Senior Commercial Manager –  M&S

Competitive Salary + Bonus+Car Allowance+EV Salary Sacrifice Scheme

Hybrid Working with travel across UK manufacturing sites and weekly customer visits

Join one of the UK’s fastest-growing, PE-backed chilled food groups and help shape one of our most important strategic retail partnerships.

The Compleat Food Group is on a fast paced ambitious growth journey to become the UK’s leading chilled prepared food company. Backed by PE Partners, we have continued to grow through investment, innovation and strategic acquisitions, now operating across a broad chilled food portfolio with significant scale, pace and opportunity.

This is a very high-profile senior commercial manager role managing and developing our relationship with M&S across a substantial customer account. You’ll be at the heart of a key trading partnership, working across commercial, supply chain, category, NPD, technical and operations to unlock growth, strengthen relationships and deliver outstanding results for both our Customer and The Compleat Food Group.

The opportunity

We’re looking for a commercially sharp, relationship-led commercial professional with strong retailer experience and the confidence to build relationships. You’ll bring the gravitas to represent The Compleat Food Group externally, working in partnership to create new opportunities and turning them into tangible results.

This is a role for someone who is looking to progress their own career and who thrives in chilled food, understands the pace and complexity of short shelf-life categories, and wants to play a meaningful part in the next phase of growth for a fast-moving, entrepreneurial, multi-site national food group.

What you’ll be doing

• Working on and owning the relationship across agreed categories and buying areas.
• Supporting the development and delivering customer business plans that drive revenue, margin, share and long-term value.
• Building trusted, strategic relationships with M&S stakeholders and acting as a credible ambassador for The Compleat Food Group.
• Working closely with the Customer Director and cross-functional teams to align commercial priorities, supply chain capability, NPD plans and operational delivery.
• Using category, market and sales insight to identify performance drivers, opportunities and clear action plans.
• Creating and managing annual promotional plans, tracking performance and ensuring activity delivers commercially.
• Influencing internal teams across production, supply chain, technical, NPD, finance and category to deliver against customer and business objectives.
• Supporting strategic partnerships, open-book costing conversations and commercially robust decision-making.
• Managing and supporting a small team including ensuring clear targets and objectives, performance and career development opportunties

What we’re looking for

• Previous commercial relationship experience within chilled food, short shelf-life or fast-paced ideally partnering with M&S
• A proven track record of working with major UK retailers, ideally M&S, at buyer level.
• Experience across own-label and branded products, with a clear understanding of what leading retailers expect from supplier partners.
• Excellent commercial judgement, financial literacy and analytical ability.
• Strong category awareness, with the ability to translate insight into growth plans and customer value.
• Confidence managing complex customer relationships and influencing at senior level, internally and externally.
• A proactive, resilient and entrepreneurial mindset, with the energy to spot opportunities and make them happen.
• Outstanding communication, attention to detail and stakeholder management skills.

Why join us?

This is a chance to step into a commercially significant role in a business with incredible momentum. You’ll be joining a PE-backed group with scale, ambition and pace, where strong commercial talent can make a visible impact. With a diverse multi-site manufacturing footprint, leading chilled food capabilities and a major strategic partnership with Tesco, this is an opportunity to influence growth at the highest level.

You’ll be part of a collaborative, passionate and commercially driven team that values pace, ownership and fresh thinking. The role will be based from one of our key sites, with flexibility to work from home 2–3 days per week and regular travel to customer and site meetings.

BENEFITS: At The Compleat Food Group, we believe our people are the heart of our success. That’s why we offer a wide range of benefits designed to support your lifestyle, wellbeing, and career growth:

Financial & Lifestyle Benefits

• Competitive Car Allowance
• Company Bonus Scheme recognising performance and contribution
• Salary Sacrifice Schemes – including Electric Vehicles, Home & Tech, Cycle to Work, and SMART Pension
• 33 days’ annual leave (including bank holidays) with the option to purchase extra
• Holiday Discounts Available via our online retail discount platform
• Access to enhanced retail discounts online and in-store
• Free product handouts across our sites, so you can sample and enjoy our delicious products first hand
• EV charging points – available at selected sites

Health & Wellbeing

• 24/7 access to GroceryAid for free financial, emotional, and practical support
• Physical Wellbeing Hub – free on-demand exercise programmes, online classes and multiple gym discounts
• Free diet & nutrition advice with access to thousands of meal plans and healthy recipes
• Online wellbeing support – from mindfulness to lifestyle resources
• Financial wellbeing tools – including mortgage calculators, budgeting tools, and financial aid

Career Growth & Development

• Access to a personalised online learning platform (LMS)
• Formal and informal training opportunities tailored to your role
• Performance Development Plans and regular Career Conversations
• Industry leading company Mentoring Scheme to add depth and really support your career journey
• Recognition through Club Compleat rewards portal

Community & Culture

• 2 paid volunteering days per year to give back to causes that matter to you
• Charity initiatives and fundraising events
• Team socials to connect and celebrate together
• Employee networks & support groups – including Women @ Compleat
• New baby gift for new parents

Who this role would suit

This role would suit a commercial candidate from the chilled food industry who is ready to accelerate their career in a fast-growing business. You may already be a Senior manager on a major retailer account, or you may be ready for the next step into a larger, more strategic customer relationship where your commercial impact will be highly visible.

Interested?

If you’re commercially ambitious, passionate about chilled food and excited by the opportunity to shape one of the UK’s most important grocery retail partnerships, we’d love to hear from you. Apply now with a covering letter explaining why this role interests you. All applications will be dealt with in the strictest confidence.

What You Should Know About How We Recruit

At The Compleat Food Group, we believe great teams are built on difference. We create an inclusive, respectful environment where everyone feels safe, supported, and are able to be themselves at work. We’re proud to be an equal opportunities employer and are committed to Fairness, Equity, Inclusivity, and Respect. If you need a reasonable adjustment at any stage of our recruitment process, just let us know, we’ll support you — confidentially and with care. We hire the best people for our roles, not the same people. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, we focus on what you do and the impact you could make in our business. Our recruitment process is fair, accessible, and designed to give everyone an equal chance. You’ll also find benefits that support people at every life stage, plus active internal networks — including Women @ Compleat, LGBTQIA+, and Neurodiversity

Recruitment Agencies: 

We have a small, active and trusted Preferred Supplier List to assist us if required. We do not acknowledge any speculative CVs or unsolicited candidate introductions. We only accept CV submissions for roles released to you directly by our Talent Acquisition team.