Defence - Client Manager

slihrms; West of England; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Flexible holidays

Competitive salaries

Job summary

AtkinsRéalis is seeking an experienced Business Development Manager to drive growth within the Defence/MoD market. You will manage strategic client relationships, develop value propositions, and lead cross-functional teams to secure long-term revenue and delivery excellence.

The role requires strong sales experience, strategic acumen, and a track record of translating client needs into actionable AtkinsRéalis opportunities. Hybrid working and career development are offered.

Qualifications

• Strategic and operational leadership.
• Sales experience and ability to translate client needs into AtkinsRéalis opportunities.
• Data-driven decision-making.
• Proven senior client-facing experience, ideally in consultancy or professional services.

Responsibilities

• Develop strategic client relationships with MoD accounts.
• Lead virtual team of client leads across the business.
• Identify client pain points and develop value propositions.
• Build a significant pipeline of MoD opportunities and cross-sell.
• Represent the brand at events and workshops; engage stakeholders to raise awareness.
• Improve profitability through enhanced value propositions and delivery alignment.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Client-facing

Sales experience

Data-driven decisions

Stakeholder management

Cross-functional leadership

Key Account Management

Job description

Job Description

Overview

AtkinsRéalis is helping to solve some of Defence's most complex problems - supporting a safer tomorrow by empowering those who protect national and global security. Guided by our vision to engineer a safe, sustainable, and more secure world, we partner with government and industry to deliver innovative, mission-critical solutions. In a complex and rapidly evolving environment, with increased UK government focus on Defence investment, the Defence market offers significant opportunities to leverage our global expertise and drive growth. We are seeking experienced business development managers with experience in the Defence domain.Client Managers deliver the growth, client engagement, and operational excellence for a client or clients within the Ministry of Defence (MoD) market. This role is fundamental to helping clients overcome their most complex challenges, pairing deep problem‑solving and innovation with the delivery of sustained revenue growth and profitability, all aligned to the company's long-term vision and values.

Your role

Strategic Client Relationship Management

• Focused on Key Account Management and first-class service provision to develop strong, long-lasting relationships.
• Lead the journey of building a strategic partnership with the client, encouraging AtkinsRéalis to contribute to the client's success.
• Be the recognised relationship lead for the client or divisions within a client, providing knowledge, resources and being the natural point of escalation for issues and opportunities.
• Be responsible for the overall client experience working to position AtkinsRéalis as a market-leading, innovative and responsive supplier.

Client Insight and Strategic Understanding

• Be the recognised client expert, demonstrating detailed understand of the client's strategy, organisational design, key points of influence, culture, external drivers and their challenges, risks and opportunities.
• Identify client concerns and pain points to develop value propositions and services to meet these, working closely with our practitioner and business development communities.

Collaboration and Leadership

• Create and coordinate a virtual team of client leads from across the business with a clear plan to drive meaningful engagement and growth.
• Empower and enable AtkinsRéalis resources to develop value-adding relationships with clients at all levels.
• Demonstrate strong leadership behaviours and be a leading advocate for business development best practice and processes.
• Build and maintain a client stakeholder plan connecting AtkinsRéalis and the client at all relevant levels.
• Ensure client needs and ambitions are communicated internally across the relevant AtkinsRéalis practices to align our teams and services to the client's priorities.
• Support our delivery teams through reciprocal sharing of client intelligence to identify opportunities for new work, and to improve delivery excellence and experience for the client.

Business Development and Growth

• Develop client plans in line with the overall market objectives.
• Develop growth opportunities outside our current projects and seek cross-selling opportunities.
• Build a significant pipeline of qualified opportunities in agreed areas of the MoD, with the potential for long-term order intake, revenue generation and sustainable growth. Work with delivery teams to secure extensions on existing contracts.

Brand Representation and Market Engagement

• Be an ambassador for AtkinsRéalis - attending and speaking at relevant events, hosting workshops and generally leveraging opportunities to build greater awareness of AtkinsRéalis.

Commercial Acumen

• In addition to revenue growth, deliver increased profitability through improving our value proposition.

About you

• Strategic and operational leadership.
• Influential communicator and motivator.
• Sales experience and an ability to translate client needs into AtkinsRéalis opportunities.
• Data-driven decision-making.
• Proven experience in a senior client-facing role, ideally within a consultancy or professional services environment.
• Strong commercial acumen and a track record of driving revenue and margin growth.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Deep understanding of client strategy, market dynamics, and industry trends.
• Ability to lead cross-functional teams and manage complex client relationships.
• Experience in applying Key Account Management principles and tools.

Rewards & benefits

• Enjoy competitive salaries, employee rewards and a brilliant range of benefits you can tailor to suit your own health, wellbeing, financial and lifestyle choices.
• Make the most of a myriad of opportunities for training and professional development to grow your skills and expertise.
• And combine our hybrid working culture and flexible holiday allowances to balance a great job and fulfilling personal life.