Director of Key Account Management

As the Director, Key Account Management, you will be a crucial leader within our commercial organization. Your mission is to lead, coach, and empower our team of Key Account Managers and our Contracting Specialist. You will be the strategic mind and driving force behind our efforts to retain and grow our top corporate accounts, the clients who represent the backbone of our B2B revenue.

This role is about more than just managing a team; it’s about architecting a best-in-class Key Account Management function. You will refine our strategies, optimize our processes, and champion a data-driven, collaborative culture using Salesforce. By ensuring your team acts as trusted advisors to our clients and that our contracting processes are seamless and efficient, you will play a pivotal role in maximizing customer value and solidifying Strawberry’s market leadership.

Key responsibilities

        Team Leadership & Coaching:

• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of Key Account Managers (8) and one Contracting Specialist, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Set clear, ambitious goals and KPIs for the team, providing regular coaching and performance feedback to ensure individual and collective success.
• Champion the Strawberry values, inspiring your team to build deep, authentic relationships with both clients and internal colleagues. 
  
  Strategic Account Direction:
• Develop and own the overarching strategy for Key Account Management, ensuring comprehensive, data-driven account plans are in place for all top-tier clients.
• Guide the team in identifying and prioritizing key accounts, uncovering new revenue streams, and maximizing our share of wallet through strategic upselling and cross-selling.
• Act as a senior escalation point and strategic partner in high-stakes negotiations and C-level client relationships, providing expert guidance and support to your team.
  
  Operational Excellence & Contracting Oversight:
• Oversee the corporate contracting function, ensuring the Contracting Specialist manages the entire agreement lifecycle with precision, from review and analysis to compliance and documentation in Salesforce.
• Streamline workflows between the Key Account Managers and the Contracting Specialist to create a seamless, efficient, and compliant end-to-end process.
• Utilize Salesforce and other analytics tools to monitor team performance, generate insightful reports, and make data-driven decisions to optimize strategy and execution.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration:
• Build and maintain strong, collaborative relationships with internal stakeholders, including Revenue Management, Hotel Operations, Marketing, and Legal.
• Forge powerful alliances with the sales functions within our hotel divisions, creating unified 'account teams' to deliver seamless, strategic service to our most complex and valuable key accounts.
• Act as a key connector, ensuring your team works effectively across the organization to deliver a unified and exceptional experience for our key clients.
• Ensure that valuable client feedback is systematically captured and shared with relevant parts of the organization to drive innovation and service improvements.

Who You Are:

• Proven experience (7+ years) in a B2B sales or account management role, with significant experience in a leadership or management capacity, preferably within the hospitality or travel industry.
• Demonstrated expertise in developing and executing strategic Key Account Management plans that result in measurable revenue growth and client retention.
• Strong leadership and coaching skills, with a passion for developing talent and building highly engaged, successful teams.
• Excellent negotiation, presentation, and communication skills, with the confidence to interact effectively at the executive level.
• Deep proficiency with CRM systems (Salesforce is a significant advantage) and a strong analytical mindset.
• Solid understanding of contract management principles and compliance processes.
• Fluent in English and at least one Scandinavian language (Swedish, Norwegian, or Danish).

Personal Attributes:

• You are a natural leader who leads with empathy, clarity, and our core values of Energy, Courage, and Enthusiasm.
• You possess a strategic and commercial mindset, always looking for opportunities to create value for both the client and Strawberry.
• A highly organized and results-oriented individual who thrives on building efficient processes and driving performance.
• You are a master collaborator, skilled at building bridges and fostering positive relationships across all levels of an organization.
• You have a customer-centric obsession, with an unwavering focus on understanding client needs and delivering exceptional value.