Job Purpose

To lead and develop MPM’s retail strategy across the UK and Ireland, driving profitable and sustainable growth across all retail accounts (excluding E-Commerce marketplaces). This role owns the retail channel P&L and is responsible for defining strategic direction, building high-performing customer partnerships, and delivering best-in-class execution across national accounts.

The Head of Retail UK/IRL acts as a key commercial leader within the organisation, setting a clear 3-year growth roadmap, leading negotiations with major retail partners, and building the capability of the retail sales team to deliver excellence.

This role will manage and develop the National Account team, ensuring delivery of business targets while fostering strong cross-functional collaboration across the organisation

Key Responsibilities

Ownership

This role deals with a wide variety of tasks including, but not limited to the following:

Strategic Leadership & Ownership

• Define and deliver MPM’s Retail strategy for UK & IRL, aligned with overall business objectives and growth ambitions
• Develop and own a 3-year roadmap for the retail channel, identifying key growth drivers across customers, categories, and channels
• Own the full retail P&L, driving revenue growth, margin improvement, and optimised trade investment across all accounts
• Lead Joint Business Planning (JBP) and annual negotiations with key retail partners to secure optimal commercial terms and ROI
• Identify and onboard new retail customers in line with MPM’s expansion strategy

Performance & Commercial Excellence

• Deliver annual budget KPIs (Turnover, Spend %, Profitability) across the retail channel
• Develop and implement robust commercial plans, including pricing, promotions, and trade investment strategies
• Drive data-led decision-making, leveraging EPOS, category data, and financial performance to optimise plans
• Monitor, analyse, and report performance across key metrics, ensuring accurate forecasting and delivery vs targets
• Continuously evaluate ROI and optimise trade spend to maximise effectiveness

Executional Excellence & Customer Development

• Build strong, strategic partnerships with key retail customers, positioning MPM as a partner of choice
• Lead customer range reviews, category conversations, and growth initiatives supported by strong insight and data
• Oversee execution of pricing, promotions, and in-store activation, ensuring alignment with brand strategy
• Ensure excellence in forecasting, availability, and supply chain collaboration
• Maintain strong understanding of in-store execution, competitor activity, and category performance

Team Leadership & Capability Building

• Lead, coach, and develop the National Account Management team, including Senior NAMs, NAMs and others
• Act as a mentor and escalation point for customer negotiations and commercial challenges
• Build a culture of accountability, ownership, and commercial excellence
• Develop internal capability in JBP, negotiation, and data-driven selling
• Ensure clear prioritisation, high standards of execution, and talent development across the team

Cross-Functional & Regional Collaboration

• Partner closely with Commercial Strategy, Brand, Marketing, Supply Chain, and Finance teams to ensure aligned execution
• Collaborate on NPD launches, promotional cycles, and long-term brand building plans
• Ensure strong integration between commercial plans and operational delivery
• Act as a key member of the UK/EMEA leadership team, contributing to overall business strategy

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Essential

• Proven success in a senior retail/commercial leadership role (ideally 8+ years), managing major UK/IRL retail customers
• Strong commercial acumen with proven P&L ownership, JBP negotiation, and budget management experience
• Deep understanding of UK grocery and/or specialist retail landscape
• Demonstrated ability to develop and execute long-term strategic growth plans
• Strong analytical capability; confident using sales, category, and financial data to drive decisions
• Exceptional stakeholder management and influencing skills, including senior customer engagement
• Proven leadership experience, with a track record of coaching and developing high-performing teams
• Highly organised, proactive, and able to operate in a fast-paced, evolving environment

Desirable

• Experience in pet care, FMCG, or consumer goods categories
• Experience working with Private Equity-backed businesses
• Degree-level education
• Experience across both grocery and specialist retail channels

Personal Attributes

• Strategic and entrepreneurial mindset – able to connect insight and opportunity to drive growth
• Collaborative leader – balances commercial drive with team development
• Results-oriented and resilient – thrives under pressure and delivers targets
• Strong ownership mentality – accountable for outcomes and execution
• Continuous learner – embraces change and drives improvement