Regional Key Account Director

DS Smith Plc; Broughton; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

DS Smith Plc, a global leader in sustainable packaging and retail solutions, seeks a Regional Key Account Director to lead our EMEA client partnership from the UK. You will drive account performance, client satisfaction, and sustainable commercial growth across the region, collaborating with the Global Client Director and regional teams.

Based in the UK, you will manage senior stakeholders, build strategic relationships, and ensure governance and risk management across the account.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in a senior account management, commercial, or operational leadership role.
• Strong experience in shopper marketing, retail display, packaging, or related sector, ideally international.
• Solid financial acumen including P&L ownership, budgeting, forecasting, and profitability management.

Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end delivery and performance of a major client account, ensuring contractual commitments and service levels are consistently achieved.
• Build and maintain strong senior-level client relationships, acting as the primary strategic partner and escalation point.
• Drive commercial performance through effective P&L management, forecasting, budgeting, profitability analysis, and cost control.
• Develop and implement account strategies that support client objectives and business growth.
• Identify and deliver continuous improvement initiatives that enhance operational efficiency, customer experience, and value creation.
• Collaborate with operational, commercial, and functional teams to deliver innovative solutions and exceptional customer outcomes.
• Ensure strong governance, compliance, risk management, and performance reporting across the account.
• Leverage customer insights and performance data to drive service enhancements, innovation, and long-term growth.
• Support new business opportunities, service implementations, customer reviews, and audit activities.
• Collaborate closely with the Global Client Director and fellow Regional Key Account Directors to ensure a consistent global approach while meeting regional customer requirements.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Negotiation

Influencing skills

P&L management

Leadership

Job description

Regional Key Account Director

2026-10-06T00:00:00

Location: Lancashire, Lancashire, GB, PR3 5JJ

Application Deadline: 2027-01-04T15:00:55.17

TMS Global, part of DS Smith, is a global leader in sustainable packaging and retail solutions. Operating in 97 markets worldwide, we partner with some of the world's best-known brands to deliver innovative print, packaging, and display solutions that drive customer engagement, brand impact and commercial success.

As our business continues to grow, we're looking for an experienced Regional Key Account Director to lead the EMEA region for one of our most strategically important global client partnerships. Working closely with the Global Client Director and fellow regional teams, you'll be responsible for driving account performance, client satisfaction, and sustainable commercial growth across the EMEA region. This is an exciting opportunity for a commercially minded leader who thrives in a fast-paced, global environment and is passionate about building lasting client relationships and delivering outstanding results. This role will be based in the UK and will support our EMEA region.

Travel across the region will be required.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end delivery and performance of a major client account, ensuring contractual commitments and service levels are consistently achieved.
• Build and maintain strong senior-level client relationships, acting as the primary strategic partner and escalation point.
• Drive commercial performance through effective P&L management, forecasting, budgeting, profitability analysis, and cost control.
• Develop and implement account strategies that support client objectives and business growth.
• Identify and deliver continuous improvement initiatives that enhance operational efficiency, customer experience, and value creation.
• Collaborate with operational, commercial, and functional teams to deliver innovative solutions and exceptional customer outcomes.
• Ensure strong governance, compliance, risk management, and performance reporting across the account.
• Leverage customer insights and performance data to drive service enhancements, innovation, and long-term growth.
• Support new business opportunities, service implementations, customer reviews, and audit activities.
• Collaborate closely with the Global Client Director and fellow Regional Key Account Directors to ensure a consistent global approach while meeting regional customer requirements.

About You

You are a commercially astute and strategic leader with a proven ability to build trusted client relationships, lead high-performing teams, and deliver exceptional operational results. Comfortable operating within a matrixed, international environment, you build strong relationships across multiple stakeholders and functions to drive performance and deliver customer success.

What You'll Bring to the Role

• Significant experience in a senior account management, commercial, or operational leadership role.
• Proven leadership experience within shopper marketing, retail display, POS, packaging, or a related sector, ideally in an international environment.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, including P&L ownership, budgeting, forecasting, and profitability management.
• Proven success in growing strategic accounts, delivering service excellence, and strengthening long-term client partnerships.
• A proven ability to develop and lead high-performing teams.
• Strong stakeholder management, negotiation, and influencing skills.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• A proactive, resilient, and customer-focused approach.

This is an opportunity to take ownership of the EMEA region for a strategically important global client partnership, partner with senior client stakeholders, and lead a talented international team. You'll have the autonomy to influence strategy, drive innovation, and make a tangible impact on both client success and business growth.

To achieve our aim of being among the most successful, sustainable and responsible companies in the world, we aim to build a diverse, motivated, and engaged workforce. Our goal is to create a culture of inclusion where everyone is treated fairly, differences are valued, and everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed. Our people come from diverse backgrounds, bring different perspectives, ideas and experiences to generate unique solutions focused on present and future sustainability challenges.