Key Account Director - University Partnerships

About the role

The Key Account Director develops strategic partnerships with Times Higher Education's most important institutional clients, focusing on long-term institutional growth, executive engagement and strategic planning. While Core Account Managers cover a broader portfolio, the Key Account Director holds a small number of flagship relationships at Vice-Chancellor and President level, setting the multi-year direction for each institution.

Key responsibilities

• Own flagship institutional relationships and position THE as a strategic partner, developing multi-year growth strategies aligned to institutional priorities and transformation agendas.
• Negotiate commercial terms and bespoke pricing through the Deal Desk, and run quarterly business reviews turned into documented account actions.
• Build relationships with Vice-Chancellors, Presidents, Provosts, CIOs and other senior leaders, representing THE at executive engagements, sector events and client advisory discussions.
• Monitor account health, flag at-risk renewals early and lead recovery plans, while tracking competitor activity and defending against displacement.
• Mentor, train and support or manage Account Managers depending on requirement, and feed client and sector insight into the product roadmap and go-to-market planning.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams and own client management for services (consultancy, events, branding) and solutions (data, hiring, content), including onboarding new clients within 3 days of close and using usage reports to spot renewal and upsell signals.

Required profile

• Significant experience in strategic or key account management or enterprise sales within a data, information or SaaS business.
• Track record of growing high-value, multi-stakeholder accounts through multi-year agreements.
• Direct experience with universities or higher education systems, understanding of decentralised decision-making, governance and procurement.
• Strong executive presence with Vice-Chancellors, Presidents and Provosts, and expert negotiation with sound financial acumen.
• Experience coaching or mentoring account managers and across international markets, with willingness to travel to client sites and sector events.

Required skills

• Account planning, forecasting and cross-functional coordination.
• Confident Salesforce user.

Compensation is a competitive base salary plus commission.