Job Title: Strategic Account Manager

Role Purpose:

LRQA's mission is to be the leading digitally enabled assurance provider, helping our clients navigate a changing risk landscape. We will achieve this by being the leading assurance provider in key sectors such as food, cybersecurity and ESG, making it easier for clients to do business with us through our digital transformation, and ultimately delivering a portfolio of services which make the world a cleaner, more sustainable and safer place.

Our Business Assurance Business Unit is a recognised, world-leading professional assurance services organisation. We specialise in management systems compliance & expert advice across a broad spectrum of standards, schemes & business improvement services, including customised training & assurance programs.

Reporting into the Sales Team Leader, the purpose of the Strategic Account Manager is to:

• Develop and win new business opportunities with existing and target strategic accounts
• Build and maintain strong strategic relationships with key individuals in client accounts
• Lead the strategic sales priorities and implementation for accounts, based on opportunities, framework and service agreements, to maximise revenue delivery and growth
• Introduce new products and services which are added to the LRQA portfolio through acquisitions and new product development
• Support strategic bids and be a major contributor to the bid process and team
• Be the local lead and representative for colleague's accounts, where geographical strategic support is needed, including liaison with Global Account Managers (GAM's) to drive sales and pipeline opportunities

Key Responsibilities:

• Results Driven Delivery:

You will manage a selection of strategic accounts and be responsible for winning business from a target group of logos, with an annual combined revenue value of £250,000 initially, depending on mixture of existing and new client priorities, working on growing this significantly year on year. You will be responsible for creating the implementation strategy for new sales in your accounts and working with LRQA teams as needed to achieve success. Retention, revenue growth and new logo wins will be the key performance indicators used to measure success.

• Account Management Skills:

You will be responsible for the development and delivery of strategic account plans, which maximise the LRQA opportunity for revenue, in line with group growth objectives and priorities. You will ensure continual development of each client's business focus and strategy, you will grow the network of influencers in each client organisation and will maintain an active pipeline of opportunities, prioritising workload to ensure client satisfaction and maximum revenue growth. This will involve proactive engagement with other LRQA teams, including marketing, Service Delivery (SD) and Service Delivery Support (SDS) as needed to put your account and targets into the best shape possible for success.

• Pipeline Management Skills:

You will need to manage your client pipelines to ensure that they are sufficient to meet the relevant targets, engaging with GAM colleagues and other local SAM's to maximise the opportunities you develop, through local relationships and contracts. This will include ensuring the accuracy of values, sales stages, dates of actions and likely closure timelines. Where your overall pipeline is not in the right shape, you will take action to correct this and ensure it gets back on track in a timely manner. Your pipeline will be an accurate reflection of your sales forecast at any given time.

• Preparation and Delivery of Account Plans:

You will ensure that any strategic account under the management of your team, has an up to date, viable account plan, which is driving the strategic growth initiatives for the account and which can be clearly articulated by the relevant sales person, at any time. You will use account plans to prioritise opportunities, marketing support and team efforts to drive the growth you are tasked with delivering each financial period.

• Contract Renewals and RFP's:

You are responsible for managing the retention of all business with your named accounts, minimising the risk of loss to the LRQA business, through timely intervention in any process, preventing the re-tendering of business where possible and re-securing the contract where needed. You will play an active role in new business opportunities, either in a lead or supporting sales position, depending on the winning strategy and relevant skills needed to maximise the opportunity of winning.

• Problem Solving:

You will be accountable for working with your clients and targets on identifying problems that LRQA can solve via a customised solution of its products and services, underpinned by strong market knowledge and experience.

• Market Knowledge and Strategic Prioritisation:

You will maintain a strong strategic knowledge of the market(s) you operate in, ensuring you are able to maintain a strong level of communication with client personnel, using this to open doors for new products and services, and to contribute to strategic discussions around LRQA business plans and growth objectives.

• Contribution to Sales Meetings and Performance Summaries:

From sales management meetings to BA leadership team meetings, you will be responsible for the production of sales and pipeline reports, performance summaries and updates on specific project actions, ensuring they are accurate and delivered in a timely manner.

Technical/Professional Qualifications/Requirements:

• Essential: Demonstrable experience of achieving annual sales targets, selling products and services in a comparable role in a BB environment, with at least 3 years' experience
• Essential: Proven experience of working with large strategic organisations to develop sales solutions underpinned by insights, to solve particular business problems
• Essential: Demonstrable experience of developing contract values with large accounts through year on year double digit growth
• Essential: Ability to communicate fluently in English and a minimum of one other language widely used in businesses in your base region
• Essential: Experience in preparing and delivering proposal presentations to senior level audience
• Essential: Demonstrable experience in managing quotations, bids and proposals, including knowledge of pricing strategies to achieve required margin
• Essential: Demonstrable experience in working proactively and collaboratively across teams including marketing to achieve growth strategies and targets.
• Essential: Knowledge of standard IT programmes, Salesforce and comfortable in using proprietary software for business processes
• Desirable: Knowledge of the business assurance sector
• Desirable: A degree or commensurate education qualification, which you have used in your career to succeed in a role

Salary: £50,000 - £60,000 per annum