National Account Manager, Non-Commercial, Foodservice

Job Title: National Account Manager, Non-Commercial, Foodservice

Job Status: full-time, permanent

Work location: Remote, USA. Must live near a major metro airport and in one of the following states: AR, AZ, CA, FL, GA, ID, MN, NC, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, TX, VA or WI.

Travel: up to 40%

Who we are and what we do:  

LIPTON Teas & Infusions is the world’s leading tea business, home to iconic, purpose‑driven brands like Lipton, Pukka, Tazo, T2, Lyons and PG Tips.  

We craft great teas for every occasion, to bring joy and inspire a healthier lifestyle. Guided by our values of people first, ownership, passion for excellence, and consumer and customer centricity, we create long‑term value for our people, trade partners, suppliers, and the communities where we operate. 

If you’re a diverse thinker who takes personal ownership to connect ideas and make impactful things happen, someone who shares our values around humanity and courage and someone who enjoys a good cup of tea (on the house!), then we could be a good match! 🍃✨ 

Your Role

We are looking for a strategic and commercially driven National Account Manager to lead growth across the Non-Commercial channel within the Out-of-Home / Foodservice business. This role is responsible for managing and expanding national customer relationships across contract management, group purchasing organizations, healthcare, education, business & industry, lodging, vending, office coffee service, and related non-commercial segments.

The ideal candidate has strong experience navigating complex foodservice buying structures, including national account headquarters, GPOs, contract management organizations, redistributors, brokers, and field-level execution partners. This individual will be responsible for building strategic customer plans, negotiating profitable growth opportunities, expanding distribution, and ensuring strong execution across both national and local levels.

A successful candidate will be proactive, analytical, highly collaborative, and comfortable operating in a lean, fast-paced environment where ownership, follow-through, and strategic prioritization are critical.

Your Key Responsibilities:

National Account Growth & Customer Management

• Own and deliver revenue and profitability targets across assigned non-commercial national accounts and segments.
• Manage and grow relationships with key non-commercial customers and buying organizations, including Sodexo / Entegra, Aramark / Avendra / HPSI, Compass / Foodbuy, Premier, Vizient, Vistar, OCS partners, and other strategic accounts.
• Develop and execute customer business plans that align Lipton Teas & Infusions’ portfolio priorities with customer growth opportunities.
• Identify, pursue, and convert new business opportunities across contract catering, healthcare, education, lodging, business & industry, vending, office coffee service, and related non-commercial channels.
• Drive product penetration, distribution expansion, and share growth across existing national account and GPO relationships.
• Build and manage a robust pipeline of opportunities, with clear tracking from prospecting through conversion and implementation.
• Develop strong relationships with senior decision-makers, category managers, procurement teams, distributor partners, and key industry influencers.

Strategic Partnership Management

• Lead customer negotiations and support the development of commercially sound agreements that drive profitable growth.
• Understand and manage the complexity of national account contracts, GPO programs, pricing structures, rebates, allowances, and compliance requirements.
• Partner cross-functionally to evaluate customer profitability, contract performance, and investment decisions.
• Use P&L analysis and customer performance data to guide negotiations, protect margin, and identify growth opportunities.
• Ensure customer agreements are clearly communicated, properly implemented, and actively managed across internal teams, brokers, distributors, and field execution partners.
• Maximize existing GPO and national account contracts by improving awareness, compliance, distribution, and operator-level pull-through.

Field Execution, Broker & Distributor Coordination

• Serve as the national liaison between non-commercial customers, regional sales teams, brokers, distributors, and internal stakeholders.
• Translate national account strategies into clear field execution plans that support local activation and customer conversion.
• Partner with regional sales managers and broker teams to identify target opportunities, support joint calls, and accelerate operator-level execution.
• Set clear priorities, expectations, and focus areas for broker partners supporting non-commercial account growth.
• Monitor execution progress across national, regional, and local levels, identifying gaps and taking action to improve results.
• Collaborate with distributor and redistributor partners, including Vistar and OCS-focused partners, to improve product availability, visibility, and sales execution.

Cross-Functional & Strategic Impact

• Utilize data, customer insights, and market trends to prioritize opportunities, build compelling customer presentations, and support fact-based selling.
• Partner with Marketing to develop and execute customer-specific programs, selling materials, promotions, and activation plans that support non-commercial growth.
• Represent the company with customers, GPOs, distributors, brokers, and at relevant industry events.
• Monitor customer and channel performance, identify risks and opportunities, and communicate recommended actions with clarity.
• Support forecasting, planning, innovation sell-in, and customer-specific portfolio strategies across the non-commercial channel.
• Maintain a high level of responsiveness, professionalism, and follow-through with customers, brokers, distributor partners, and internal stakeholders.
• Demonstrate the ability to prioritize effectively in a dynamic commercial environment, communicate with influence across written and oral presentations, and proactively solve challenges with practical, business-oriented solutions.

Skills and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 8–10+ years of progressive foodservice sales experience, with meaningful exposure to non-commercial national accounts, GPOs, contract management, or related channels.
• Demonstrated experience managing national account relationships and negotiating customer agreements at the headquarters level.
• Strong understanding of non-commercial foodservice segments, including healthcare, education, business & industry, lodging, contract catering, vending, and office coffee service.
• Experience working with GPOs and contract management organizations.
• Proven ability to build strategic customer plans, manage complex sales cycles, and convert opportunities into measurable business results.
• Strong financial acumen, including experience with pricing, trade spend, contract management, customer profitability, and P&L analysis.
• Ability to influence across multiple stakeholders, including customers, brokers, distributors, regional sales teams, finance, marketing, and leadership.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to deliver clear, compelling presentations to executive-level audiences.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to use data and insights to identify opportunities, prioritize resources, and support fact-based selling.
• Proactive, solution-oriented mindset with a high degree of ownership and accountability.
• Comfortable operating in a lean, entrepreneurial, fast-paced environment where priorities evolve and execution is key.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, including Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and related sales reporting tools.
• Willingness to travel up to 40% across the United States.

What’s in it for you

We believe that growth is for everyone, we believe in growing leaders, and we believe in making space to grow an owner’s mentality. Like nature, we adapt, we change, and we grow. We believe in connections over hierarchies and work levels. We have a 'corporate start-up' approach; we act with speed and agility, and we have the strength and scale of a large corporation. We are building a better world of wellbeing, and a better you.

Benefits & Perks

• Comprehensive insurance plans - health, dental + disability and life Insurance
• 401(k) with 5% company matching + an extra 4% after your first year
• Flexible Spending Account and Dependent Care Accounts
• 3 weeks paid vacation, 10 company holidays, 3 floating holidays, and 3 volunteer days to give back
• Parental Leave - Primary & Secondary
• Learning and development reimbursement

LIPTON Teas and Infusions is an organization committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. We are interested in every individual bringing their whole self to work and this includes you! Therefore if you require any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of your application so that we can support you throug