Key Account Manager in Barnsley

Position reference: 50052385

Directorate: Place | Service: Economic Development

Salary: £47,181 - £50,269

Working Arrangements: Flexible Working

Hours per week: 37

Contract type: Permanent

We are happy to talk flexible working arrangements with you, please get in touch.

Closing date: 17/08/2026 at 23:59

The successful candidate will be required to speak English to an appropriate standard. This post requires a Basic Criminal Record Check. Prospective employees will be required to give a reasonable account of any significant periods (6 months or more in the past 3 years) of time living abroad. When applying, please ensure you are prepared to start work with all the necessary legal documents, such as a valid visa, relevant to the type of work you will be undertaking. Please be aware that our organisation does not possess a Home Office license and, as a result, is unable to provide sponsorship for anyone seeking a visa as a skilled or temporary migrant worker.

At Barnsley Council you can start a career that makes a real difference to people’s lives, helping our council and residents to be the best they can be. We’re an award-winning council and one of the biggest employers in the borough, supporting around 243,000 people. We put people at the heart of everything we do, and that includes our employees. As part of the team, we offer lots of benefits and rewards to support you to thrive and grow, like flexible working, employee discounts, support for your health and wellbeing, and opportunities for training and development to grow your career and develop your skills.

Key to our success is working with our residents, partners, businesses and organisations and building these partnerships to bring about change in Barnsley.

About The Post

Help Shape the Future of Barnsley's Economy

At Enterprising Barnsley, we're not just supporting businesses – we're helping shape the future of one of the UK's most ambitious economies. Barnsley has built a reputation for backing entrepreneurs, supporting business growth, investing in innovation and creating opportunities for businesses to thrive. As we continue this journey, we're looking for an experienced and commercially-minded Key Account Manager to join our team.

This isn’t a traditional account management role. We’re looking for someone who understands business because they’ve lived it. Someone who can bring first-hand experience, commercial insight and sector knowledge to help some of Barnsley’s most important businesses grow, innovate and succeed.

If you’re looking for a role where your experience can have a wider impact than the success of a single organisation, we’d love to hear from you.

About The Role

You will become a trusted adviser, connector and advocate for businesses operating across Barnsley’s priority growth sectors. Working directly with business leaders, you’ll develop a deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing the companies that drive our local economy. You’ll help them identify barriers to growth, connect them with the support they need, and challenge them to think differently about their future ambitions.

Alongside supporting individual businesses, you’ll play a key role in helping Enterprising Barnsley understand how our priority sectors are evolving. You’ll identify emerging trends, spot opportunities for investment and growth, strengthen sector networks and provide insight that helps shape future economic priorities.

This is a highly visible role that sits at the intersection of business, investment and economic development. You’ll work with some of Barnsley’s most ambitious businesses, influence key stakeholders, and help ensure the borough remains a place where businesses can start, scale and succeed.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Building trusted, long-term relationships with businesses across Barnsley’s priority growth sectors.
• Acting as a critical friend and trusted adviser to business leaders.
• Supporting businesses to identify opportunities for growth, innovation, investment and collaboration.
• Using your commercial experience to provide practical advice and insight.
• Understanding the challenges and opportunities facing businesses and helping shape solutions to address them.
• Identifying emerging sector trends and market opportunities.
• Developing and strengthening sector ecosystems, networks and partnerships.
• Working with public and private sector partners to unlock opportunities for local businesses.
• Helping shape the future direction of Enterprising Barnsley’s business support activity through sector intelligence and insight.
• Representing Barnsley and Enterprising Barnsley at business events, stakeholder meetings and networking opportunities.

About You

We’re less interested in where you’ve worked and more interested in what you’ve achieved. You may currently be working in industry. You may have operated your own business. You may have built a successful career in commercial management, business development, operations, consultancy or economic development. What matters most is that you understand business, enjoy building relationships, and are passionate about helping organisations succeed.

We particularly encourage applications from candidates currently working, or who have recently worked, within the logistics, manufacturing, tech and digital, or dual-use technology sectors.

Successful Candidates Are Likely To Have:

• Strong commercial awareness and an understanding of what drives business success.
• The ability to build trust and credibility with senior decision makers.
• Experience of working within, or closely alongside, one or more priority growth sectors.
• Excellent communication, influencing and relationship-building skills.
• The ability to spot opportunities, solve problems and connect people.
• An interest in economic growth, innovation and business development.
• A desire to make a meaningful contribution to Barnsley’s future success.

Previous public sector experience is not essential. In fact, we’re particularly interested in hearing from people who can bring fresh perspectives, valuable networks and real-world commercial experience into the team.

Why Join Enterprising Barnsley?

This is an opportunity to do something genuinely rewarding. You'll work with ambitious businesses, help shape the future of key sectors, influence economic growth across the borough and be part of a team with a strong reputation for making things happen.

In Return, You’ll Benefit From:

• Flexible and agile working arrangements.
• The opportunity to make a visible impact on the future of Barnsley’s economy.
• A supportive and ambitious team environment.
• Access to senior business and stakeholder networks.
• Ongoing opportunities for professional development and growth.
• A role where no two days are the same.

If you want to use your experience to help shape the future of Barnsley’s economy and support the next generation of business success, we’d love to hear from you.

Please ensure you view the job profile for this role, as you will need to demonstrate in your application form how you meet the required criteria. We welcome the opportunity to have a chat about the role and are happy to address any questions you may have about flexible working arrangements, including as a result of caring responsibilities.

We're committed to creating a workplace where differences are valued and everyone truly feels able to be themselves. If you have any support needs during the recruitment process, please let us know. CV's are not accepted for this role. At Barnsley Council, we believe in second chances and value diversity. Our recruitment process is inclusive, and we welcome applicants with past convictions. We're committed to fairness and do not discriminate. Join us in building a future where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.