Mastering the Seasons: The Story of a Season Business Manager, Julia Klöcker in Germany

Thursday, April 16, 2026

Could you briefly introduce yourself and share what led you to join Mondelēz International in your role as Seasons Business Manager?

Last year in June, I was looking for a new career home. My goal was to find an international environment that would enable and support a challenging growth mindset while still aligning with my personal values. I have always been a very ambitious and goal-oriented person, but at the same time, I know that the basis of every success, personal or professional, is relationships and the people who surround you. Therefore, my main reason for choosing Mondelēz was the people I encountered during my application process. I was confident in their ambition to drive change and improve existing challenges in our market and organization. In addition to feeling comfortable being myself, with all the rough edges included 😉.

How would you describe the role of a Seasons Business Manager to someone who may not be familiar with it? What makes this position particularly interesting within the Germany Sales organization?

My role is basically being the HUB for all things considered relevant to our seasonal business. Meaning that my team and I drive insights into the market and our customers, which leads to conclusions that we share with all partnering functions, such as Marketing, Key Account Managers, Commercial Finance, and Demand Planning.

We aim to enable our organization to have a best-in-class Seasonal Business Planning driven by Category Management principles & Insights which we want to translate into winning executional strategies by channel specific Perfect Store Concepts.

We are still on a journey to fulfill this vision, but I am inspired and very thankful for my dynamic and engaged team and all functional supporting partners which make me believe in our future success.

You joined Mondelēz International in 2025. What has surprised you the most so far, and what stood out to you after joining the company?

My onboarding experience was very dynamic. While keeping our day-to-day business running, I worked with a highly engaged, passionate, and very welcoming cross-functional team. I believe the resilience and welcoming nature of the commercial team stood out most during these first 6 months.

Seasonal projects play an important role in our commercial strategy. How does your work contribute to business results, and what kind of collaboration does it require across teams?

My team’s work is critical to defining our short-, mid-, and long-term growth strategies. We work in a highly value-driven yet complex category that sometimes feels like a business within our business. The one big differentiating factor of our seasonal business is timing. Our plans have longer timelines for the portfolio and production pipelines. At the same time, we have very little time to ensure success during execution seasons. This combination requires very close, focused collaboration across all functions.

My team and I aim to set the framework and provide orientation within it, and we also challenge ourselves to enable a more agile business to make the right adaptations to a fast-moving, changing market environment. It will take all our cross-functional knowledge, creativity, and growth ambition to step change our market position within Seasons.

What do you value most about working at Mondelēz International?

My colleagues and the empowerment I get from my leadership to question and reshape the way we do business. Being part of our future success story motivates me everyday.

What would you say to someone who is considering applying for a role at Mondelēz International, especially within sales or commercial functions?

Ensure that you are someone who is willing to drive change with a growth mindset and who thrives in a challenging environment. But be sure that you will find a friendly and supporting team that will welcome you with open arms. To summarize - be ready and willing to jump into cold water but be sure you find some swimmers along your side who will cheer you on and help you get to shore.