National Account Manager - Grocery

At Quintessential Brands Group, we are proud to continue the legacy of Thomas Dakin, the visionary who pioneered quality English gin in 1761. Today, our award-winning portfolio spans iconic names like Greenall's, Opihr, Thomas Dakin, The Dubliner, and Chamère, our exciting new venture in RTD cocktails.

A Taste of The Job

As our National Account Manager – Grocery, you'll take commercial ownership of some of the UK's most influential grocery customers, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons, alongside new business opportunities within the channel. This is a senior, high-impact role where you'll lead strategy, execution, and delivery across critical accounts for our UK Off-Trade business.

Reporting to the Head of Grocery, you'll bring brand ambition to scalable retail success by balancing distribution growth, promotional effectiveness, pricing strategy, category development, and margin delivery. Acting as the commercial lead, you'll influence buyers while orchestrating cross-functional collaboration internally to ensure best-in-class execution at every touchpoint.

Success in this role will be measured through profitable growth, market share gains, innovation launch excellence, and delivery of ambitious Joint Business Plans.

Your Impact Will Include

Account Leadership

·       Own the end-to-end commercial strategy for Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons.

·       Lead annual joint business planning processes aligned to both brand and retailer growth agendas.

·       Develop and execute 3-year strategic account plans.

·       Hold full P&L accountability, including revenue, margin, trade spend, and investment.

·       Negotiate trading terms, promotional frameworks, and annual agreements.

·       Identify and unlock distribution and range expansion opportunities across strategic and commercial brands.

Commercial & Financial Management

·       Deliver profitable top-line growth through pricing strategy, promotional optimisation, and mix management.

·       Lead complex, high-value commercial negotiations at the senior buyer level.

·       Optimise trade investment to ensure strong ROI.

·       Drive forecast accuracy, demand planning, and availability.

·       Monitor competitor activity, retailer strategy shifts, and market dynamics.

Category & Growth Development

·       Partner with Category & Insights to create compelling, insight-led selling stories.

·       Influence retailer category strategy to unlock premiumisation and margin growth.

·       Lead innovation, sell-in, and launch execution at scale.

·       Develop retailer-exclusive propositions and seasonal activation plans.

·       Ensure excellence across both physical and online retail environments.

Cross-Functional Leadership

·       Act as the central commercial interface between retailers and internal teams.

·       Lead cross-functional account teams to deliver Joint Business Plan commitments.

·       Align brand, trade marketing, and activation with commercial objectives.

·       Partner with Supply Chain to secure consistent availability.

·       Provide clear performance reporting and strategic recommendations to senior leadership.

A Flavour of the Business

At Quintessential Brands, we're a unique blend of a fast-growing global spirits business with over 250 years of distilling heritage. Our award-winning portfolio spans premium, strategic, and commercial brands enjoyed worldwide by consumers.

We operate in a lean, entrepreneurial way that gives our commercial leaders real ownership and influence. Joining QB, as we're known to our friends, means shaping strategy, making decisions that matter, and driving growth in one of the UK's mostUK'spetitive retail environments.

The Perfect Serve – A Bit About You

You're a grocery account leader with a strong commercial mindset and the confidence to operate at scale. You understand how to balance long-term strategy with short-term execution and thrive in complex, high-stakes retail negotiations.

You will bring:

·       Proven experience managing Top 4 Grocery accounts.

·       A strong track record of delivering profitable growth within major multiples.

·       Experience owning joint business plans and negotiating trading terms.

·       Deep understanding of P&L drivers, trade investment, and RGM principles.

·       Advanced negotiation and influencing skills.

·       Strategic thinking paired with disciplined execution.

·       Strong category management and shopper marketing expertise.

·       Financial literacy and comfort working with data, forecasts, and insight.

·       Excellent collaboration skills across sales, marketing, finance, supply chain, and leadership teams.

·       Strong Excel, PowerPoint, and forecasting capability (Salesforce experience advantageous).

·       A WSET qualification is advantageous where premium spirits are relevant.

The Essence of QB - The Benefits

We know great commercial leadership deserves strong support. We offer:

·       Competitive salary and performance-related bonus

·       Company car or car allowance

·       Company pension scheme

·       25 days holiday plus bank holidays

·       Staff product allowance and discounts

At Quintessential Brands Group, we proudly continue the legacy of Thomas Dakin, who pioneered quality English gin in 1761. Today, we blend heritage with ambition, building brands that win in the market, in-store, and with consumers.

As National Account Manager – Grocery, you'll play a defining role in delivering that ambition across the UK's leading retail stages.