Regional Account Director (Marketing Activation), UK in Manchester

Purpose of the job

Our Regional Account Directors are responsible for the development and nurturing of key HH Global clients. The role is essential in strengthening relationships with the client, identifying growth opportunities for the business, and ensuring solutions are developed and delivered on time and against operational and financial business targets.

You will take responsibility for the strategic and operational management of the account across the region, taking a hands-on approach to creating and delivering solutions. The role requires a strong leader who can focus on the vision and strategic direction of the account, balance daily support needs with long-term strategies, and successfully combine vision and reality into effective operational plans.

You'll need to be operating face-to-face with the client - someone looking to drive change, who enjoys a challenge, is keen to build a business line, has high energy, and can influence a global offering. The role operates on a blended basis from any of our UK offices and will require a good deal of travel to meet and influence the client across the region but who is based in the Hertfordshire area. There is a small team to manage initially with an expectation to grow that as you develop the client relationship.

The solutions we deliver for this client are variable and dynamic, including Retail Print and Point of Sale Materials, Branded Merchandise, Gifting, Brand Refresh tools, and wider Marketing Activation assets - experience in this world would be warmly received.

Key responsibilities

• Create and deliver HH Global’s regional account strategy for the client, developing strong relationships with senior key stakeholders across the client organization to increase and expand revenue by identifying opportunities and proposing solutions.
• Ensure that the contract is managed in line with our contractual responsibilities and manage overall financial performance of the account, risk analysis, and remedy.
• Lead operational delivery for the client across key categories, driving innovation and product development to bring world-class solutions to our client.
• Provide regular MI reporting and production of account relationship plans of the highest quality.
• Produce client communications documents to the highest standard to be consumed/presented at C level within the client organization, e.g., strategic reports, QBRs.
• Ensure that activities comply with the Company’s policies and procedures.
• Shape the overall account structure, team, and resourcing to excel in the ideation, sourcing, procurement, production, and execution of all client projects - lead, motivate, and develop your team to meet and exceed expectations of a true market leader.
• Operate effective two-way communication with a regional team within a matrix management environment.
• Build successful partnerships with the client business leads and key decision makers; provide ongoing strategic insights and revised solutions/recommendations based on changing market dynamics and industry trends.
• Identification of new business opportunities and responsibility for the delivery of account growth - continuously refine and improve the creative and production solutions, evaluate spend to maximize capabilities and drive value in the relationship from both an economic and service level perspective.

Knowledge, Skills + Experience

• Exceptional client service management experience, including time spent working on client site(s), developing and maintaining client relationships across multiple vendors.
• Strong negotiation and consensus building skills when dealing with internal customers, stakeholders, and team members.
• Has built client success - delivered account planning, client service plans, KPIs, budgeting, forecasting, strategic account leadership, and identifying opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Ability to analyze complex operational, financial, spend, and product data and present this to the client with confidence and develop strategies underpinned by high-quality data.
• Extensive people management and team leadership experience including performance management, coaching, training, and career planning.
• Proven track record of operational management for client services departments, P+L/budget management, and account financial reporting.
• Entrepreneurial minded with an innovative and creative mindset.
• Excellent communication skills (verbal, written, presentation), with clarity of expression and the ability to present to and influence various stakeholder groups at all levels of seniority.

Essential criteria

• UK based to engage at client head office and with team.
• Previous account growth credentials.
• Proven experience of strategic and operational account management across multiple jurisdictions.
• Evidence of setting and driving the strategic vision and direction of an account, balancing daily support needs with long-term strategies and successfully combining vision and reality into effective operational plans.
• Seeking challenge, not routine.