Key Client Lead

SmartRecruiters, Inc.; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days holiday

Volunteer day

Healthcare

Pension matching

Car leasing

Wellbeing

Discounts

Job summary

Reach is seeking a seasoned Key Client Lead to define and execute long-term commercial strategy for Tier 1 clients from our London hub. You will partner with agencies, brands, and PR teams to maximise revenue opportunities and steer media spend toward Reach’s commercial objectives.

The role requires senior relationship-building with C-suite and senior stakeholders, plus the ability to manage pipeline, forecast revenue, and collaborate across internal teams to deliver full-funnel solutions.

Qualifications

• Established senior network with UK media contacts from C-suite to implementational teams.
• Proven success driving revenue growth with commercial trading models, yield optimization and pricing strategies.
• Deep expertise in multi-channel solution selling across ad tech, data platforms, social video, and print.
• Ability to translate audience insights and data analytics into persuasive commercial frameworks.
• Strong presentation, negotiation and mentoring skills to develop high-performing teams.

Responsibilities

• Develop long-term media strategies for Tier 1 clients across data, social, video, affiliate and print to drive growth.
• Build trusted relationships with senior decision-makers across agencies, brands and PR teams to embed Reach in planning.
• Oversee pipeline management, forecasting and revenue tracking across the portfolio.
• Deliver proactive market presentations and collaborate with internal teams to execute full-funnel solutions.
• Mentor Agency Business Managers through KPIs and career pathing.

Skills

Senior network

Commercial & trading

Multi-channel selling

Data-led thinking

Executive presence

Job description

Hello, we’re Reach. Every day, our trusted news, stories and content connect with millions of people where they live - whether that’s on their social feed or at their neighbourhood newsstand; through their local community or their take on the hot topic of the day.

We're home to more than 120 brands - from household names like the Mirror, Express, DailyStar and Daily Record, to local titles like MyLondon, BelfastLive, and the Manchester Evening News, and brands making a splash in the US like the Irish Star.

It's our ability to understand people and the things that matter to them that makes us Britain and Ireland's largest commercial news publisher. We reach around 70% of the UK's online population, 10% of the US online population, and over 100 million social followers around the world, connecting with them on who they are, where they live and what they love.

Your story, with Reach

As a modern media organisation, we're much more than just news. And it takes a wide range of people and skills to serve diverse audiences, customers and communities like we do.

We know everyone has their own story to tell, so we’ve built an environment where every background is respected and every day is a day to explore.

We’ll help you build a career that works with your life, while giving you the space to create and grow.

Job Description

About the Role:

As the Key Client Lead, you will be responsible for defining and executing the long-term commercial strategy for Reach’s defined Tier 1 clients. You will leverage category expertise, audience insights, and our extensive product portfolio to position Reach Solutions as an essential partner to Key Clients. You will take a full 360 approach, building commercially advantageous relationships with agencies, clients directly and their PR and comms teams in order to maximise all revenue opportunities and influence clients media spend to direct to Reach’s commercial business objectives. This is a highly strategic, commercially astute role that thrives at the intersection of data, multi-channel creativity, proactivity, and client partnerships.

What you will be doing

Drive Key Client Strategy & Revenue: Develop comprehensive, long-term media strategies for Tier 1 clients, leveraging category insights and product capabilities across data, social, video, affiliate, and print to achieve ambitious digital growth targets.

Cultivate Senior Partnerships: Build deep, trusted relationships with C-suite and senior decision-makers across Tier 1 agencies, brand clients, and PR/comms teams to embed Reach at the center of their media planning and unlock \"always-on\" revenue streams.

Pipeline Management & Reporting: Oversee robust pipeline management, deliver accurate annual forecasting/re-forecasting, and track client engagement and revenue performance across your portfolio.

Thought Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration: Deliver proactive presentations and thought-leadership sessions to the market while partnering closely with the Agency Hub, Reach Studio, Strategic Planning, Trading, and Insight teams to execute full-funnel solutions.

Talent Development: Manage, mentor, and empower Agency Business Managers through structured KPIs, 1-to-1s, and clear career pathing to build future commercial leaders.

This is an office based role working from our London hub, we are therefore open to candidates based in or able to commute to Canary Wharf.

Qualifications

What you need to succeed

Established Senior Network: An immediate \"black book\" of senior client, agency, and planner contacts from C-suite leads down to implementational teams across the UK media landscape.

Commercial & Trading Acumen: Proven success driving tangible revenue growth in competitive markets, supported by a strong understanding of commercial trading models, yield optimization, and pricing strategies.

Multi-Channel & Digital Fluency: Deep expertise in multi-channel solution selling across ad tech, first-party data platforms, social video, and print publishing (ideally backed by 5+ years of UK media experience).

Data-Led Strategic Thinking: Ability to translate complex audience insights and data analytics into clear, persuasive commercial frameworks that address client business needs.

Executive Presence & Mentorship: Outstanding presentation, negotiation, and C-suite influencing skills, combined with a passion for managing, developing, and inspiring high-performing commercial talent.

Additional Information

How we'll look after you

We take good care of our people - and that means more than just a pay packet. Whatever your role, you'll get a range of benefits, including:

• 25 days' holiday (plus bank holidays), as well as an extra day after you've been with us for three, five and 10 years. We also have a scheme to help you buy extra holiday if you want to.
• An extra day's paid leave each year to volunteer for a cause close to your community or your heart.
• Big moment day - an extra day’s paid leave for a moment that matters to you - like getting married, moving house or welcoming a new addition to the family (human or furry!)
• Help saving for your retirement - we'll match your company pension contributions up to 6% and you can contribute through salary sacrifice.
• Supportive and progressive people policies - we’re proud to have a range of policies to support people in their lives in and outside work, including enhanced family leave and policies to promote flexibility, inclusion and progression. We believe you shouldn’t have to wait to join us to know what to expect from us, which is why we share this overview of the policies we have in place to support families and carers . If there's something you want to understand more about, just ask - it won’t make a difference to your application.
• A healthcare cash plan - giving you money back for a range of medical expenses and fast access to doctor's appointments.
• Car lease scheme - you can buy a brand new electric or hybrid car through our leasing partner, and pay for it through salary sacrifice.
• Wellbeing support - including a 24/7 assistance programme for you and your family.
• Financial wellbeing – Access Stream, our app for managing your finances, pay, rewards and benefits all in one place
• Access to lots of discounts - including 15% off with Reach's very own online marketplace, Yimbly, where you can buy everything from homewares to beauty products.
• Interest-free loans - including for season tickets and technology.

If you’re excited about this role but don’t tick every single box, please don’t let that stop you from applying.

We know that everyone has their own story to tell, and we value potential, passion and the perspectives that different backgrounds bring to our work.

Diverse perspectives strengthen our teams and help us better serve our audiences, which is why we’re dedicated to fostering an inclusive workplace where everyone feels welcome and supported. As an equal opportunities employer, we encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and experiences.

We are committed to a recruitment process that is fair and welcoming to all, without discrimination on the basis of age, disability, gender identity, ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic.