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Kao

Diversified consumer goods and specialty chemicals

Customer Business Manager

Account ManagementConfirmed live in the last 24 hours
Full-timeCincinnati, OH, USAIn-person

About the Job

Requirements

  • A bachelor's degree in Business Administration or a related field is required.
  • At least 7 years of relevant consumer packaged goods experience is required, including knowledge of sales fundamentals such as assortment, pricing, merchandising, promotion, distribution, and category management principles.
  • Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office, including PowerPoint, Excel, Word, and Outlook, is required.
  • Intermediate negotiation and selling skills are required, including the ability to address objections, communicate value propositions, and support customer business reviews.
  • The candidate must be self-motivated, attentive to detail, able to operate independently, and able to exercise sound business judgment.
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills are required, including the ability to translate complex data into actionable business recommendations and customer selling stories.
  • Strong communication and executive presentation skills are required, including the ability to influence internal and external stakeholders.

Responsibilities

  • Drive profitable, sustainable growth across assigned retail customers by translating company and brand strategies into actionable customer plans.
  • Manage account performance through forecasting, financial stewardship, business analysis, customer relationship management, and cross-functional execution.
  • Identify growth opportunities, deliver data-driven recommendations, optimize investments and promotional activities, and ensure execution meets customer needs and company objectives.
  • Serve as the day-to-day link between the customer and internal teams to maximize sales, profitability, and long-term partnerships.
  • Build and own customer forecasts; evaluate promotional return on investment, mix impact, and margin implications; and manage day-to-day budget tracking for assigned accounts.
  • Decide how trade funds are allocated within guardrails; prepare promotional return-on-investment assessments and margin-impact views; recommend mix or promotional changes; and recommend financially sound actions aligned to sales targets.
  • Present financial implications to internal partners; actively manage customer financial performance; identify and execute profitability improvements; and recommend pricing architecture, promotional cadence, and assortment profitability actions.
  • Identify root causes and implications, translate insights into recommendations, and prioritize business issues, opportunities for deep dives, and requests by brand, trade, or customer.
  • Diagnose performance gaps or wins; lead or support business assessment deliverables; apply best practices across business planning scenarios; and analyze and document risks and benefits.
  • Identify growth and profitability opportunities, create business cases and return-on-investment analyses, and assess opportunity size, resource requirements, and expected outcomes.
  • Build customer execution plans aligned with strategy; coordinate with Supply Chain, Trade, and Marketing; and adjust execution details to customer requirements.
  • Shape sell-in recommendations on pricing, packs, and assortment; advocate for customer needs in innovation discussions; influence launch timing; and flag customer-specific risks and requirements.
  • Ensure alignment across in-store, omnichannel, and digital commerce activations; lead digital commerce execution planning; and integrate plans with broader Sales, Trade, Brand, and customer strategies.
  • Partner cross-functionally to bring innovation and activation plans to market.
  • Set agendas and shape customer conversations; push back on and reframe buyer requests when needed; and influence decisions using data and strategy.
  • Partner with Brand and Trade to deliver retailer stories; lead account teams in creating and evaluating retailer-focused executions; and tailor value propositions to retailer priorities and stakeholders.
  • Conduct customer discovery to uncover needs, challenges, and decision criteria; navigate objections and negotiations; and build relationships across retailer organizations.
  • Use stakeholder mapping and mutual action planning; advocate for customer opportunities internally and externally; and secure alignment and commitment around growth initiatives.
  • Maintain a learning mindset to stay current on trends, resource allocation, and industry capabilities, close existing gaps, and develop future capabilities.
  • Foster a positive, fact-based, growth-minded, and collaborative team environment within the team, department, and cross-functionally; champion professional development and individual growth while driving performance, alignment, and engagement across the organization.

Desired Qualifications

  • Canva experience is a plus.

About the Company

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Kao

Diversified consumer goods and specialty chemicals

Kao is a global consumer goods and chemicals company with a long history. It develops and sells products in hygiene, beauty care, and specialty chemicals for consumers and professionals, including skincare, cosmetics, detergents, and industrial surfactants. Kao differentiates itself through its R&D in material science and biotechnology and its digital initiatives like the Kirei Lifestyle Plan that personalizes wellness using AI and data. Its goal is to advance health, beauty, and cleanliness while pursuing sustainability—carbon negativity by 2050, zero waste, and a circular economy—so life quality improves and environmental health is protected.

Company size
1,001-5,000
Company stage
IPO
Headquarters
Tokyo, Japan
Founded
1887

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