Key Account Manager Dairy
MicroLub · United Kingdom (Remote)
Our estimate of how close this job is to decisions about what protein a business sources, specifies, buys and serves. How we score
Why this role matters
How close this job is to real sourcing and menu decisions.
This is a sales role for a company selling protein technology that replaces fat and oil in dairy products, meaning the person in this seat helps convince dairy manufacturers to reformulate their products to use less animal fat, without losing taste or texture. Every trial you coordinate and every commercial case you build is effectively a pitch for a lower-fat, more sustainable formulation to replace the status quo. It won't touch farm-level standards, but it sits inside the reformulation story that could shift the fat and ingredient composition of dairy products at scale if adoption succeeds, with knock-on effects for nutrition and the resource footprint of what gets produced. The bigger value here may be the door it opens: deep exposure to how dairy manufacturers evaluate and adopt reformulation technology is exactly the commercial and technical fluency that category roles inside larger food businesses look for, including ones shaping how a business's protein mix evolves.
Where this role can take you
What this job teaches you, and the jobs it can lead to.
What you'd build
- Dairy sector commercial dynamics
- Technical sales and account management
- Reformulation/trial coordination experience
- Stakeholder management across R&D, procurement, technical teams
- Commercial case-building for food technology
Where it can lead
- Business Development Manager
- Category Manager
- Innovation Manager
Roles like these hold budget and category strategy over which ingredients and formulations a food business adopts, including decisions about reduced-fat and alternative-protein reformulation.
About the role
MicroLub is a food-technology company developing protein technologies for fat and oil replacement, aimed at helping manufacturers create healthier, more sustainable products without compromising taste and texture. The Key Account Manager Dairy role is a hands-on, market-facing commercial position responsible for building MicroLub's presence across the dairy sector: identifying and developing high-potential target accounts among dairy manufacturers, branded producers, co-manufacturers and ingredient/innovation partners, and coordinating the full customer journey from first conversation through technical evaluation, trials, commercial agreement, launch and ongoing supply. Responsibilities include building and delivering a commercial plan for the dairy sector; generating new opportunities through outreach, referrals, industry relationships, events and marketing collaboration; qualifying and coordinating inbound enquiries; developing trusted relationships with commercial, procurement, innovation, R&D, technical and senior leadership stakeholders; translating customer priorities into applications for MicroLub's technology; developing customer propositions and business cases; coordinating customer briefs, samples, demonstrations, formulation work and technical trials; managing complex sales cycles; progressing trials into supply agreements, forecasts and launch plans; developing onboarding and account-development plans; owning pipeline quality, account growth, commercial conversion, revenue and margin; maintaining CRM records, account plans and forecasts; negotiating commercial terms and coordinating internal approvals; and developing customer advocacy through case studies and industry collaboration. Requirements include proven B2B sales, business development or key account management experience within dairy, food ingredients or a closely related food-manufacturing environment; strong understanding of the dairy sector's manufacturing processes and commercial dynamics; experience working with customer R&D, innovation, technical, procurement and commercial teams; a track record of progressing technical or application-led sales cycles; consultative selling skills; the ability to translate complex science into commercial benefits; strong account planning, presentation, negotiation and opportunity-management skills; commercial judgement and resilience; CRM and pipeline-management experience; and a relevant degree or equivalent experience in food science, dairy science, nutrition, business or marketing. Existing relationships across the UK dairy sector are advantageous. The role is remote, full-time, within the United Kingdom, and reports within a small, entrepreneurial team of 2-10 employees.
We added this one ourselves, from the employer's own advert.
Key terms to include in your CV and cover letter
What this employer is asking for, in their words. Applications are often screened by software looking for exact phrases, so if these describe your experience, use their wording.
- key account management
- B2B sales
- business development
- dairy sector knowledge
- food ingredients experience
- commercial negotiation
- account planning
- pipeline management
- CRM
- sales forecasting
- technical sales cycles
- stakeholder engagement
- customer proposition development
- commercial business case
- formulation trials coordination
- food science degree
How to position yourself
The language that works with hiring managers for this kind of job.
Frame your pitch around the commercial and technical case for reformulation: reduced fat content, improved nutrition profile, and manufacturing cost or processing benefits, rather than any values-based language. Highlight experience translating scientific concepts into commercial value for technical, procurement and R&D stakeholders, and build fluency in food-carbon and protein-transition vocabulary as you go, since that will matter more as you move toward category or innovation roles inside a food manufacturer.
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