Strategic Key Account Manager: Growth & Forecasting

Execustaff South Africa (Pty) Ltd; Gauteng; Hybrid; ZAR 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Job summary

LexisNexis Legal & Professional seeks a Strategic Key Account Manager to drive growth in the higher education sector. You will balance new business development with strategic account management, serving as a trusted advisor to academic institutions, and leading AI-enabled sales optimization and digital transformation efforts.

You will cultivate executive-level relationships with faculty, librarians, procurement, and department heads, coordinating cross-functionally to deliver tailored solutions

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent with business/education focus.
• Proven experience in sales, business development, account management or customer success in education, publishing, information services or tech.
• Strong understanding of the academic/higher-education market.
• Experience using CRM platforms and digital sales tools.

Responsibilities

• Drive sustainable revenue growth and strategic partnerships in higher education.
• Develop annual territory and account plans with revenue objectives and growth opportunities.
• Leverage AI-driven insights to improve territory planning and product positioning.
• Manage a portfolio of academic accounts to retain customers and grow revenue.
• Expand accounts through adoption of existing products and value-added solutions.
• Deliver renewals and close new contracts and commercial agreements.

Skills

Sales

Account management

Business development

CRM

Education market

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Education, or a related field

Tools

CRM platforms

Job description

Strategic Key Account Manager Growth Forecasting

Johannesburg

Full time

About the Role

The Key Account Manager drives sustainable revenue growth, market penetration, and strategic partnerships within higher education. This hybrid role combines new business development with strategic account management, focusing on retaining and expanding existing accounts while securing new opportunities. You'll serve as a trusted advisor to academic institutions, faculty, librarians, authors, and decision-makers, driving product adoption, customer satisfaction, and digital transformation. AI fluency is essential to enhance sales effectiveness, customer engagement, and business outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct market research to identify customer needs, competitor activity, emerging trends, and growth opportunities.
• Develop and maintain annual territory and account plans covering revenue objectives, account priorities, stakeholder strategies, and growth opportunities.
• Use market intelligence and AI-driven insights to improve territory planning, account prioritisation, and product positioning.
• Manage a portfolio of academic accounts to support customer retention, satisfaction, and sustainable revenue growth.
• Expand accounts through greater adoption of existing products and introduction of value-added solutions.
• Deliver successful renewals for allocated customer agreements and contracts.
• Identify and mitigate retention risks while strengthening long-term customer partnerships.
• Retain, grow, and secure product adoptions across academic institutions.
• Build trusted relationships with faculty, librarians, procurement teams, department heads, authors, and key decision-makers.
• Maintain regular virtual and in-person customer engagement, providing responsive, high-quality service.
• Promote customer success, product utilisation, and long-term account advocacy.
• Identify, qualify, and pursue new opportunities within existing and prospective accounts.
• Build pipeline through proactive prospecting, networking, and stakeholder engagement.
• Deliver tailored product demonstrations, presentations, and proposals.
• Negotiate and close new contracts, renewals, and commercial agreements.
• Achieve assigned new-business, retention, and revenue-growth targets.
• Use AI-powered tools to enhance customer engagement, sales planning, forecasting, pipeline management, and productivity.
• Identify opportunities for AI-enabled solutions that support digital transformation in academic institutions.
• Stay current with emerging AI trends in education, research, and academic publishing.
• Partner with Marketing, Product, Customer Success, Editorial, and Support teams to deliver tailored customer solutions.
• Share customer and market insights that inform product development and innovation.
• Maintain accurate CRM records and monitor account health, product adoption, pipeline, and renewal performance.
• Provide regular sales forecasts, performance updates, and strategic recommendations.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Education, or a related field.
• Proven experience in sales, business development, account management, or customer success, preferably in education, publishing, information services, or technology.
• Strong understanding of the academic and higher-education market.
• Demonstrated ability to manage strategic accounts while developing and securing new business.
• Experience using CRM platforms and digital sales tools.

About Our Team

LexisNexis Legal & Professional serves customers in more than 150 countries and employs 11,800 people worldwide. As part of RELX, we use AI and advanced technologies to improve productivity and transform the business and practice of law. Our teams develop, test, and validate solutions in line with RELX Responsible AI Principles.

About the Business

LexisNexis Legal & Professional provides legal, regulatory, and business information and analytics that help customers increase productivity, improve decision-making, achieve better outcomes, and advance the rule of law around the world.

Work in a Way That Works for You

We support a healthy work‑life balance through wellbeing initiatives, shared parental leave, study assistance, and sabbaticals. This hybrid role offers flexible working hours to help you work when you’re most productive.

Benefits in South Africa

Medical Aid, a Retirement Plan with risk benefits covering disability, critical illness, life and funeral cover, modern family benefits including adoption and surrogacy, and study leave.

Equal Opportunity

We are an equal opportunity employer: qualified applicants are considered for and treated during employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship status, disability status, protected veteran status, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.