Key Account Manager

About the Unit

The Key Account Manager will play a critical role in developing and maintaining the long-term strategic partnership with a key account in the U.S. This role is responsible for driving mutual business growth, enabling customer-centric solutions, and ensuring the commercial success of the key account’s private label portfolio, and any future Yara products with the key account.

The position will focus on relationship management at the headquarters and local business unit levels as a key enabler for regional commercial teams engaging in key account’s local branches. The Key Account Manager will negotiate long-term supply agreements, coordinate initiatives across business units, and manage the P&L for the private label branded products. This role will ensure alignment and collaboration between internal commercial, marketing, and product teams to deliver a unified customer approach while leading both headquarters and business unit initiatives in a coordinated manner.

The Key Account Manager will report to the VP - U.S. Sales & Marketing and can be based anywhere within the U.S.

Responsibilities

• Relationship Management
  • Develop and maintain strong, collaborative relationships with key stakeholders, including customer decision-makers at HQ and regional levels, internal cross-functional partners (sales, marketing, product management, supply chain), and external vendors.
  • Serve as the primary point of contact to ensure strategic alignment, satisfaction, and long-term engagement, fostering mutual trust and sustained business growth.
• Contract Negotiation
  • Lead the negotiation and renewal of commercial agreements, including pricing frameworks, service levels, and contractual deliverables.
  • Collaborate closely with legal, finance, HESQ, and procurement teams to ensure compliance with corporate policies and secure mutually beneficial outcomes.
• Marketing Plan
  • Work with the Strategic Marketing team to develop and implement joint marketing plans that support agreed business objectives, product growth, and market penetration.
  • Ensure that marketing initiatives, campaigns, and communication activities are aligned with overall brand and product strategies defined by Strategic Marketing and Product Portfolio Managers.
• Pricing
  • Contribute to the development of customer-specific pricing strategies in collaboration with commercial, finance, and product management teams.
  • Balance market competitiveness, value creation, and profitability goals, while supporting pricing discussions with customers and ensuring transparency in internal alignment. Monitor pricing performance, recommend adjustments, and support pricing discussions with customers and internal stakeholders.
• Forecasting
  • Lead the account-level demand and sales forecast process by integrating customer insights, market trends, and internal strategic objectives.
  • Collaborate with supply chain, finance, and sales teams to ensure accurate forecasts that support efficient production, inventory, and revenue planning.
• Product Life Cycle Management (Support/Collaboration)
  • Act as the voice of the customer in collaboration with Product Portfolio Managers, providing insights on product performance, market acceptance, and customer needs.
  • Support product lifecycle decisions (improvements, repositioning, or rationalization) while ensuring commercial execution aligns with strategic direction set by Product Management.
• New Product Launches
  • Coordinate with Strategic Marketing, Product Management, and Sales to ensure successful market introductions of new products within Helena.
  • Oversee launch readiness, training, and communication to ensure alignment between HQ and regional sales teams, as well as between internal stakeholders.
• New Product Evaluation
  • Collaborate with Product Portfolio Managers and commercial teams to assess potential new products, integrating customer feedback, market insights, and business case inputs.
  • Ensure that new product opportunities are evaluated for strategic fit, commercial viability, and relevance to Helena’s needs, and support go-to-market initiatives.
• Joint Working Group
  • Lead or participate in joint working groups involving Helena and internal stakeholders to drive key strategic initiatives, innovation, and issue resolution.
  • Facilitate effective collaboration, define priorities, and ensure progress tracking and accountability for results.
• Customer Impact Activities
  • Identify, plan, and execute initiatives aimed at improving customer experience, operational efficiency, and partnership value creation.
  • Analyze customer feedback, address key challenges, and collaborate with relevant internal teams to enhance satisfaction, loyalty, and long-term business performance.

Profile

• Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, agribusiness, or related field; MBA or equivalent advanced degree preferred.
• Demonstrated success in managing key accounts, building strategic partnerships, or driving business development within B2B or channel-focused sectors.
• Experience managing major customer relationships at a corporate or headquarters level would be an asset, especially with national distributors or key channel partners.
• Demonstrated success in driving growth through partnership models, joint business planning, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Experience collaborating with teams responsible for strategy development and market or product planning; skilled at translating strategic direction into actionable commercial initiatives.
• Strong understanding of pricing management, forecasting, and P&L accountability.
• Familiarity with the agricultural, industrial, or chemical distribution market is a strong plus.
• Strategic Relationship Building - Able to engage with senior decision-makers, build trust, and maintain long-term partnerships that create mutual value.
• Commercial Acumen - Understands key financial levers (pricing, margins, cost-to-serve) and can balance customer demands with business profitability.
• Cross-Functional Leadership - Effectively coordinates with Marketing, Product Management, Supply Chain, and Sales to ensure unified execution across multiple stakeholders.
• Influence and Negotiation - Skilled at navigating complex negotiations, aligning interests, and achieving win–win outcomes in both commercial and strategic contexts.
• Customer Orientation - Proactively identifies customer needs, pain points, and opportunities for added value; translates insights into tangible actions and improvements.
• Analytical & Planning Skills - Applies data-driven thinking to evaluate opportunities, forecast demand, and support informed decision-making.
• Collaboration & Communication - Excellent communication and interpersonal skills; able to convey complex ideas clearly and foster alignment across functions and organizations.
• Adaptability & Initiative - Thrives in dynamic, matrixed environments; demonstrates ownership, accountability, and the ability to act with autonomy while staying aligned with corporate priorities.
• Project Management - Capable of leading multi-stakeholder initiatives and ensuring timely delivery of commitments, especially in joint working group contexts.

Additional Information

The position holder must:

• Hold valid driver´s license.
• Drive safely to necessary appointments (short or long distances).
• Be proficient in MS office, especially Excel and PowerPoint.
• Be a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the U.S.

Knowledge Grows

Yara North America encourages and supports career growth and development, ensuring that you will come for a job but stay for a career.

Total Rewards

Yara North America offers our employees a well-rounded Total Rewards package with competitive health care, life insurance, 401(k), and well-being benefits which include tuition reimbursement, paid time off, and paid maternity and paternity leave.

Contact details

Melanie Sarkissian - Talent Acquisition & Onboarding Specialist

melanie.sarkissian@yara.com

Apply no later than

November 25, 2025