Customer Business Manager

Regional Account Lead

Location: Ottawa or Greater Toronto Area preferred; flexibility for the right candidate

Compensation: $130,000 base salary + 20% annual bonus

We are seeking a commercially strong, highly organized Customer Business Manager to manage a diverse portfolio of regional retail, distributor and secondary customer accounts.

This role is well suited to someone who enjoys working across a larger number of customers with varying levels of complexity, and who is equally comfortable developing account plans, building buyer relationships, managing promotions and trade spend, completing customer forms and submissions, and resolving day-to-day operational issues.

The successful candidate will need to combine commercial selling capability with strong executional discipline. The portfolio requires responsive, detail-oriented and comfortable managing forms, portals, pricing requests, promotional deadlines, distributor communications and multiple competing priorities.

The ideal candidate will bring:

4+ years of CPG, broker, regional account management, distributor management, customer development or related customer business experience.
Experience managing regional retail, distributor, independent, drug, value, wholesale or specialty accounts.
Strong account management capability across strategic and tactical selling activities.
Proven ability to manage promotions, pricing submissions, new item forms, customer onboarding, item setup and account administration.
Experience managing trade spend and promotional funding, ideally using Exceedra TPM or a comparable Trade Promotion Management system.
Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple customers, deadlines, portals, forms and follow-up actions simultaneously.
Strong relationship-building skills with buyers, distributors, customer service teams and internal stakeholders.
A practical, responsive and solution-oriented approach to customer issues.
Bilingual fluency in English and French, written and verbal, is required.
Ottawa or GTA location is preferred, although we are flexible for a strong candidate who meets the broader requirements.

The Opportunity

We are looking for an experienced Customer Business Manager – Regional Accounts to manage and grow a portfolio of regional head-office, distributor and secondary retail customers.

The portfolio includes regional and distributor-led customers such as Giant Tiger, Corporate Express Canada, Longo's, Jean Coutu, Colemans, Atlantic Grocers and other regional customers.

This is a broad account-management role requiring the ability to move effectively between commercial strategy and day-to-day execution. You will build relationships with customers, develop account plans, lead business reviews, identify growth opportunities, manage promotions and trade investment, support forecasting, and ensure customer commitments are accurately documented and delivered.

A significant part of the role is to ensure that the operational details required to support regional and distributor customers are managed effectively. This includes customer forms, pricing submissions, item setup, promotional calendars, portals, onboarding documentation and follow-up.

Trade spend management and Exceedra TPM usage are key components of the role, particularly for promotional planning, pricing, trade funding, deductions and account controls.

What You'll Be Responsible For

Regional & Distributor Account Management

Manage a portfolio of regional retail, distributor and secondary customer accounts.
Build and maintain productive relationships with customer buyers, distributor contacts and other key stakeholders.
Maintain regular buyer-level contact with assigned accounts, including quarterly engagement for priority customers and semi-annual engagement for other accounts where appropriate.
Develop and execute account plans and joint business plans aligned with annual brand strategy and customer-specific priorities.
Conduct quarterly business reviews with key regional and distributor accounts.
Identify opportunities to expand distribution, increase promotional participation and grow customer-specific initiatives.
Maintain clear visibility to customer opportunities, risks and required actions.

Customer Selling & Commercial Development

Develop persuasive customer recommendations using sales performance, promotional results and account-level insights.
Support new item selling, assortment opportunities, distribution expansion and customer-specific initiatives.
Balance longer-term account development with responsive day-to-day customer management.
Identify opportunities to improve account performance and proactively bring recommendations forward.
Work with internal stakeholders to support customer presentations, scorecards and business reviews.Promotional & Customer Administration
Manage customer promotional submissions, deal sheets, new item forms, listing forms and onboarding documentation.
Maintain accurate customer calendars, pricing files, customer requirements, portal submissions and promotional deadlines.
Coordinate item setup, distributor requests, forms and required follow-up.
Ensure customer commitments are clearly documented, tracked and completed.
Manage multiple account requirements simultaneously while maintaining accuracy and responsiveness.

