Sales Manager | Beverage Ingredients | Kazakhstan

From Fritz&Muller we are looking for a Sales Account Manager to lead the commercial growth of a flavours and food ingredients business in Kazakhstan.

Our client is a company in the food and beverage ingredients industry, expanding its presence in Central Asia. It is now building its commercial team in Kazakhstan, reporting directly to the Regional Business Head.

The person will own the Kazakh market end to end. That means winning new B2B customers in food and beverage manufacturing and growing existing accounts, from the first brief to the commercial close.

Responsibilities

• Develop new business and B2B sales across Kazakhstan, with a focus on food and beverage manufacturers.
• Generate leads through direct prospecting, databases, trade fairs and your own network.
• Understand customer needs and propose the right flavour and ingredient solutions.
• Lead customer projects: briefs, samples, trials, quotations and follow-up until conversion.
• Negotiate commercial conditions within agreed guidelines.
• Work closely with the technical, application, customer service and logistics teams.
• Keep the pipeline and CRM up to date, and report on sales and targets to regional management.
• Gather market intelligence on customers, competitors, pricing and trends.
• Represent the company at customer visits, exhibitions and industry events.

Requirements

• 2-4 years of experience in B2B sales, account management or business development in food & beverage.
• Experience in a flavour house is highly desirable, we also welcome profiles from food ingredients, additives, colours, seasonings or related B2B ingredient businesses.
• Direct experience with food and beverage manufacturers, and comfort discussing briefs, applications, samples and pricing.
• Proven ability to prospect and take a customer from first contact to commercial conversion.
• English (professional) and Russian (fluent) are mandatory. Kazakh is an advantage.
• Commercial drive, autonomy and strong negotiation and relationship-building skills.
• Good organisation, and able to manage several projects at once.
• Proficient with CRM and Excel.
• Willing to travel within Kazakhstan and internationally when needed.

What we offer

• A territory of your own: the opportunity to build the business in Kazakhstan from the ground up.
• A direct reporting line to the Regional Business Head, with real visibility and autonomy.
• An international environment, with regional and global teams.
• Close work with technical and application teams on development projects.
• Broad exposure to beverages, dairy, confectionery, bakery, snacks, savoury and processed foods.
• Competitive compensation package