Client Success Manager

We’re looking for a part time Client Success Manager to join our account management team for 3 days a week to build strategic, trusted and lasting relationships with the brilliant organisations that we work with.

About Wholegrain

Wholegrain has a vision of building more humane digital experiences that are designed for the people who need them and kinder to the planet. That means accelerating the shift to a greener internet by creating human-led, low carbon websites and providing sustainable digital transformation for brands with purpose.

Although Wholegrain is based in London, and we enjoy monthly team time together there, our people are spread outside of the capital. Collectively, we work to create an inclusive and supportive environment which actively encourages ideation and innovation as well as leaving space for the team to challenge and be challenged, regardless of their background, identity or job title.

About the role

We are happiest when our clients and team are aligned and happy, doing great work we are proud of and our websites are performing to their full potential of performance, accessibility and digitally sustainability.

To deliver ongoing quality and great service, we rely on a highly organised and proactive account management function within the Client Success team, with great communication skills and an ability to build lasting relationships. We are particularly keen to hear from you if you have a passion for purpose and have experience working with purpose driven organisations, over multi-year partnerships.

We are WordPress specialists and so as a Client Success Manager, you will manage a portfolio of purpose driven client accounts who are either moving through a web design and development project or in our strategic retainer model. You will be able to lean on our wider team and your own insights from working in account management in similar spaces previously, to identify the most strategic path to the right end goal whether it be stability, strengthen, growth or even off boarding.

This role will suit someone who is currently working in account management within the digital space and can bring their experience and existing skills to confidently inherit accounts as well as take on new ones. You will know the impact of a proactive, confident and friendly approach with clients whilst also having excellent attention to detail when it comes to the administration work that underpins successful account ownership.

Day to day responsibilities

• Relationship building
  We build great relationships by providing an honest and genuine service for our client partners. You will engage on a level that feels comfortable for both sides of the partnership, providing a safe pair of hands and building trust whilst also pulling on your experience to know when to pull back and when to push forward.
  
• Vision for growth
  Spotting strategic opportunities to build closer bonds, do better work and further our mission. Sharing knowledge from cross sector applications and understanding partner objectives to build digital solutions that drive growth.
  
• Clear communication
  We are a fast paced team and so the ability to manage multiple conversations and calmly keep communications strong is really important. You’ll use your experience to know when to handle escalation at account level yourself and when to elevate further.
  
• Financial awareness
  The traditional account management financial awareness will be required whereby you have strong commercial awareness of projects, the team and delivering against budgets from the account level. You will deliver clarity on everything from Investment made versus profit made, all the way through to financial forecasting and invoice management.
  
• Managing expectations
  You will balance client needs with the agency’s skills and capacity without damaging the relationship you have worked hard to build. You will have an inherent understanding of people, decoding their communications and knowing when to bend your own approach to set clear parameters, passing on the relevant information back and forth when needed.
  
• Ideation and innovation
  Ideas are always welcome. You will get to know our clients’ business and their sector to a point where you can identify parallels and bring some new thinking on how we can meet their needs.
  
• Culture
  Our team is encouraged to bring their complete selves to work and this means being an active part of a culture of acceptance.

Excellent communication skills
You can’t underestimate the power of good, effective communication and everyone is different. Being aware of how you communicate best, how that translates to your clients communication needs and your internal team, is vital. Communication will be expected across all channels, written, verbally and in face-to-face discussions and presentations with clients and their wider teams.

Technical understanding
We do not expect you to code, but an understanding and enthusiasm for WordPress and its capabilities is key – if you don’t know, just raise your hand as you are surrounded by the best in the business. We need to translate technical dev ways of working in practical and tangible comms for our clients who may not be technical, providing clarity and the context around the ‘why’ behind asks and solutions.

Business understanding
Delivering quality on time and on budget is vital to the success of Wholegrain. Therefore, so is the ability to balance the requirements of our business against the client’s confirmed objectives and opportunities available and so whilst we all know that things don’t always go to plan, you will be needed to steady the ship and maintain the relationship. With a level head and taking full scope of the challenge at hand, you will be the problem solver that finds the sweet spot between what works for Wholegrain, the client and the budget.

Passion for delivering great customer service
Nothing feels as good as exceeding client expectations in a way that feels natural and not forced. Understanding how client teams and organisations work and how we can support as we deliver work will be celebrated.

Upholding and evolving process
As part of the Client Success team, understanding how the processes apply and work day-to-day is key so that we always ensure we are monitoring and evolving to meet our client needs. We want to hear from you so that your insight can play a part in the ongoing effective delivery of our work and services.

Holistic account management understanding
You will have worked with accounts in both stand alone design build and strategic programme models and so bringing this experience, you will know when it is for you to step in at account level or when it is for project manager to handle.

Who you will work with

Line of reporting
You will report directly to the Client Success Director, deputising on some of the day to day work when they are out of the business. As such, you will have a second direct line to the Managing Director in case you need support outside of your day to day line management.
Wider team
The day to day focus of the role will see you working with all teams within the business as you support accounts in different work streams and to different degrees. It’s therefore vital that you understand how account management functions with an agency.
Client interaction
Our potential clients sit firmly within the purpose driven space and so you will get the chance to work closely with them to understand goals and provide account level support as needed.
Solo work
There is an element of solo work, especially when deep in the weeds with a client. However this work is all with the aim of bringing the team back together and onboarded.

Wellness and benefits

The follow leave allowances are all full time equivalent:

• 22 days holiday
• 8 bank holidays
• A 5 day shut down period over the end of the year

With these benefits as standard:

• Your birthday off or the Friday before if it lands on a weekend
• An ‘Impact day’ to cover life admin like a house move for example
• The opportunity to flex your working hours around your life and commitments by using our Flexible Working Policy
• Monthly in-person team time at our Sustainable Ventures office in Waterloo, with travel expenses covered
• An employee led wellness package that works for you
• An annual team retreat to recharge and reconnect as a group after a successful year
• Opportunities for learning and development by attending conferences and training courses
• Obviously the usual applies like the equipment that you need to complete your work day to day

Good to know…

Team: Client Success, reporting to Client Success Director
Term: Part time 24hrs per week (9-5, 3 days as core but other structures considered)
Salary: £40-£43k full time (pro-rated to part time hours)
Start date: As soon as possible
Location: Remote with access to Sustainable Ventures as our London office space

About our recruitment process

Wholegrain is working hard to be an inclusive employer. We have an anonymous recruitment process in place so we can remove as much of our unconscious bias as possible when finding our next team member. Our aim is to make sure that the core skills and person behind them are aligned to our values, regardless of your ethnicity, gender identity, race, age, sexual orientation, educational background social class or religion.

Stage 01 – Screening
No need for a CV, all we ask is you answer some screening questions. We are much more focussed on your values and core skills at this point. Your name and personal details will be hidden before the screening takes place.

Stage 02 – Skills task
A short task that takes no more than 2 hours is issued. We are not looking for the task to be perfect, its more about understanding how you work so we can support you better if you do join our team.

Stage 03 – Conversation
The final stage is to talk to each other. We make sure each person who takes part in this stage is asked the same questions and therefore given the same opportunity.