Key Account Development Manager

Helvar; West Midlands; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Helvar is seeking a Key Account Development Manager – End User to build direct relationships with UK end-users across London and the South East. This is a build role with no inherited account base; you will define target accounts, open doors, and develop account plans to win multi-site contracts.

You will engage estates directors, sustainability leads and CFOs, craft compelling energy and payback business cases, and drive recurring revenue through upgrades and framework agreements.

Qualifications

• Proven consultative B2B sales experience at senior level.
• Experience opening new relationships and building an account base.
• Understanding UK construction specification cycles and long project timelines.

Responsibilities

• Define and own a named list of strategic end-user accounts across UK & Ireland.
• Build formal account plans and governance for each strategic account.
• Run regular account reviews with sales leadership and maintain credible pipeline.

Skills

Consultative selling

New business development

Account planning

UK construction specs

C-suite credibility

Energy payback

Travel UK

Lighting controls

Job description

Key Account Development Manager – End User

Location: London (hybrid, with regular client-site working across London and the South East) Reports to: Head of Sales, UK & Ireland Territory: UK & Ireland, with a London and South East focus Contract: Permanent, full time

About the role

Helvar's lighting control systems are specified into some of the most demanding buildings in the UK — City commercial towers, data centres, major regeneration districts, and healthcare, education and institutional estates. Historically we have won that work through the specification chain: consultants, architects, contractors.

This role changes where the conversation starts. It exists to build direct, senior relationships with the organisations who own and occupy those buildings, and to make Helvar the system they ask for by name — before a consultant writes a specification, and long after the project completes.

This is a build role. You will not inherit a mature account base. You will define the target list, open the doors, and put proper account plans behind the relationships that matter.

What we're looking for:

• Proven consultative B2B sales experience selling into corporate or public sector estates, at senior level.
• A track record of opening new relationships and building an account base, not only managing an inherited one.
• Genuine account planning capability — you can show us a plan you've written and what it delivered.
• A working understanding of how the specification chain operates in UK construction, and the patience to sell into long project cycles.
• Credibility in front of estates directors, sustainability leads and C-suite stakeholders.
• Commercial fluency around energy, carbon and payback arguments.
• Based within reasonable reach of London and willing to travel across the UK & Ireland.
• Experience in lighting controls, or an adjacent building services field: BMS, HVAC controls, energy management, smart buildings or IoT.
• Familiarity with the regulatory and reporting landscape — Part L, EPBD, BREEAM, NABERS UK, and corporate net zero commitments.
• Experience developing framework or multi-site agreements.
• Exposure to a structured sales methodology.

What you'll be responsible for:

Building the end-user account base

• Define and own a named list of strategic end-user accounts across UK & Ireland: corporate occupiers, landlords and asset managers, university and NHS estates, local authorities, and data centre operators.
• Open relationships at the level where budget and standards actually sit — estates and facilities directors, heads of sustainability, corporate real estate, and asset management.
• Build a qualified pipeline from a standing start and keep it credible in CRM.

Account planning and governance

• Produce and maintain formal account plans for each strategic account: contact map, decision‑making unit, estate portfolio, refresh cycles, competitor position, and a clear plan for growing share.
• Run regular account reviews with the sales leadership team, with agreed measures rather than activity reporting.
• Introduce account planning discipline that the wider specification team can adopt.

Creating demand that pulls through the channel

• Generate specification opportunities that arrive at our consultants and contractors already carrying a client preference for Helvar.
• Work alongside the Specification Sales Managers so that end‑user relationships and project‑level specification activity reinforce each other rather than compete.
• Protect the specification through tender and value engineering by keeping the end user close and clear on why the system was chosen.

Owning the Helvar proposition with end users

• Lead with the arguments that matter to a building owner: energy performance and payback, carbon and sustainability commitments, and the operational data that a connected lighting system produces.
• Build commercial cases around real estate outcomes — occupancy insight, space utilisation, maintenance efficiency, and compliance reporting.
• Support clients in setting internal lighting control standards for their estate.

Aftermarket and recurring revenue

• Identify upgrade, retrofit and refresh opportunities across installed estates.
• Develop service, maintenance and framework agreements that extend the relationship beyond the project.

Bring end‑user insight back into product management and marketing, so that what we build and how we position it reflects what owners and occupiers are actually asking for.

