Account Manager at IFF, Shanghai Hongqiao
Account Manager at IFF in Shanghai Hongqiao. Full-time. Apply with swipeandhired.
Are you passionate about building strategic customer partnerships and turning market insights into sustainable commercial growth?
IFF is a global leader in flavors, fragrances, food ingredients and health & biosciences, we deliver sustainable innovations that elevate everyday products.
Taste: Crafting unique, technology-enabled flavor designs that define the identity of food and beverage brands, shape trends in flavor building and fuel market success.
The role is based in Budapest, Hungary (hybrid role). Be part of a creative, solution-oriented team where together we can achieve greatness and make a real impact. Your potential is our inspiration.
Where You’ll Make a Difference
- Develop a strong understanding of assigned customers, including their strategies, brands, markets, consumers, competitive landscape and evolving business needs.
- Build and maintain multi-level relationships with key customer decision makers and influencers, acting as the primary point of contact for commercial matters.
- Develop and execute account strategies and plans, setting clear targets for sales, gross profit, new wins and market share growth.
- Lead commercial negotiations covering pricing, annual price increases, payment terms, supply agreements, rebates, cost-saving initiatives and other commercial terms.
- Identify and convert new business opportunities while defending and growing existing accounts, maximizing value for both IFF and our customers.
- Lead customer projects from brief to commercialization, partnering closely with Scent Design, Creative, Marketing, Consumer Insights, formulation, Operations, Regulatory and other regional or global teams.
- Shape customer briefs and recommend the most appropriate IFF solutions and portfolio, ensuring proposals and pricing align with margin and cost-to-serve guidelines.
- Maintain accurate sales forecasts and account performance reporting, identifying business risks and opportunities and reviewing progress against agreed KPIs.
- Provide leadership across internal and external project teams, influence stakeholders toward shared objectives, and support the onboarding, coaching and development of junior team members where applicable.
What Makes You the Right Fit
- Bachelor’s degree, preferably in Business, Marketing, Chemistry, Biology or another relevant discipline.
- Approximately 3–5 years of relevant experience in sales, account management, sales service, product development or marketing, ideally within fragrance, cosmetics, FMCG, flavors, chemicals or ingredients.
- Proven B2B customer and account management experience, with a strong commercial mindset and drive to deliver results.
- Strong analytical capability and working knowledge of commercial concepts including pricing, margins, sales forecasting and profitability.
- Demonstrated project management skills with the ability to coordinate multiple internal and external stakeholders effectively.
- Strong communication, presentation, storytelling and negotiation skills with the ability to influence across functions and organizational levels.
- Genuine interest in product development, consumer trends, markets and innovation, with the ability to translate insights into commercial opportunities.
- Effective business English and a global mindset, with the ability to collaborate successfully across different cultures and functions.
- Digital fluency and the ability to gather, analyze and leverage customer, market and competitive intelligence.
How Would You Stand Out?
- Knowledge of fragrance and strong olfactive skills, or relevant skin care and biochemistry knowledge depending on the customer portfolio.
- Master’s degree or additional education in Business, Marketing, Chemistry, Biology, Arts, Fashion or a related discipline.
- Experience with digital marketing or e-commerce environments, combined with creative and innovative thinking.
Why Choose Us?
- Professional onboarding process
- Multinational and supporting environment
- Cafeteria, health insurance
- Training opportunities
- Learning and development programs from day one
We are a global leader in taste, scent, and nutrition, offering our customers a broader range of natural solutions and accelerating our growth strategy. At IFF, we believe that your uniqueness unleashes our potential. We value the diverse mosaic of the ethnicity, national origin, race, age, sex, or veteran status. We strive for an inclusive workplace that allows each of our colleagues to bring their authentic self to work regardless of their religion, gender identity & expression, sexual orientation, or disability.
Visit IFF.com/careers/workplace-diversity-and-inclusion to learn more