Job Summary

To maintain the current and develop new business relationships in South Africa and Rest of Africa for Probiotics, Fibers, HMO and Naturals (Herbal Extracts and Botanicals) in the health and nutraceutical space. The initial focus will be to continue and ensure subject matter expertise in front of key customers, and develop new customers over time.

Main Operational duties

Maintain and develop a customer base for Probiotics, Fibers, HMO and Naturals (Herbal Extracts and Botanicals).Develop business opportunities in the growing African nutraceutical market, while identifying and leveraging new opportunities for the company’s entire product range new and existing customersIdentify new sales opportunities by discussing and presenting various product mix, clinical data, application and solutions, sales terms and conditions with customers.Support the broader organisation by identifying local market and product trends, while staying updated on customer and market needs.Manage and build relationships with key customer decision makers and stakeholders at all levels & functions (Science, NPD, Marketing, Sales, Procurement and Logistics) and with IFF’s internal stakeholders.Develop key relationships with existing and new customers/partners, and to make sure to bring forward subject matter expertise throughout the entire buying process.Develop key account plans and actions for local key accounts.Be accountable for the market strategy, customer action plans, and development program pipeline required to grow or expand the business. Develop a deep understanding of the customer’s business and growth.

Specific Tasks

As a member of the regional sales team, you will deal with tasks which may cover all aspects of sales from identifying the customer, to the development of key strategic relationships to execute strategic conceptual selling: planning visits, listening to customers and understanding their needs, identifying sales opportunities, defining and following up on sales action plans, establishing and maintaining strong relationships, arrange joint meetings with key support functions and closing deals.

Travelling and daily contact with customers are parts of the job. Specifically, you will:

Be the primary commercial contact for allocated customers within the health and nutraceutical market, and arrange first level sales and technical support.Maintain dialogue and build relationships with customers at the technical, purchasing, marketing, quality, supply chain and commercial level.Maintain and develop a strong project pipeline, which should be reported in the CRM system ensuring up to date information is available to stake holders.Introduce and promote new products / concepts to customers, including:Understanding and making initial assessment of project accounting for technical and commercial viability.Maintaining awareness of the most important products to promote at any given timeCo-ordinating customer projects – Divisions / Innovation / Commercial / Marketing/Supply Chain / Quality / Regulatory.Providing guidance to customers through any necessary changes required before product introduction.Receive and act on feedback from customers.Addressing any issues that the Customer Service organisation cannot resolve.Providing Divisions / Customer Service / Technical / Supply Chain / Quality / Regulatory teams with the necessary information required.Ensuring customer contracts / price agreements and master data are maintained.Supporting with new developments and project management.Supporting with pricing issues / negotiation statusDeveloping and maintaining market awareness / monitoring and ad hoc reporting on Market Intelligence / competitor activity / general dynamics. Special reporting may be requested from time to time on a given market area.

We are a global leader in taste, scent, and nutrition, offering our customers a broader range of natural solutions and accelerating our growth strategy. At IFF, we believe that your uniqueness unleashes our potential. We value the diverse mosaic of the ethnicity, national origin, race, age, sex, or veteran status. We strive for an inclusive workplace that allows each of our colleagues to bring their authentic self to work regardless of their religion, gender identity & expression, sexual orientation, or disability.

Visit IFF.com/careers/workplace-diversity-and-inclusion to learn more