Position: Strategic Account Manager
Location: Homebased with frequent travel across the UK – key sites in Wales (Cardiff) and the West Midlands (West Bromwich, Birmingham, Coventry) - company car provided
Salary: £43,000 - £45,000
Type: Permanent
Key Requirements
It is imperative that the candidates have the following experience;
* Skills and Apprenticeship knowledge and experience
* Clear understanding and knowledge in funding streams
* Bootcamps experience/ knowledge
The Role
The Strategic Account Manager (SAM) plays a dual role, focusing on the management and growth of national high volume accounts while leading a team of account managers to ensure effective employer relationships and performance outputs. The SAM is tasked with building long term, strategic partnerships with key employers ensuring that recruitment and skills services are aligned with their evolving needs. Additionally, the Strategic Account Manager is responsible for guiding their team, ensuring optimal performance across both Skills and Employability contracts, ensuring optimal performance and maintaining a high standard of service delivery to meet the organisations contractual and business goals.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
o Strategic Account Management: Manage and develop a minimum of 2-3 key national accounts by building strong relationships with key stakeholder within each account, acting as a point of contact for all senior level queries. Responsible for conducting regular strategic reviews with employers to ensure services align with evolving employer needs. Develop strategies for targeting key sectors and organisations for apprenticeship and skills recruitment.
o Team Leadership and Management: To manage, motivate and lead the EE team to achieve successful delivery of Key Performance Indicators and establish high quality employer relationships that yield outputs for our Employability and Skills division. Provide direction, support and coaching to all staff members to ensure high performance. Set performance objectives for account managers and monitor progress against target. Conduct regular performance reviews and provide development opportunities for account managers. Foster a culture of continuous improvement within the team.
o Tracking and Reporting: Track and report on key metrics, including employability, skills and apprenticeships outputs in line with contractual requirements. Use data driven insights to identify opportunities for growth and develop strategies to enhance the employability and skills programme. Work closely with Apprenticeship Account Manager and Stakeholder Engagement Manager to ensure success across employability, skills and training. Prepare reports for senior leaderships on all areas relating to employment, skills and training delivering. In addition, monitor account performance and employer satisfaction across all accounts, ensuring targets for job starts and retention / sustainability are met.
o Stakeholder Management: Act as the primary point of contact for senior level stakeholders regarding employment, skills and training queries and responsible translating queries into outcomes. Ensure strong relationships with employers, leveraging insights and feedback to continuously improve service offerings to employers. Build and maintain relationships with external bodies, including funding agencies, mayoral and combined authorities and key target organisations. Promote employment, skills and training opportunities within the organisation and externally to partners.
Skills & Experience
o Strong leadership experience at a management level, with a track record of managing teams to meet ambitious targets
o Proven experience in managing employment, skills and training programmes.
o Strong relationship building skills, with experience managing high volume employer accounts.
o Excellent communication, negotiation and presentation skills with the ability to engage and influence serious stakeholders.
o Strong problem solving and analytical skills with a data driven approach to performance monitoring
o Experience in developing strategies and translating them into actionable plans.
o Ability to work in a fast paced environment with a focus on meeting targets and deadlines.
o High level of personal organisation and time management skills.
o Qualified to NVQ Level 4 (or equivalent qualification or experience)
o In-depth understanding of the skills and employability sector, including current trends, challenges and opportunities
o Experience of using a variety of data sources to drive performance excellence.
o Experience of recruiting, onboarding and developing account managers.
o Experience of successfully managing absence, disciplinaries, capability reviews and grievance procedures.
o Ability to effectively communicate at all levels, using a variety of communication methods (spoken, written, behaviour).
o Ability to use own initiative, working independently and as part of a team.
o Highly computer literate (MS Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint).
o Demonstrates a flexible and professional approach to work.
o Maintains confidentiality and gives and receives constructive criticism.
o Proactively identifies and solves problems.
o Maintains high standards of quality and accuracy and follows procedures accurately and reliably.