• Generate and convert brand-new business opportunities, with an initial six-month target of £500,000 in new business revenue.
• Develop a focused prospecting strategy and maintain disciplined activity across target clients, agencies, sectors and opportunities.
• Lead commercial conversations, proposals and negotiations, ensuring opportunities meet agreed revenue and margin expectations.
• Build senior-level relationships with prospects and position the business as a trusted partner for exhibitions and events.

B. Strategic Account Management & Growth

• Act as the senior commercial point of contact for allocated key accounts, building long-term, trusted relationships.
• Develop and maintain strategic account plans that reflect each client’s objectives, organisational structure, future requirements and commercial potential.
• Map key decision-makers, influencers and stakeholders, building multi-level relationships and reducing reliance on single contacts.
• Identify and convert growth opportunities across departments, brands, regions, events and related client needs.
• Own agreed account revenue and profitability objectives and drive sustainable year-on-year growth.

C. Client Relationship & Stakeholder Management

• Lead regular client meetings, including face-to-face engagement, to maintain visibility, trust and strategic alignment.
• Use strong influencing and consultative selling skills to shape client thinking and identify future opportunities.
• Proactively monitor client health, satisfaction and engagement, addressing risks early and supporting strong retention.
• Handle commercial escalations confidently and professionally, coordinating the right internal support where required.

D. Commercial & Account Strategy

• Understand the commercial performance of new business and managed accounts, including revenue, gross margin and profitability.
• Use market, competitor and client insight to inform account strategy and wider business growth priorities.
• Advise clients on new opportunities, formats, solutions and innovations relevant to their objectives.
• Negotiate commercially robust agreements that balance client value with sustainable business returns.

E. Commercial Project Oversight

• Maintain commercial and client oversight throughout the project lifecycle, acting as the key link between the client and internal delivery teams. Ensure client expectations, commercial objectives and agreed requirements are understood and maintained, without assuming responsibility for day-to-day project delivery.
• Oversee key milestones from a client and commercial perspective, escalating risks where necessary.
• Act as the commercial bridge between the client and internal teams including Operations, Design, Production and Logistics.
• Support a premium client experience from brief through to on-site delivery and post-project review.

F. Pipeline, Forecasting & CRM

• Maintain a healthy and qualified sales pipeline across new business and allocated accounts, ensuring sufficient future opportunity to achieve agreed targets.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date CRM records, opportunity stages, next actions and forecasts.
• Provide clear reporting on pipeline, conversion, revenue, margin, account growth and retention.
• Use data and account insight to identify risks, gaps and priority actions.

G. Collaboration with Business Development Team

• Work collaboratively with the Business Development team to establish clear ownership, handover and ongoing management of client relationships and opportunities.
• Agree when newly won clients or opportunities should transition from Business Development ownership into strategic account management.
• Share market intelligence, client insight and opportunity information to support a joined-up commercial approach.
• Help shape the strategic account management operating model as the role and portfolio develop, bringing practical recommendations based on experience.

How Success Will Be Measured

The final KPI framework should be agreed as the role is embedded. Recommended measures include:

• New business revenue: £500,000 during the first six months; measurement basis (secured, invoiced or recognised) to be agreed.
• Pipeline health: Agreed qualified pipeline coverage sufficient to support revenue targets.
• New client wins: Number and value of new clients, projects, agency relationships or genuinely new buying relationships.
• Conversion: Opportunity-to-win conversion rate and quality of qualified opportunities.
• Gross margin / profitability: Revenue won and managed at agreed commercial margin expectations.
• CRM & forecasting: Accurate, current pipeline information and reliable forecasting discipline.
• Stakeholder development: Breadth and seniority of relationships established across prospects and managed accounts.
• Account planning: Strategic account plans completed and maintained for allocated key accounts.
• Retention & growth: Client retention, repeat business and year-on-year growth across managed accounts.

What Counts as New Business

For target and commission purposes, the business should agree a clear definition before appointment. A practical definition could include:

• New clients not previously trading with the business.
• New client projects where the relationship and opportunity are originated by the role.
• New agency relationships.
• New divisions, brands or business units within organisations where there is no existing trading relationship.

Clear rules should also be agreed for opportunity attribution, shared wins and the point at which a newly won client transfers into key account ownership.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• 5+ years’ experience in sales, account management, business development or client-facing commercial roles.
• Proven track record of winning new business and growing high-value client relationships.
• Strategic thinker able to move from transactional selling to long-term account development.
• Excellent relationship builder at senior stakeholder level, with the ability to identify and influence multiple stakeholders within complex organisations.
• Strong commercial insight; comfortable working with revenue, gross margin, profitability and account P&L.
• Strong negotiation, influencing and consultative selling skills.
• Able to balance hunting for new business with farming and developing existing relationships.
• Comfortable working autonomously in a newly created role where processes and responsibilities are still evolving.
• Collaborative approach to working with Business Development, Operations, Design, Production and Logistics.