Customer Business Manager

We are Kao, listed as one of the world’s most ethical companies for the last 19 years.

Our brand portfolio spans across three sectors; Consumer Care (John Frieda, Bondi Sands, Bioré, Jergens, Curél), Professional Hair (Goldwell, Oribe, KMS Hair, Kerasilk), and Molton Brown.

Our corporate philosophy, the Kao Way, guides us in everything we do – acting with integrity, courageously driving innovation, and treating each other with trust and respect.

The role:

The Customer Business Manager drives profitable, sustainable growth across assigned retail customers by translating company and brand strategies into actionable customer plans. This role is responsible for managing account performance through forecasting, financial stewardship, business analysis, customer relationship management, and cross-functional execution. The position exists to identify growth opportunities, deliver data-driven recommendations, optimize investments and promotional activities, and ensure flawless execution that meets both customer needs and company objectives. By serving as the day-to-day link between the customer and internal teams, the Customer Business Manager helps maximize sales, profitability, and long-term partnerships.

This role serves a critical piece of the organization by managing part of our business with Target.

At Kao, we offer amazing benefits that are available to you on your first day of employment (healthcare, 401(k) plus company match), 36 total days off (vacation + holidays + sick) and a base salary of $100,000 - 120,000 plus bonus.

What you will do:

P&L, Budget and/or Financial Management

Build and own customer forecasts

Evaluate promo ROI, mix impact, and margin implications

Own day-to-day budget tracking for assigned accounts

Decide how trade funds are allocated within guardrails

Prepare promo ROI assessments and margin impact views

Recommend mix, or promo changes

Recommend financially sound actions aligned to sales targets

Present financial implications to internal partners

Active management of customer financial performance

Identify and execute profitability improvement opportunities

Make recommendations regarding pricing architecture, promotional cadence, and assortment profitability

Business Analysis

Identify root causes and implications

Translate insights into recommendations

Prioritize business issues and opportunities for deep dive

Prioritize requests by brand/trade/customer

Answer "what should we do differently?" questions

Diagnose root causes behind performance gaps or wins

Lead or support preparation of business assessment deliverables

Apply best practices across multiple business planning scenarios

Analyze and document risks and benefits

Identify business opportunities for growth and profitability

Create business cases and ROI analyses to support recommendations

Assess opportunity size, resource requirements, and expected outcomes.

Planning & Execution

Build customer execution plans aligned to strategy

Coordinate with Supply Chain, Trade, and Marketing

Adjust execution details to meet customer requirements

Shape sell-in recommendations on pricing, packs, and assortment

Advocate for customer needs in innovation discussions

Influence launch timing

Flag customer-specific risks and requirements

Ensure alignment across in-store, omnichannel, and digital commerce activations

Lead execution planning for digital commerce initiatives

Ensure integration with broader Sales, Trade, Brand, and customer strategies

Partner cross-functionally to bring innovation and activation plans to market

Retailer Connection

Set agendas and shape customer conversations

Push back and reframe buyer requests when needed

Influence decisions using data and strategy

Partner with Brand and Trade to deliver compelling retailer stories

Lead account teams in creating and evaluating retailer-focused executions

Tailor value propositions to retailer priorities and stakeholders

Conduct customer discovery to uncover needs, challenges, and decision criteria

Navigate objections and negotiations

Build multi-threaded relationships across retailer organizations

Demonstrate stakeholder mapping and mutual action planning

Advocate for customer opportunities internally and externally

Secure alignment and commitment around growth initiatives

Leadership & Development

Implement a learning mindset for themselves to stay current on trends, resource allocation & industry capabilities to close existing gaps & develop relevant capabilities in the future.

Foster a positive, fact based, growth-minded, and collaborative team environment within team, department, and cross-functionally. Champion professional development and individual growth while driving performance, alignment, and engagement across the Kao organization.

What you will need:

Bachelors Degree required in Business Administration or a related field

7+ years of relevant CPG related experience; knowledge of sales fundamentals, including assortment, pricing, merchandising, promotion, distribution, and category management principles

Strong Microsoft Office Usage (PowerPoint, Excel, Word, Outlook), Canva a plus

Intermediate negotiation and selling skills, including the ability to address objections, communicate value propositions, and support customer business reviews

Self-motivated with a growth mindset, strong attention to detail, and the ability to operate independently while exercising sound business judgment

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to translate complex data into actionable business recommendations and customer selling stories

Strong communication and executive presentation skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders internally and externally

At Kao, we believe the diversity of our teams strengthens our global mission. Here we trust and respect each other, collaborating in a friendly and inclusive work environment to achieve great results.

What you can expect from us:

An entrepreneurial environment where passionate and innovative teams come together.

Respect, teamwork and collaboration are at the heart of how we work.

A workplace culture that prioritizes employee wellbeing

A broad range of benefits, including flexible working, competitive salaries, health and wellbeing offers, retirement, insurance options, and more…

Learning and development opportunities

Your voice matters here — we value entrepreneurial thinking and innovation from our teams.

To find out why 33,000 people across the Globe work at Kao please visit:

https://www.kao.com/americas/en/careers/

Discover careers at Kao and how we live our purpose, Kirei – Making Life Beautiful.https://kao.voyse.io/

Kao is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including disabled and veterans.