Build strong and trusted relationships across the customer organization, including senior leaders and decision-makers in Procurement, Supply Chain, Culinary/R&D, Quality, Marketing and Operations.

• Protect and expand existing business by identifying customer priorities, whitespace opportunities and competitive risks, and converting them into an actionable pipeline.

• Lead structured customer business reviews that translate sales, service, innovation and financial data into clear decisions, commitments and next steps.

• Demonstrate a Performance mindset by setting ambitious account objectives, tracking results and continuously identifying opportunities to improve commercial performance.

• Maintain a strong Customer focus by understanding customers’ strategies, challenges and evolving needs and translating them into value-creating solutions.

**Commercial and Financial Ownership **

• Own account revenue, gross margin, pricing and trade or program investments, recommending actions that support sustainable and profitable growth.

• Lead customer negotiations for pricing, contracts, renewals, requests for proposal, service expectations and other commercial terms within approved authority and escalation guardrails.

• Prepare accurate rolling forecasts and opportunity assumptions by item and customer; communicate demand changes early and partner with S&OP to support supply continuity.

• Monitor contract compliance, deductions, rebates, claims and customer-specific costs, escalating material financial or service risks promptly.

• Demonstrate Accountability by taking ownership of commercial commitments, financial performance, forecasts and customer deliverables, ensuring appropriate follow-through and timely escalation when required.

• Apply sound business judgement and financial discipline when making recommendations and negotiating customer agreements.

**Customer Solutions and Commercialization **

• Translate customer strategies, consumer insights and menu trends into clear development briefs and commercially viable solution opportunities.

• Lead customer-facing innovation activity from concept through approval and launch, including samples, timelines, specifications, pricing, forecasts and implementation readiness.

• Coordinate cross-functional launch plans and ensure customer commitments, risks, dependencies and decision dates are understood and actively managed.

• Partner with Quality, Supply Chain and Operations to resolve significant service or product issues, provide timely customer communication and confirm corrective actions.

• Demonstrate Entrepreneurship by proactively identifying new business opportunities, challenging existing approaches and bringing forward creative solutions that create value for both the customer and Solina.

• Encourage speed, collaboration and practical problem-solving to move opportunities from concept to successful commercialization.

**Business Discipline and Cross-Functional Leadership **

• Maintain accurate account plans, contacts, opportunities, activities, risks and forecasts in the Solina Canada CRM platform.

• Analyze customer, category, competitor and market information to improve account decisions and identify emerging risks or opportunities.

• Lead internal account meetings with clear ownership, priorities and follow-up, influencing cross-functional contributors without direct authority.

• Build effective collaboration across Sales, Culinary/R&D, Marketing, Commercialization, Operations, Supply Chain, Quality and Finance to ensure customer commitments are delivered.

• Take ownership of challenges and outcomes, demonstrating Accountability and ensuring actions are followed through to completion.

• Promote a results-oriented and collaborative approach consistent with Solina’s PACE culture.

• Represent Solina Canada professionally at customer meetings, industry events and customer locations across Canada, and collaborate with Solina colleagues in other regions when required.

**PACE Leadership Expectations **

• As a key commercial representative of Solina Canada, the National Account Manager – QSR is expected to bring the PACE culture to life through day-to-day actions and decisions:

• Performance: Deliver strong, measurable results and continuously seek opportunities to improve growth, profitability and execution.

• Accountability: Take ownership of decisions, commitments and outcomes while communicating transparently and following through on agreed actions.

• Customer Focus: Place customer needs and long-term partnerships at the centre of decisions while balancing customer expectations with Solina’s business objectives.

• Entrepreneurship: Act proactively, identify opportunities, challenge the status quo and turn ideas into commercially viable solutions.

**Qualifications and experiences **

• Minimum 7 years of progressive business-to-business sales or account management experience with a food manufacturer, including at least 2 years of direct responsibility for Canadian Tier 1 national QSR accounts. This national QSR experience is required.

• Demonstrated ownership of complex, high-value national accounts and a record of retaining business, delivering profitable growth and closing new opportunities.

• Direct experience working with national QSR procurement and cross-functional customer stakeholders; distributor-only, broadline territory or regional foodservice experience alone does not meet the requirement.

• Proven capability in commercial negotiation, pricing, contract management, budgeting, forecasting and margin analysis.

• Experience leading customer-specific product development and commercialization in a food manufacturing environment, from brief through launch.

• Strong understanding of Canadian QSR supply chains, including the roles of distributors, specifications, quality requirements and launch execution.

• Strong executive communication, presentation, influence and relationship-management skills.

• Advanced working ability in Excel and PowerPoint and disciplined use of CRM and reporting tools.

• Bachelor degree in Business, Marketing or a related field is preferred; an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience will be considered.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English; French is a strong asset.

• Valid driver licence and ability to travel regularly across Canada, with occasional travel outside Canada as business needs require.

**Measures of success **

• Achievement of account revenue and gross-margin objectives.

• Customer retention, share growth and qualified pipeline conversion.

• Forecast accuracy and timely communication of material demand changes.

• On-time delivery of customer commitments, commercialization milestones and launches.

• Quality of senior customer relationships, business reviews and account plans.

• Contract, pricing and CRM discipline.

**Working conditions **

• Full-time position, Monday to Friday, with flexibility required to support customer and business needs.

• Regular travel to customer meetings, Solina facilities and industry events across Canada.

• Home-office, hybrid or office expectations to be confirmed based on the successful candidate's location and bus

We are open to talents of all backgrounds. Our recruitment process is based on competences, and we openly welcome all candidates of all types according to our DEI Commitment