The Role and Team

 We are looking for a Client Development Executive who wants to take the first step into a field-based sales role within a high-performing team. This role is a key link between our customers and apetito. It is the perfect role for a recent graduate looking to learn and develop their skills in a customer-facing environment. Our customers see their CDE as the face of apetito – they are an instrumental part of the success of apetito partnerships.

A successful CDE will be a real, enthusiastic self-starter, who can develop long-term partnerships with customers and achieve commercial targets including high levels of customer service and loyalty.

Our CDEs manage their own customers whilst having a team of apetito colleagues to support them. This is an important role and gives us a real point of difference in the market.

The Care Homes Team are:

Dedicated experts in the provision of food for older people. We are genuine partners to Care Homes and their teams.

We are proud to create food that is enjoyed and shared. Our Care Homes team have a very forward-thinking culture that will really help us to accelerate growth over the next 5 years. We have a mix of experienced managers, food professionals and graduates who are positive and passionate about what we do. We make a real difference
 

Due to our growth plans we have a vacancy in the North of England (commutable from Leeds/Manchester/Sheffield) home based with much time spent with our customers 

Who we are
 
About apetito
apetito is the UK’s leading supplier of food to the health and social care sectors. Servicing over 400 hospitals, 600 care homes and thousands more through our work with Local Authorities, we produce delicious, nutritious and sustainable meals for people at home or in care. Through our food we look to ‘make a real difference’ to all our customers, up and down the country.
 
Our Values
Established in 1958, as a family-owned business, our values sit at the very heart of what we do. We are proud to be a business that ‘makes a real difference’, committed to producing ‘great food to be proud of’. We have developed a range of products designed to ‘enhance health and well-being’for all our customers. We are proud supporters of British food and farming and focus on using the best ‘ethical and sustainably’ sourced produce.
We are driven by a ‘passion for service’, dedicated to feeding some of the UK’s most vulnerable people, offering healthy and delicious meals to customers across the UK.
 
Ethical & Sustainable
As a business which operates within food manufacturing, we believe we have an obligation to make a positive contribution on society. With over 300 products in our range, we ensure our produce is ethically and sustainably sourced, working only with suppliers who share our commitment to making a positive impact. We’re a proud member of the Ethical Trade Initiative (ETI), a leading alliance of companies, trade unions and NGOs, that promote respect for workers rights globally. All our new suppliers now operate under the ETI’s guidelines.

We are also a member of The UK’s Plastics Pact, an initiative looking to transform the plastic packaging industry in the UK. As part of the initiative, we have committed, along with other ambitious targets, to eliminate unnecessary single-use plastic completely by 2025.
We have also made a commitment to our employees – we’re recognised as an accredited Living Wage employer by the Living Wage Foundation. Joining an elite group of FTSE 100 companies and public sector organisations.
 
Giving Back
Here at apetito, we take our duty to give back to our local communities and chosen charities very seriously. In 2018, we raised over £30,000 for Alzheimer’s Support and Alzheimer’s Society alone, thanks to the incredible efforts of our employees and charity committee. We also support our communities through the apetito Staff Foundation, which gives financial support to the chosen charitable causes of our staff and their children. Since 2005, we’ve raised over £200,000 for these charities.

Responsibilities

- Being a genuine partner to your customers
- Launching new customers
- Training staff
- Improving the dining experience for residents
- Sharing our expertise in food and nutrition
- Helping the care home manage its food budget
- Working on business development opportunities
- Contributing to a positive team environment
- Working effectively alone and in a team

CDE’s perform a key role with autonomy and real responsibility, at an exciting time for the Care Homes Team. With significant sales and market growth, our graduates have the opportunity to grow personally, develop professionally and make a real difference.

Qualifications

Essential:
Degree preferably, in a business-related subject
Customer service experience
Driving licence
 
Desirable:
Catering experience
Sales experience
Intermediate Food hygiene qualification

Personal Qualities:
 
We are looking for a self-motivated individual who is comfortable working alone and also as part of a team to meet joint objectives. The candidate will need to be able to work with and most crucially influence people at all levels (Directors, Managers & Kitchen Staff etc.)

- Passion – Must display a passion for this role
- Gravitas- Credibility with Owners/Managers
- Empathy with the customer
- Constantly challenges existing practices; strives for excellence
- Resilient and determined; persistent in pursuit of achievement
- Likeability
- Excellent influencing, listening and communication skills
- Approachable and presentable
- Extremely attentive
- Logical and analytical with a results focus
- Prepared to work flexible hours
- Able to stay away overnight as needed. Typically no more than one night per week
- Clean or virtually clean driving license essential.
- Lives or willing to relocate within reasonable distance of work location