Key Account Director – University Partnerships

About the role

Times Higher Education (THE) is the data provider behind the world's most influential university ranking, with almost five decades of insight on higher education. The Key Account Director develops strategic partnerships with THE's most important institutional clients, focusing on long-term growth, executive engagement and strategic planning. Unlike Core Account Managers who cover a broad 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, position THE as a strategic partner and develop multi-year growth strategies aligned to institutional priorities and transformation agendas
• Negotiate multi-year agreements and commercial terms, routing bespoke pricing through the Deal Desk, and run quarterly business reviews
• Build relationships with Vice-Chancellors, Presidents, Provosts, CIOs and other senior leaders, and represent THE at executive engagements, sector events and client advisory discussions
• Monitor account health, flag at-risk renewals early and track competitor activity to defend against displacement
• Mentor, train or manage Account Managers, and feed client and sector insight into the product roadmap and go-to-market planning
• Coordinate cross-functional teams: own client management and high-level communications for services (consultancy, events, branding), and own client engagement and onboarding for solutions (data, hiring, content)
• Onboard new clients within three days of close, use usage reports to spot renewal and upsell signals, and co-deliver end-of-campaign reports with the Campaign Manager

Required profile

• Significant experience in strategic or key account management or enterprise sales in 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, including governance and procurement
• Strong executive presence with Vice-Chancellors, Presidents and Provosts
• Expert negotiator with sound financial acumen, including margin management and complex deal structuring
• 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