Account Development Manager

springernature; Kuala Lumpur; Hybrid; MYR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Springer Nature in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is seeking an Account Development Manager to drive post-sales engagement, manage regional accounts across SEA, and trigger upsell opportunities. The role sits under Marketing and collaborates with regional sales teams to optimize customer satisfaction.

You will conduct in-person visits and virtual meetings, build strategic relationships with academic institutions, and design onboarding and training programs to increase product usage.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years in sales/marketing or related role within electronic publishing, software, or internet industry.
• Experience with libraries, academic institutions, or scientific publishing is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the annual Account Development Plan for the region in close partnership with licensing managers and regional sales teams.
• Manage post-sales engagement for assigned institutional accounts through regular visits, virtual meetings, account reviews and follow-up on customer needs.
• Monitor and analyze usage, denials, publication activity, market penetration and customer satisfaction to identify risks and growth opportunities.
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with key customer stakeholders to strengthen loyalty, retention and long-term account value.
• Design and deliver customer training, onboarding, workshops and engagement activities that increase product usage, publication activity and satisfaction.
• Identify and prepare cross-selling and upselling opportunities using customer insights, web analytics, market research and account data.
• Support customer events, branding initiatives, thought-leadership activities, trade shows and conferences across the territory as required.
• Lead or support strategic customer meetings, business reviews, product demonstrations, presentations and negotiations with senior decision-makers.
• Partner with sales teams on account reviews, after-sales activities, business negotiations and future engagement plans to support retention and growth targets.
• Translate customer insights, market trends, competitive developments and changes in the research information landscape into actionable account and market-development recommendations.
• Collaborate with regional sales, customer engagement, marketing, editorial, publishing and solution-specialist teams to deliver a coordinated approach to priority accounts.
• Contribute to local sales and marketing strategies, campaigns, customer events and market-development initiatives that support adoption of Springer Nature products and services.

Skills

Sales

Marketing

Account growth

Customer engagement

Relationship building

Project management

Data analysis

Languages

Job description

Account Development Manager

Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Hybrid Working)

About Springer Nature

Springer Nature is one of the leading publishers of research in the world. We publish the largest number of journals and books and are a pioneer in open research. Through our leading brands, trusted for more than 180 years, we provide technology-enabled products, platforms and services that help researchers to uncover new ideas and share their discoveries, health professionals to stay at the forefront of medical science, and educators to advance learning. We are proud to be part of progress, working together with the communities we serve to share knowledge and bring greater understanding to the world. For more information, please visit about.springernature.com and @SpringerNature.

Purpose of the Role

This role is responsible for account development with the primary objectives of maintaining customer satisfaction, monitoring usage, triggering sales leads and preparing upselling opportunities with key accounts, and educating and onboarding customers of Malaysia TA and for the transition to Transformative Agreements in the countries under the SEA region. The Account Development Manager is closely aligned with a regional sales team ensuring that the optimal approach to the customer is achieved. This position sits under Marketing. The person will be responsible for all the post-sales marketing activities mainly in Southeast Asia (namely Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam) that are assigned to them, and possibly for other APAC countries if necessary. These activities include customer engagement via in-person visits, virtual meetings, account reviews, training, branding events, thought leadership events, etc.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the annual Account Development Plan for the region in close partnership with licensing managers and regional sales teams.
• Manage post-sales engagement for assigned institutional accounts through regular visits, virtual meetings, account reviews and follow-up on customer needs.
• Monitor and analyze usage, denials, publication activity, market penetration and customer satisfaction to identify risks and growth opportunities.
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with key customer stakeholders to strengthen loyalty, retention and long-term account value.
• Design and deliver customer training, onboarding, workshops and engagement activities that increase product usage, publication activity and satisfaction.
• Support the onboarding of customers to the Malaysia Transformative Agreement and the transition to Transformative Agreements across Southeast Asia.
• Identify and prepare cross-selling and upselling opportunities using customer insights, web analytics, market research and account data.
• Support customer events, branding initiatives, thought-leadership activities, trade shows and conferences across the territory as required.

Role Responsibilities

• Develop senior-level relationships across academic institutions, research organizations, government agencies, consortia and other strategic accounts.
• Lead or support strategic customer meetings, business reviews, product demonstrations, presentations and negotiations with senior decision-makers.
• Partner with sales teams on account reviews, after-sales activities, business negotiations and future engagement plans to support retention and growth targets.
• Translate customer insights, market trends, competitive developments and changes in the research information landscape into actionable account and market-development recommendations.
• Collaborate with regional sales, customer engagement, marketing, editorial, publishing and solution-specialist teams to deliver a coordinated approach to priority accounts.
• Contribute to local sales and marketing strategies, campaigns, customer events and market-development initiatives that support adoption of Springer Nature products and services.
• Undertake other relevant duties and strategic initiatives assigned by the supervisor.

Experience, Skills & Qualifications

Experience

• Minimum 5 years of experience in sales, marketing, account development, customer engagement, or a related role within the electronic publishing, software, or internet industry.
• Experience working with libraries, academic institutions, or scientific publishing is preferred.

Skills

• Creative, organized, proactive, and self-motivated.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills, with the ability to work effectively in a customer-focused environment.
• Ability to work independently, manage multiple priorities, and adapt to changing deadlines and business needs.
• Strong project management skills, with experience leading initiatives and driving successful outcomes.
• Analytical mindset with the ability to interpret data and identify opportunities for customer growth and engagement.
• Fluent written and spoken English; proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia or Thai is an advantage.
• Willingness and abili