Senior Commercial Manager Spain

Senior Commercial Manager

Job title:     Senior Commercial Manager                     

Location:     Avila, Spain                   

Ornua (meaning “new gold”) is Ireland’s largest exporter of Irish dairy products, proudly bringing the unique taste of Irish dairy to the world for over 55 years.

Are you a Commercial Manager with extensive Customer Management experience?  Do you excel in your communication styles? Are you looking for the challenge of taking a mission driven organisation to its next level of success?

Ornua is actively seeking a Senior Commercial Manager to join our Commercial team as we continue our growth trajectory.

As our Senior Commercial Manager, you will take full responsibility for the management and growth of Foodservice and Food Manufacturing customers in Spain, and for sourcing and purchasing activity of non-product requirements for the Avila site.

You will work closely with the Sales and Marketing Director and Commercial Director to drive the overall sales strategy for the business, maintaining OIE market share with current customers and developing opportunities in line with our growth plans.

You will oversee all sourcing and purchasing of a wide range of technical equipment and supplies to support our growing operations and will be a key senior point of contact for non product suppliers and internal colleagues.

As our Senior Commercial Manager, you will work closely with all departments in the business to ensure customer objectives are exceeded and the long term operational metrics of the Avila site are achieved.

Why Ornua?

• Ornua operates from 10 business units worldwide, including 12 production facilities, and has sales and marketing teams working in-market across all four corners of the globe.
• The Group is now structured across two divisions: Global Commercial and Route to Market with one global operating structure. This role sits with Ingredients Europe business unit which is within the global commercial division – added value ingredients
• Ornua Ingredients Europe (OIE) produces, markets and sells a range of processed and natural cheese from its site in Spain and the UK into QSR/Foodservice and food manufacturers. This role is specifically focused on the cheese made in our Avila facility and sold within Spain.
• Our co-operative ethos lies at the heart of how we do business as a purpose and values-led organisation, creating value for Irish dairy farming families.
• Our Values lie at the core of everything we do. Our five values encourage us to Seek and Embrace New Ideas, Make It Happen, Be Our True Selves, Show You Care, and Achieve Great Things Together.
• Dynamic Working policy in place which facilitates flexible hours and hybrid working
• We invest in our people and foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement.
• Career Progression including Global Mobility opportunities.
• Comprehensive Benefits with regional specific offerings.

Why This Role Is Valuable:

As our Senior Commercial Manager you will be responsible for leading on;

Sales Leadership:

• Develop and execute comprehensive medium-term sales strategies within specific accounts to achieve volume and contribution retention and growth in line with budget.
• Identify new business opportunities within the specified account, building strong relationships with the appropriate level of customer contact, and negotiating agreements.
• Create, manage and execute customer business plans to deliver budgeted volume and margin. Monitor sales performance metrics, analyse data, and adjust strategies for your specific account to meet evolving market conditions.
• Manage local account manager effectively and efficiently to ensure collaboration and a focus on new business

Customer Relationship Management:

• Develop and maintain effective relationships across all relevant stakeholders within each customer structure.
• Act as the primary point of contact for specified customer account(s), addressing any issues or concerns promptly, effectively and proactively.
• Collaborate with marketing and product development teams to align specific customer needs with product options; ensuring alignment with the overall business-wide strategy.

Sales Process Optimisation: 

• Streamline and optimise sales processes where appropriate to improve efficiency and effectiveness. 
• Implement best practices in sales forecasting, pipeline management, and reporting. 

Supplier Management

• Key point of contact internally and externally, leads relationship with all suppliers of technical equipment
• Works to develop and maintain strong relationships with suppliers both formally and informally
• Ensures that appropriate commercial agreements, SLAs and ways of working are in place to ensure OIE has reliable, compliant and suitable sources of relevant supplies
• Conduct regular supplier performance evaluations and make recommendations for improvements
• Ensures that all supplier relationships are managed to achieve both the best supply to OIE and a positive impression of OIE as a customer
• Uses extensive industry knowledge to identify future opportunities and risks and implement plans to maximise or mitigate as appropriate.

Pricing, Negotiation and Purchasing:

• Source and purchase a wide range of technical equipment and supplies
• Negotiate with suppliers to secure competitive pricing and delivery terms
• Ensure that second and third tier suppliers exist as necessary particularly in critical areas
• Ensure timely delivery of goods and resolution of any issues that may arise without impacting relationships or reputation
• Act as point of escalation for issues on non-conformance – pricing, delivery or quality

Collaboration & Cross-functional Alignment: 

• Work closely with demand, marketing, product development, and supply chain teams to ensure sales strategies are aligned with broader business goals. 
• Collaborate with finance to develop accurate sales forecasts and manage budgets. 
• Coordinate with operations to ensure seamless delivery and customer satisfaction. 

Performance Analysis & Reporting: 

• Monitor sales performance vs budget and forecasts managing both volume and margin targets.
• Work closely with internal colleagues across OIE and global commercial division to identify new markets, products, customers and attend and international trade shows, exhibitions and customer meetings.
• Provide regular reports on sales progress, market trends and business development activities to OIE leadership team.

What You Bring To The Role:

• Extensive and successful experience in Sales and Customer Management at senior levels
• Experience in a technical procurement role
• Ability to travel within Spain to attend meetings and events.
• Strong understanding of the global dairy/cheese trade and industry and a curious mind around global factors that influence trade (political, economic, social and environmental)
• Capability to analyse data and market trends to inform business decisions
• Demonstrating the ability to create long-term business relationships is crucial
• Proficiency in Microsoft office and experience with CRM software
• Fluency in Spanish and proficient in English
• Excellent influencing skills with the ability to clearly communicate objectives, provide feedback and get buy in at all levels and a flair for networking

Ornua has ambitious growth plans and we’re building a team to help enable and accelerate that growth. We are looking for people who share our values, are curious, forward-looking, take ownership and work together to build a future for themselves and Ornua.

Would you like to make an impact?

To learn more, please visit Ornua at www.ornua.com

Ornua values diversity and inclusion and welcomes applications from candidates with diverse backgrounds. We also strongly encourage women and other underrepresented groups in the manufacturing industry to apply. Your unique perspectives and experiences are highly valued and will be instrumental in driving our company’s continued success. Join us in shaping a more innovative, inclusive, and sustainable future.

Ornua is committed to creating an inclusive and accessible workplace. We will make every effort to provide for any reasonable accessibility needs you may have during your employment with us. If you require accommodations at any stage of the recruitment process or in your role, please let us know — we’re here to support you.