Account Director

Leading propositions to an account. Responsible for developing the account, building and developing relationships and supporting the Lead Partner (LP) in delivering on the account objectives. The candidate will take ownership of developing business and driving related leads in support of public sector transformation, V2030 programs and developing new government entities. The role includes secondary intervention in consulting projects delivery to the account only to ensure the quality of the work is of the highest possible standards to maximize value delivery and preserve relationships.

Account Management

1. The dedicated business development role is a high profile opportunity. You will be playing a crucial role in helping to drive the business forward and will be part of a dynamic team culture offering strong internal networks and support working closely with partners locally and globally.
2. Your role will be to manage opportunities, relationships and hence revenue from service lines across the firm. You will work to develop your own network and relationships with clients’ key people across the organization, understand their issues and, from that, develop client propositions and drive revenue.
3. You work very closely with the Lead Partner (LP) and be a key member of the Client Service Team (CST) ensuring that this team optimises the opportunities for the client while delivering value to clients.
4. Along with LP, develop and drive the account plan.
5. Be an ambassador and champion of the firms’ values to employees and clients alike by driving a client-centric culture.

Client relationships

1. Use wide exposure in topics / trends of relevance to the Saudi government, consulting experience, problem solving and solid understanding of the client's consulting and solution offerings to engage clients in intellectual conservations to build and maintain a Trusted Advisor profile to key client personnel.
2. This is an extensively client facing role so the expectation is that +50% of your time will be spent with clients.
3. Identify and gather information on new client issues through primary (face-to-face) meetings and account intelligence.
4. Facilitate expansion of points of contact between the client and its stakeholders. Create, maintain and drive the execution of the relationship map and plan to continually develop contacts.
5. Personally lead development of those relationships where the client has no existing relationship.
6. Co-ordinate client relationship events and ensure return on investment is measured through deepened relationships and increased opportunity for the client to work with.
7. Identify and build relationships with regional influencers by attending events, hosting internal sales meetings and managing the CSTs, sharing best practice and seeking opportunities to raise profile externally.
8. Own and manage improvement plan for self and other CST members managed relationships.

Driving Revenue

1. Lead the opportunities pursue process for all received RFIs, RFPs and client-generated propositions.
2. Design the value proposition and conduct proposal reviews to maximize win rate through relevance to client agenda, reflection of account insights, maximizing value to client and ensuring best perception of client proposals.
3. Act as a role model for Business Development across the assigned accounts.
4. Focus on current issues to ensure that relevant time-sensitive solutions and ideas are communicated to clients using internal network to identify the client's angle and develop a proposition to take to their client.
5. Identify white space at the client and individuals to target. Lead on developing and driving opportunities.
6. Boost conversion rates through deploying rigorous sales processes, pricing, contracting and negotiation, to win work across multiple channels.
7. Work with the LP and across solutions and solutions partners to enhance business development efforts. Agree client strategy to penetrate the account, assign ownership for relationships with key stakeholders and ensure appropriate visibility at board level.
8. Ensure all revenue activities are consistent with the client's account plan process, client service meetings, client service reviews etc.
9. Act as a focal point for introducing new propositions.
10. Actively seek opportunities to add more value to the client, through cross-functional solutions.
11. Provide visibility of sales pipeline by ensuring CRM pipeline management systems are kept up to date.
12. Follow-up & drive CST accountability.
13. Coach the team in business development best practice.

Knowledge / communication

1. Be up to date with developments in public sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia / GCC region and emerging trends.
2. Understand and appreciate global trends in public sector as relevant to assigned accounts.
3. Be responsible for developing thought leadership in Saudi public sector transformation.
4. Participate in public sector-related events to enhance business network and increase the client's presence in the market.
5. Ensuring any research undertaken by the team is of the highest possible quality, value and relevance.
6. Facilitate communication amongst team members; develop center of client knowledge to encourage communication and discussion amongst the client service team.
7. Share knowledge of revenue and relationship management by informally seeking opportunities to coach and mentor CST members and emerging leaders.
8. Bring new ideas and methods to the account and liaise with other account team members to ensure that best practice is shared, client and regional intelligence is communicated, and the team has a good understanding of what services are performing well.
9. Support the LP in monthly client updates and quarterly account reviews.
10. Lead CST bi-weekly meetings.
11. Understand the wider offerings of the firm and gain a good understanding of broader sector / client trends, issues, needs, and potential applicability / relevance across own portfolio.
12. Act as a focal point for communications between stakeholders and the client team.
13. Act with a Global Mindset to ensure the best is brought to bear for the benefit of the client.

Key Interfaces

1. LP & CST
2. Client teams
3. Engagement teams
4. Advisory & market teams (locally, regionally and globally)
5. Other solutions employees
6. Research sources

Competencies

1. Ability to earn a “Trusted Advisor” status with clients.
2. Be able to drive value-adding business conversations with clients.
3. Sets the standard for insight and opinions delivered to the client knowledgeable on both client business issues and solutions and can match both effectively through assimilation.
4. Be confident interacting at the most senior levels internally and externally, while at the same time able to interact well with peers and other more junior members of the team.
5. Positive and enthusiastic manner in dealing with a cross-section of people.
6. Be well organized, detail-conscious, pro-active, hard-working, and resilient.
7. Be flexible in their approach and able to work under pressure.

Skills

1. Strong communication skills (written, verbal).
2. Problem solving skills to address highest client issues on the agenda.
3. Services sales and pipeline management.
4. Ability to lead virtual teams to without having reporting line authority.
5. Strong questioning and listening skills with ability to see the bigger picture.
6. Effective networker with ability to understand client needs. Mature in outlook, with strong influencing skills (internal and with client) and diplomacy.
7. Moderating / facilitating boardroom discussions.

Key Measures

1. YTD New wins in assigned accounts.
2. Net Revenue YTD.
3. Growth v budget and YoY growth.
4. Weighted Pipeline YTD (local and broader international opportunities).
5. Pipeline conversion rate YTD.
6. Relationships improvement matrices.
7. Client feedback / insights scores.

Requirements

1. Bachelor’s degree or other relevant qualification. MBA or equivalent preferred.
2. 10-15 Years working experience in a high productivity multinational / global organization client-facing role. Minimum 5-7 years’ experience in reputable consulting firm delivering work.
3. Strong public sector experience.
4. Strong and demonstrated consulting skills background.
5. Strong experience of developing business strategies and business planning.
6. Deep understanding to Saudi public sector.
7. Proven record of accomplishment of Business development in a consulting / services context.
8. Proven record of leading high-performance teams.
9. Experience of successfully winning and overseeing the client relationship during delivery in large transformation projects.