Associate Manager - Customer Development; CD Finance

Background & Purpose Of The Job

Unilever Food Solutions (UFS) is the dedicated culinary food service business of Unilever, operating in more than 70 markets globally. The world of Food Solutions is a dynamic, entrepreneurial, and exciting environment with passionate professionals who work hard to carry out their common purpose of “freeing chefs to love what they do.” The UFS portfolio consists of world’s leading food brands like Hellmann’s and Knorr.

Our customers range from restaurants and hotels through to workplaces, schools, and caterers – as well as the wholesalers and Cash & Carries who service the food service industry.

The Associate Manager - CD Finance plays a pivotal role in empowering the Sales team to achieve ambitious growth targets, aimed at doubling the UFS NAM business. This role is critical in shaping UFS’s market presence through strategic decision-making on channel investments, pricing strategies, and negotiation efficiency.

• Strategic Business Partnership: Partner with the CD team to shape and execute channel investment strategies for key segments across North America, ensuring alignment with growth priorities and market opportunities.
• Drive Investment Decision Support: Deliver robust, data-driven insights to evaluate new business opportunities, assess competitive risks, and recommend initiatives that drive customer growth and profitability.
• Profitability & NRM Leadership: Lead Net Revenue Management initiatives to optimize pricing, pack architecture, and promotions, thinking big and committing to building for the future to Stay 3 Steps Ahead.
• Performance Management and Accountability: Assist in setting CD targets and monitor in-year performance against business objectives. Ensure accountability for trade spending across zones and channels.
• Resource Allocation and Prioritization: Optimize trade and marketing investments by prioritizing high-impact opportunities and ensuring efficient use of resources within budget targets.
• Profitability Analysis: Conduct deep profitability assessments to maximize sales contribution through improved investment levels and product mix.
• Strategic Development & Capability Building: Collaborate on channel and customer strategies while providing visibility into category, customer, and channel performance. Strengthen financial acumen within the Sales team through targeted training on ROI, customer profitability, and trade investment effectiveness.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Act as a bridge between Finance, Sales, Marketing, and Supply Chain, fostering fairness and constructive conflict management to Care Deeply & Fairness while driving shared success.
• Governance & Compliance: Ensure adherence to governance standards and audit requirements for customer contracts, safeguarding integrity and transparency.
• Process Optimization: Identify opportunities for process improvements and efficiency gains within CD finance. Actively contributes to the development and implementation of new financial tools and systems.

The Associate Manager - Sales Finance must be an energetic and enthusiastic Sales team player that has a passion for driving business through actionable insights drawn out of deep analysis.

• Bachelor’s degree in business, Finance, Marketing, or related area.
• 3 to 5 years of related experience in sales finance or business partnering.
• Knowledge of customer, data, and financial systems. Working knowledge of Salesforce and/or trade promotion management system a plus.
• Experience in food service industry preferred.
• High analytical power, coupled with ability to tackle complex situations, evaluate alternative courses of action, and provide fact-based solutions.
• Ability to manage multiple projects / processes simultaneously.
• Strong communication, organizational, and influencing skills.

Pay: The pay range for this position is $86,080 to $129,120. Unilever takes into consideration a wide range of factors that are utilized in making compensation decisions including, but not limited to, skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, qualifications and…