Customer Development Team Leader
Colgate-Palmolive · Surrey · £85,500–£95,000 (stated in the posting)
No Relocation Assistance Offered
Job Number #176403 - Surrey, England, United Kingdom
Who We Are
Colgate-Palmolive Company is a global consumer products company operating in over 200 countries specialising in Oral Care, Personal Care, Home Care, Skin Care, and Pet Nutrition. Our products are trusted in more households than any other brand in the world, making us a household name!
Join Colgate-Palmolive, a caring, innovative growth company reimagining a healthier future for people, their pets, and our planet. Guided by our core values—Caring, Inclusive, and Courageous—we foster a culture that inspires our people to achieve common goals. Together, let's build a brighter, healthier future for all.
Location: Woking, UK
Salary: £85500 - £95000
As a critical leader within the organisation, the Customer Development Team Leader reports directly to the Hill’s UK & Ireland Commercial Director and oversees a team of six direct reports. This high-impact role sets the strategic direction for the UK Omnichannel business—spanning Pet Speciality, eCommerce, and Vet Corporate channels—to drive growth and market outperformance across the UK and Irish markets. The position offers an exciting opportunity to lead commercial strategy, elevate strategic customer partnerships, and integrate cutting-edge AI and category analytics to establish Hill’s as the nutritional partner of choice.
Deliver strategic direction for Hills UK Omni Channel business
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Own the 3 year omnichannel strategy to deliver outperformance versus the market set within the wider corporate guardrails and anticipating future change
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Lead the team to execute the strategy with KPis that cascade into the monthly commercial process
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Where required recruit, onboard and develop personnel to create an ambitious high performing team that work in close collaboration with our european customer team
Financial delivery
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Own the commercial side of the monthly commercial discipline, working in partnership with the finance department, chairing the forum and coordinating other functions. Have responsibility for the rolled up plan along with identifying process improvements to drive efficiency and effectiveness.
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Coach your team to ensure delivery of monthly, quarterly and annual Net sales, Volume, GtN, margin financial targets. With clear understanding of customer and RE P&L’s
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In partnership with Finance, take a leading role in integrating new forecasting systems, investment management tools and embedding the cadence of RGM, ROI and ROO as standard to enhance business performance.
Elevating Customer Relationships & being great to do business with:
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Develop the strategy to build strong relationships with key customers in the Pet speciality channel and Vet Corporates, facilitating cross functional integration through the business to secure optimum engagement and business outcomes
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Through a deep understanding of Market, RE, customer and shoppers, develop winning JVPs with customers that set Hill’s apart, course correcting as required.
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Develop the team to lead on analytics and customer insights to drive performance. Integrate new tools with omni customers in order to accelerate growth (ie Category vision, DSO capabilities etc) and secure better outcomes. Ensure,KPI tracking and meeting cadence to ensure course correction such that customers consider Hill’s as their nutritional partner of choice.
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Coach and support the team with annual negotiation of Terms/JVPs & execution of agreed Customer plans, within set budget across the 7P’s. Take the lead in tender negotiations with a new approach to winning,
Execute Omni Demand Generation with excellence.
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Fully integrate all local eCommerce Pure Players & Omnichannel customers along with Regional players to drive efficiencies and shared learnings, insights and cross fertilisation of ideas as part of a monthly process, taking a “One Channel” approach to UK eCommerce.
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Deliver Hill’s KPIs within eCommerce - specifically digital shelf optimisation: Content, Share of Search, Visibility, Reviews, Subscription & loyalty programs.
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Support the UK and OAC team with management of the 3rd Party agency to ensure solid control of our distribution within non-SDP compliant eCom marketplaces.
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Regularly assess future eCommerce growth opportunities (i.e. social commerce) and lead recommendations that work within established business structures (i.e. the Hill’s SDP), to set Hill’s up for future growth in the eCommerce / Digital commerce RE.
Required Qualifications
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Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Commercial Management, or a related field.
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Extensive commercial experience in omnichannel retail, key account management, or eCommerce.
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Direct people management experience leading commercial teams.
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Demonstrated track record of full P&L oversight, Revenue Growth Management (RGM), and Joint Value Plan (JVP) negotiations.
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Ability to travel up to 25%.
Preferred Qualifications
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Experience within the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) or Pet Care industry.
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Proven ability to leverage customer analytics, category visions, and digital tools to accelerate category growth.
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Strong change management, strategic thinking, and cross-functional influencing skills.
Our Commitment to Inclusion
Our journey begins with our people—developing strong talent with diverse backgrounds and perspectives to best serve our consumers around the world and fostering an inclusive environment where everyone feels a true sense of belonging. We are dedicated to ensuring that each individual can be their authentic self, is treated with respect, and is empowered by leadership to contribute meaningfully to our business.
Equal Opportunity Employer
Colgate is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, marital status, veteran status (United States positions), or any other characteristic protected by law.
Reasonable accommodation during the application process is available for persons with disabilities. Please complete this request form should you require accommodation.
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