How success will be measured

Within the first 12 months:

• A defined strategic account list with live, reviewed account plans in place.
• Senior relationships established and maintained at an agreed contact cadence across priority accounts.
• Qualified end‑user-originated pipeline built to an agreed value.
• Specifications influenced or protected as a direct result of end‑user engagement.
• Revenue and margin contribution against an agreed target.

Specific targets will be set with the Head of Sales, UK & Ireland during onboarding.

How you work

• Self‑directed and comfortable building something that doesn't exist yet.
• Collaborative — this role only works if the specification team sees you as an asset rather than a competitor for the same account.
• Disciplined about CRM, forecasting and follow‑through.

Why You’ll Love Helvar?

• We value your growth: With a wide range of online learning opportunities and internal mobility, you’ll have the tools and support to advance your career.
• Autonomy and balance: Our culture is built on trust, offering you autonomy in your role while promoting a healthy work‑life balance and benefiting from a supportive and collaborative environment.
• Wellbeing at the heart: Whether it’s our products for customers or how we care for our team, wellbeing is our top priority. We offer a dedicated Wellbeing Day every year, and all employees can take advantage of our weekly Empower Hour for wellbeing, community, or learning activities.
• A company you can trust: With over 100 years of history, we’re a stable, family‑owned Finnish company that’s growing across our international locations.

If you’re excited to drive innovation, shape Helvar’s future, and grow in a company with a rich history and forward‑thinking mindset, we want to hear from you!

Apply to join our team of talented and innovative experts!

If you’d like to join the Helvar family, please apply for this vacancy through our Careers site at helvar.com/careers by 18th October 2026. We have included a few questions in the application form that we hope you won’t mind answering.

We will be continuously interviewing candidates during the application period and will fill the position as soon as we find the right match!

For additional information on the role, please contact our Talent Acquisition & Development Manager: Ben Fryer [e-mail] who will get in touch with you shortly.

In the meantime, please give us a follow on Instagram: @lifeathelvar

The Helvar Promise to You!

At Helvar, we’re determined to improve the wellbeing of people in every space - including our own employees. We promise you conditions that foster your personal growth and help you achieve your full potential. As a tight‑knit company with a family ethos, we’re proud to see that Helvarians care deeply about our customers, our partners, our planet and each other. Our drive to create a better working environment is part of what we call Brighter Spaces.

We trust your vision! "Over the last 100 years, we've become experts at innovation. It's part of our culture. Together we evolve and adapt our solutions to create perfect conditions.“

We invest in you! "As we spend 1/3 of our life at work, it's important to have fun! We work in a friendly, easy‑going atmosphere, and we're focused on improving your wellbeing. We celebrate a learning culture and promote Bright Ideas.”

You have the freedom to impact! “People help shape our success. This allows us to be true leaders. With your ideas, we're focused on achieving a brighter, sustainable future for generations to come.”

We’re with you all the way!

About Helvar

Helvar is an international lighting technology company delivering intelligent, energy‑efficient lighting solutions for smart, sustainable buildings. By combining advanced lighting controls, environmental sensing, and digital services, Helvar helps create healthier, more productive spaces while reducing energy consumption and supporting long‑term sustainability goals.

For more than 100 years, Helvar has been at the forefront of lighting innovation, enabling buildings to operate more intelligently through data‑driven insights, seamless system integration, and future‑ready technology. With offices in Finland, the UK, Poland, and Sweden, and a global partner network spanning more than 80 countries, Helvar provides local expertise backed by international reach.

With over 300,000 projects delivered worldwide across a wide range of industries and applications, Helvar offers wired, wireless, and hybrid lighting control solutions, environmental sensing technologies, and a cloud‑based digital services platform. Together, these solutions form a comprehensive end‑to‑end ecosystem that helps customers optimise building performance, enhance occupant wellbeing, and achieve their sustainability ambitions.

Helvar Recruitment Equality and Diversity Disclaimer

At Helvar, we are committed to creating a workplace that promotes a culture of equality, respect, and opportunity for all.

We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, or any other characteristic protected by law. We value the unique perspectives and experiences that each individual brings to our team and encourage everyone to apply.

If you require any accommodations during the recruitment process, please do not hesitate to get in touch.