Senior Customer Business Manager - Purina (Coles)

The Opportunity

At Purina, pets aren’t just part of what we do, they’re our passion. Our vision is to be the world’s most trusted company in enriching the lives of pets and the people who love them. Through high-quality nutrition, innovation and care, we’re dedicated to helping dogs and cats live healthier, happier lives. Because when pets thrive, their people do too: Pets and People are Better Together.

We’re looking for an experienced and commercially driven Senior Customer Business Manager – Coles to lead one of our most important strategic customer partnerships.
This is a senior leadership opportunity for someone who can look beyond day-to-day account management and build a long-term, mutually beneficial partnership with Coles. You will connect Coles’ strategy with Purina’s business and category ambitions, identify opportunities for growth, and mobilise teams across both organisations to turn those opportunities into results.

A Day in the Life

As a senior member of our Sales organisation, you will own the strategic direction and commercial performance of the Coles partnership. You will build relationships across the customer, lead the development and execution of the Joint Business Plan, and bring together cross-functional teams to unlock sustainable growth.

You will:

• Own and develop the strategic relationship with Coles, building strong partnerships across key customer stakeholders and functions.


• Translate Coles’ strategy and priorities into opportunities for Purina, connecting customer, category, shopper and Purina strategies to develop a clear growth agenda.


• Lead the development and execution of the Joint Business Plan (JBP), establishing shared priorities, growth initiatives, investment choices and measures of success.


• Mobilise cross-functional teams across Sales, Category, Marketing, Commercial Planning, Supply and Finance to bring the customer strategy to life.


• Identify and unlock opportunities across category growth, portfolio, innovation, activation, value creation and commercial execution.


• Lead commercial planning and negotiations, balancing customer opportunities with Purina’s strategic and financial objectives.


• Lead, coach and develop your team, creating clarity, accountability and capability while empowering people to perform at their best.


• Build strong internal alignment around the Coles strategy, ensuring teams understand the priorities, opportunities and actions required to win.


• Use customer, category and commercial insights to challenge thinking and influence senior stakeholders both internally and externally.


• Lead key customer initiatives and projects from strategy through to execution, ensuring plans translate into measurable outcomes.

What Will Make You Successful

We’re looking for a commercially astute, strategic and collaborative leader who can build strong relationships while maintaining the courage to challenge and influence.

You will bring:

• Demonstrated experience working with Coles and/or Woolworths, with a strong understanding of major grocery retail.


• Proven experience in Customer/Account Management, Category Management or Commercial roles within FMCG.


• Strong strategic thinking, with the ability to connect customer strategy with company, brand and category strategy to identify opportunities for mutual growth.


• Demonstrated experience developing and executing Joint Business Plans and long-term customer strategies.


• A track record of delivering strong commercial outcomes through customer partnerships.


• Strong commercial acumen, including experience with negotiations, investment choices and business planning.


• The ability to lead through influence and mobilise cross-functional teams around a common customer agenda.


• People leadership experience, with a strong focus on coaching, development, accountability and building capability.


• Strong category and shopper understanding. Previous Category Management experience would be highly regarded.


• Strong analytical capability with the ability to turn complex customer, category and commercial data into clear actions.


• Excellent communication, presentation and stakeholder-management skills, including confidence engaging senior customer and internal stakeholders.


• A proactive, collaborative mindset with the ability to move comfortably between strategy and execution.