Strategic Account Director (hybrid working)

Role: Strategic Accounts Manager
Location: Hybrid working within our Liverpool office at least once a month, plus regular travel across England to meet employers and run events. 
depending on experience, plus up to 10% performance bonus tied to income, new partner and placement targets
Contract: Permanent, Full time (40 hours per week)
We offer flexibility to employees to balance their commitments, including medical appointments, parental or caregiving responsibilities, and personal goals.
Team: Partnerships, reporting to Head of Strategic Accounts
This is a new business role. Employers invest in a package that funds training for people from disadvantaged backgrounds and gives them measurable, reportable social impact, supporting their ESG, CSR and procurement commitments.
These are bigger, more complex deals with longer sales cycles, several decision-makers and real commitment from the employer. You will help us build this model as you sell it.
You will work nationally across England, with a particular focus on building our employer base in Liverpool, a new region for us.
We will be honest: this role involves a lot of outreach and a lot of "no". It suits someone who is energised by targets, picks up the phone without being asked, and believes in what Generation does enough to make other people believe in it too.
Your bonus is tied to these measures.
Talent is everywhere; Generation UK is a charity that supports people facing barriers to employment into life-changing careers they could not otherwise reach.
We run free, full-time, profession-specific bootcamps lasting one to three months in growing sectors such as tech, healthcare and the green economy. Learners get wraparound one-to-one support throughout, and we keep supporting them in their job search for six months after they graduate. Since launching in 2019, we have supported more than 4,000 people in the UK. We are part of a global Generation network that has supported over 100,000 people.
And you can also learn more about our culture, directly from our incredible people on our website:
 
We carry out employment and right-to-work checks, and request a declaration of any criminal convictions from all staff as part of our recruitment process.
 
Win new business (the core of the role)
Own your pipeline end to end: research, prospect, cold call, email and network your way to new employers across England, with a focus on Liverpool.
Run full sales cycles yourself, from first contact through discovery, proposal, negotiation and signed agreement.
Sell social value packages, making the case in terms of each employer's ESG, CSR and social value commitments, including those tied to public-sector contracts.
Build a network of channel partners (e.g. apprenticeship providers, recruitment agencies, local authorities, CSR groups) who can open doors and refer employers.
Identify employers with enough hiring volume to commit to a cohort, and sell the case to senior decision-makers (HR, talent, operations and finance).
Keep the employer engaged through the cohort so the hiring commitment is honoured, and step in early when it is at risk.
Help shape how we package, price and deliver this model as we learn what works.
Handle all agreements and commercials for new partners, including social value package contracts and invoices.
Keep the CRM accurate and up to date with every employer, contact and deal stage.
Grow accounts
Gather employer feedback, case studies and impact data, so partners can report their social value and we can win the next partner.
Help Generation grow
Improve how we source, onboard and manage employers, include collaborating with delivery partners on growing employer networks 
Contribute to ROI frameworks and data collection that show employers the value of hiring our graduates and the social impact of their investment.
 
You want to work for a charity, and you can show it, through volunteering, previous roles, your own experience or the causes you support. A proven record of winning new business.
You’ve won B2B business from scratch, finding your own opportunities, running the sales process, and closing deals yourself. You have built pipeline from a cold start through calls, emails, LinkedIn and events, not only from inbound leads or inherited accounts.
You have sold to senior stakeholders, managed several decision-makers in one deal, and negotiated commercial terms.
Organised pipeline management. You use a CRM properly and can forecast your own numbers.
A bonus, but not essential
Experience selling CSR, ESG, sponsorship or social value propositions, or recruitment, training and workforce solutions.
An existing network of employers, especially in Liverpool or the North West.
You care deeply about helping people facing barriers to employment into good careers. You can hear "no" ten times in a morning and still make the eleventh call with energy.
Commercial. You understand what an employer gains from hiring our graduates and can make that case in their terms: social value commitments, diversity, retention and time to hire.
HR directors and operations leaders trust you and want to work with you.
You structure your week across prospecting, live deals and account management, and you protect your prospecting time.
You want to use your sales skills at a charity, where every deal you close changes someone's life.
You prefer managing existing accounts to finding new ones.
Your sales experience has mainly come from inbound leads or a well-known brand doing the work.
You would rather plan and research than pick up the phone.
Opportunity to get involved with a range of activities and varied projects - we're a small team, so there are lots of opportunities to get involved in projects across the whole organisation
We offer flexible and remote working to accommodate everyone's preferred working pattern/preferences and unique needs
WFH set up offer of support of £300 to help you make your working-from-home setup comfortable and efficient
Professional Development is a priority for Generation and employees and you can access to up to £1,000 towards your learning & development per year. This support is accompanied by up to 5 days of training days/ study leave per year to enable your development activities.
 
regardless of race, religion or belief, ethnic origin, different physical ability, family structure, socio-economics, age, nationality or citizenship, marital, domestic or civil partnership status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other aspect that makes you, well, you.
More than just encouraging your application, we're committed to conscious inclusion that (we hope) cultivates an ethos of belonging, connection and shared purpose. Support with your application:
Here’s a recruitment support resource that explains our application process and offers tips to help you put forward your best possible application.