Trade Spend & Exceedra TPM Management

Manage promotional planning, pricing submissions and trade funding allocation for assigned accounts within approved customer plans.
Maintain accurate account, promotional, pricing and trade activity within Exceedra TPM where required.
Monitor trade spend performance and identify potential accrual, deduction or reconciliation risks.
Partner with the Trade & Sales Coordinator to ensure deductions, chargebacks and reconciliation items are supported with accurate customer information and Exceedra inputs.
Escalate trade spend, accrual, deduction or reconciliation risks when required.
Maintain strong discipline around promotional funding and account-level trade controls.

Distributor & Regional Customer Support

Serve as a primary point of coordination for distributor communications.
Support customers with pricing updates, product information, trade details, listing requirements and promotional execution needs.
Manage the complexity associated with smaller and regional customers efficiently and pragmatically.
Resolve customer issues and administrative bottlenecks quickly.
Identify recurring process issues and recommend improvements that reduce friction for customers and internal teams.

Business Performance & Reporting

Provide monthly written account performance updates against agreed KPIs.
Report on sales, distribution, promotional activity, trade investment, forecasting and significant customer issues.
Support customer scorecards, quarterly business reviews and sales reporting.
Provide account-level forecasting inputs, including promotional assumptions, risks and opportunities.
Maintain clear internal visibility to customer activity, priorities and business risks.
Follow through on actions arising from performance reviews and customer discussions.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Work closely with Sales Operations, Trade, Finance, Supply Chain, Customer Service and other internal teams to support assigned customers.
Ensure relevant stakeholders have accurate information regarding customer requirements and commitments.
Coordinate resolution of customer issues across functions.
Help reduce unnecessary administrative burden by improving account processes, documentation and communication.

What You Bring

4+ years of experience in CPG, brokerage, regional account management, distributor management, sales coordination, customer development or customer business management.
Experience working with regional retailers, independent grocers, drug, value, wholesale, distributor or specialty accounts.
Experience managing customer-facing communications, presentations, account reviews and customer administration.
Strong experience managing promotions, customer forms, item setup, pricing submissions and account deadlines.
Experience with Exceedra TPM or a comparable Trade Promotion Management platform is preferred.
Ability to work within Exceedra planning, trade, deduction and reporting processes.
Understanding of trade spend, promotional funding and account-level commercial management.
Strong organizational and administrative discipline.
Ability to manage numerous customers, requests, and deadlines simultaneously.
Strong relationship-building capability with customers, distributors and internal teams.
Solid analytical skills and comfort reviewing sales reports, customer scorecards and promotional results.
Strong written communication and consistent follow-through.
A resourceful, responsive and practical problem-solving style.
Bilingual fluency in English and French, written and verbal, is required.

How Success Will Be Measured

Success in this role will be demonstrated through:

Revenue delivery across assigned regional and distributor accounts.
Effective stewardship of trade spend and promotional funding.
Strong Exceedra TPM discipline and accurate account information.
Timely and accurate promotional submissions.
Successful customer onboarding and item setup.
Consistent buyer engagement and account planning.
Strong monthly KPI reporting and quarterly business reviews.
Improved customer responsiveness and account coverage.
Strong follow-through on customer commitments and issues.
Reduced operational friction and administrative burden across the regional account portfolio.

The Candidate We're Looking For

You are a commercially capable account manager who can move from a buyer meeting or business review to resolving a pricing issue, completing a new item submission, reviewing trade investment, coordinating with a distributor and updating account activity in Exceedra without losing sight of the overall customer plan.

You are comfortable managing multiple accounts at once, understand that smaller and regional customers can require significant attention to detail, and know how to keep priorities, deadlines and commitments organized.

You build strong customer relationships by being responsive, credible and dependable. You are proactive when problems emerge, persistent in following through, and able to work effectively across both English- and French-speaking customer environments.

If you have experience managing regional or distributor-led CPG customers and enjoy a role that combines commercial selling, customer relationships, trade management and disciplined execution, we would like to hear from you.