Key Account Director - MENA

Times Higher Education; Camden Town; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

The Key Account Director at Times Higher Education leads strategic partnerships with the university sector, focusing on long‑term institutional growth and executive engagement. You will position THE as a trusted partner at Vice‑Chancellor and President level, shaping multi‑year direction for flagship institutions.

Collaborating with cross‑functional teams, you will negotiate bespoke terms, drive renewal strategies and deliver insights that feed into THE's product roadmap and go‑to‑market plans

Qualifications

• Significant experience in strategic or key account management in data, information or SaaS.
• Track record of growing high-value multi-stakeholder accounts.
• Direct experience with universities or HE systems; adept at governance and procurement.
• Executive presence with senior university leaders; confident strategy presentations.
• Strong negotiation and financial acumen, margin management and deals.
• Excellent account planning, forecasting and cross-functional coordination.

Responsibilities

• Own relationships with flagship institutions and position THE as a strategic partner.
• Develop multi-year growth strategies aligned to institutional priorities.
• Structure multi-year agreements and negotiate terms to protect margin.
• Run quarterly reviews and translate outputs into action plans.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams to maximise institutional value.
• Feed client and sector insights into THE's roadmap and GTM planning.

Skills

Strategic account mgmt

Multi-stakeholder accounts

Higher education experience

Executive presence

Negotiation

Forecasting

Salesforce

Mentoring

Tools

Salesforce

Job description

Key Account Director

Times Higher Education is the data provider underpinning university excellence in every continent across the world. As the company behind the world’s most influential university ranking, and with almost five decades of experience as a source of analysis and insight on higher education, we have unparalleled expertise on the trends underpinning university performance globally. Our data and benchmarking tools are used by many of the world’s most prestigious universities to help them achieve their strategic goals and our events series act as the home of higher education thought leadership around the world.

About the role

The Key Account Director is responsible for developing strategic partnerships with THE's most important institutional clients. The role focuses on long‑term institutional growth, executive engagement, strategic planning and creating preference for THE at the highest levels of university leadership. Where Core Account Managers look after a broader portfolio, the Key Account Director holds a small number of designated flagship relationships, working at Vice‑Chancellor and President level and setting the multi‑year direction for each institution.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic partnership & growth

• Own THE's relationships with designated flagship institutions, positioning THE as a strategic partner rather than a supplier.
• Develop and maintain multi‑year institutional growth strategies, aligning THE solutions to institutional priorities and transformation agendas.
• Identify major expansion opportunities across the institution.
• Structure multi‑year agreements and negotiate commercial terms that protect margin, routing bespoke pricing through the Deal Desk.
• Run quarterly business reviews for flagship accounts and turn their outputs into documented account actions.

Executive engagement

• Build relationships with Vice‑Chancellors, Presidents, Provosts, CIOs and other senior leaders, and create executive engagement plans for priority institutions.
• Represent THE at executive engagements, sector events, product user forums and client advisory discussions.

Retention & risk

• Contribute to strategic planning and customer retention initiatives.
• Monitor the health of each flagship account, flagging at‑risk renewals well ahead of contract end and leading recovery plans.
• Track competitor activity in each account and defend against displacement.

Leadership & insight

• Mentor, train and support/ or manage dependent on requirement, Account Managers where appropriate.
• Feed structured client and sector insight into THE's product roadmap and go‑to‑market planning.

Account Orchestration

• Coordinate cross‑functional teams to maximise institutional value, owning the client relationship and coordinating delivery across THE.
• Services (Consultancy, Events, Branding): own overall client management and high‑level comms, including project updates, and coordinate how each unit's outputs feed into other project areas; delivery units run project planning, events and campaign execution.
• Solutions (Data, Hiring, Content): own all client engagement and request back‑end set‑up from the Manila fulfilment team; for Data, lead client‑facing onboarding, securing users and peers and delivering training.
• Onboard new clients cleanly, introducing the delivery lead with a strong brief within 3 days of close, then maintain oversight through regular internal syncs and client check‑ins.
• Use Manila usage reports and campaign insights to spot renewal and upsell signals, and co‑deliver end‑of campaign reports with the Campaign Manager.

Skills & Experience

• Significant experience in strategic or key account management, or enterprise sales, within a data, information or SaaS business.
• A track record of growing high‑value, multi‑stakeholder accounts, including through multi‑year agreements.
• Direct experience working with universities or HE systems, with a strong grasp of decentralised decision making, governance and procurement.
• Strong executive presence: credible with Vice‑Chancellors, Presidents and Provosts, and confident presenting strategy at that level.
• Expert negotiator with sound financial acumen, including margin management and complex deal structuring.
• Excellent account planning, forecasting and cross‑functional coordination skills; confident Salesforce user.
• Experience coaching or mentoring account managers.
• Experience across international markets; willingness to travel to client sites and sector events.

You do You
You do You. With colleagues located around the world, we know that our individuality and diversity of experiences are our greatest strengths. That’s why we want THE to be a place where you are welcome to be who you want to be at work; where you can share whatever part of your life or self‑identity you want, without obligation or facing discrimination; and where all abilities and perspectives are recognised and accommodated.