Customer Base Account Director

Kainos; Wolverhampton; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading digital services company in the UK is seeking an experienced Account Director to focus on customer retention and growth within the enterprise market. You will leverage your business development skills to build trusted relationships with clients, achieving sales targets through a consultative and proactive approach. The ideal candidate has a strong track record of success in account management, excellent communication skills, and is adept at negotiating complex commercial offers. This role requires a proactive mindset and the willingness to travel quarterly for client engagement.

Benefits

Diversity and inclusion initiatives

Supportive work environment

Career growth opportunities

Qualifications

• Strong understanding of HR and Finance platforms, preferably Workday.
• Experience with customer base sales and account management roles.
• Ability to build long-term customer relationships.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a trusted advisor to customers using a consultative approach.
• Define client retention and growth priorities.
• Structure and position commercial offers in line with company goals.
• Maintain understanding of customers through account management practices.

Skills

Business development processes

Account planning

Negotiation skills

Networking skills

Communication skills

Analytical skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business or technical degree preferred

Tools

Dynamics 365

SFDC

HubSpot

Job description

Join Kainos and Shape the Future

At Kainos, we’re problem solvers, innovators, and collaborators - driven by a shared mission to create real impact. Whether we’re transforming digital services for millions, delivering cutting-edge Workday solutions, or pushing the boundaries of technology, we do it together.

We believe in a people-first culture, where your ideas are valued, your growth is supported, and your contributions truly make a difference. Here, you’ll be part of a diverse, ambitious team that celebrates creativity and collaboration.

Ready to make your mark? Join us and be part of something bigger.

About The Team

You will join our Customer Base Sales team selling in to enterprise level clients across the world. You will work inside our Sales & Marketing function with a core focus on commercial activity. You will join a high performing team that thrives in a high-pressure environment. We are an international and super fun team that is diverse and collaborative.

About The Person

You are a team player with a positive can-do attitude and entrepreneurial mindset. Ideally, you have a strong understanding of Workday and or other HR and Finance platforms . You are located near to either our Belfast or Indianapolis sales hub.

You thrive in a dynamic fast-moving environment that is constantly adapting to change. Willingness to travel at least once per quarter for client visits, conferences, and user groups. This person flourishes in a quota driven, highly competitive, high performance and pressurised environment. You pose the ability to plan and prioritise your time effectively to meet deadlines in accordance with business and customer requirements.

Main Purpose of the Role & Responsibilities in the Business

As a n Account Director at Kainos, you will join the Workday Product s Account Management team. You will work in side our Sales & Marketing function with a core focus on commercial activity; retaining our clients (Renewals) , creating, and closing growth opportunities (Upsell and Expansion) in your defined territory.

Y ou are a n entrepreneurial and commercially minded individual who has a strong track record of business development achievements in Customer Base sales and or Account Management roles . You have a flair for building long standing customer relationships based on trust and an in depth understanding of customer commercial behaviours. You will establish , maintain, and oversee our mutually beneficial customer relationships spanning C-Level to HRIT Ops .

In this role, you are the Account lead for Large Enterprise Account s in a defined sales territory . You are responsible and accountable for all Kainos Workday Product commercial activity and account management matters with these customers . You will work in close partnership with our Customer Value Management teams to ensure our customers achieve maximum return on investment from existing products and in turn pave the way for future growth.

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Being a trusted advisor to our customers - you utilise a consultative approach to Account Management, taking the time to fully understand y our customers , their business , their challenges and opportunities as they relate to Workday . Empathy, active listening, being responsive and creativity all play a part here.
• Developing and Securing Kainos as a business - Defining client retention and growth priorities . Y ou will report on existing customer renewal status while also build ing and maintain ing a pipeline of growth opportunities. You will forecast accurately across future quarters to achieve agreed sales targets and maintain predictability of all future revenue streams .
• Business acumen - you will need to meet retention and growth targets in line with Kainos objectives. As part of this , you will structure, pitch and position commercial offers to our customers is in line with Kainos commercial strategy and goals . You are a n experienced and strong negotiator who interfaces with senior stakeholder s . You have experience of presenting , refining and positioning sales proposals that achieve an expected outcome for Kainos and our customers .
• Account Planning - you will develop and maintain an in depth understanding of our customers through recognised account management practices that enable you to understand key stakeholders involved , their business priorities and levels of influence on the Economic Buyer/Buying Committee . In addition, you will utilise the Account Plan to prioritise the activity of our Customer Value Management Team.
• Being an external Kainos ambassador – with an external customer focus, you must ensure that you embrace and promote the culture, values and behaviours that make Kainos unique.
• Working as part of a team - you will work with enterprise level clients, most of our customer s are very complex and require a n experienced Account Director to lead and leverage a wider multi-disciplinary team. You often work closely with colleagues from other business units as well as industry partners to ensure that cross-selling opportunities are maximised.

Essential Requirements

• Highly e xperienced Account Manager with a strong understanding of business development process es and Account Planning (TAS, Miller Heiman) who can construct persuasive commercial offers and in turn build s adequate qualified pipeline to meet quota s.
• T rack record of delivering against retention and growth targets (annual)
• Demonstrable ability to actively listen, communicate effectively , present and influence credibly and effectively at all levels of the organisation, including executive and C-level.
• Ex cellent writing and presentation skills with proven capability of delivering a business value-based proposal in a highly competitive market .
• Great networking skills and the ability to build strong and appropriate relationships with senior stakeholders.
• Broad technology experience and a sound awareness of technology trends and their potential impact on current and future projects.
• Ability to operate successfully in a highly competitive , high performance and pressurised environment, making sensible decisions that don’t compromise Kainos reputation and values.
• Ability to plan and meet deadlines in accordance with business and customer requirements.
• Great negotiation skills, both from a commercial and contract perspective.
• Ability to analyse and utilise data points in the construct ion of a business case for both in t ernal and external stakeholders .
• Willingness to travel at least once per quarter for client visits, conferences, user groups, or client escalations.
• Proficiency in Dynamics 365 or other CRM (SFDC, HubSpot etc.).
• Ability to operate in a dynamic fast-moving environment that is constantly adapting to change .

Desirable Experience

• Account Management experience with HR, HCM, Financial Management, or Payroll applications.
• Knowledge of IT business development , Account Management process es and contract management with demonstrable experience of winning , retaining and growing long term SaaS partnerships and contracts with significant value s associated.
• Experience of maintaining accurate and timely customer Account Plans, Pipeline and Forecast data in internal business systems (CRM).
• Proven track record of success in an Account Management, Customer Base Sales growth and retention focused role.
• Bachelor's degree, Business or technical degree preferred.

Embracing our differences

At Kainos, we believe in the power of diversity, equity and inclusion. We are committed to building a team that is as diverse as the world we live in, where everyone is valued, respected, and given an equal chance to thrive. We actively seek out talented people from all backgrounds, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or any other characteristic that makes them who they are. We also believe every candidate deserves a level playing field.

Our friendly talent acquisition team is here to support you every step of the way, so if you require any accommodations or adjustments, we encourage you to reach out.

We understand that everyone's journey is different, and by having a private conversation we can ensure that our recruitment process is tailored to your needs.