Account Manager

Job Title

ACCOUNT MANAGER

Salary band:       

Academy Grade G-H

Location:        

Flexible – the post may be based at home/area based or York (Subject to business need) but the post holder will be required to attend York at least 3 days a month if home/area based. UK-wide travel and direct working with higher education institutions will be a key feature of this role.

Job purpose

The Account Manager will work closely with the National Coordinator (Wales and Northern Ireland) who has responsibility for the Subscription Account Management Programme and the wider Stakeholder Management team (including the Head, Institutional Strategy and Change, the Academic Lead, Subscriber Partnerships Non-HEI Providers, the Head of Business Development) to provide the key academic interface between the Academy and its subscribing HEIs.

The post holder will develop strong, positive and active relationships with subscribing HEIs and increase institutional engagement with the Academy and its services to ensure the Academy has a sound understanding of institutional needs both on an individual and group basis; enhance the alignment between the Academy’s offer and sector needs and priorities; and contribute towards institutional loyalty, satisfaction and commitment to the Academy.

Principal Responsibilities

Provide a personal point of contact for individual with institutional senior managers of teaching and learning (PVC/Deans/Heads of School).

Act as the Academy’s champion in the sector, in particular to: promote the Academy to the portfolio of subscribing institutions and in the sector generally, market the Academy’s full range of services to those institutions and maintain/develop positive perceptions of the Academy’s reputation, services and the value of engaging with the Academy.

Develop and maintain strong, personal relationships with institutional contacts and establish the Academy’s presence within individual HEIs through: regular contact and dialogue (virtual and face to face), and undertaking institutional visits every academic year. Additionally, identify priority HEIs (such as those where the value added by the Academy is below benchmark or reputation is not as strong) and proactively develop the strategic relationship, with a view to improving usage and reputation.

Understand individual institutional priorities and challenges in order to: market the breadth and depth of Academy work, inform HEIs about Academy priorities and services, identify ‘cold spots’ either in general relationship or areas of engagement and work with institutional contacts to address these, tailor what the Academy offers according to the individual needs of institutions, and raise awareness of upcoming opportunities for individual HEIs to benefit from the Academy’s services.

Assist institutions to position themselves for future challenges in enhancing the quality of the student learning experience.  This will be achieved through horizon scanning/scenario planning, policy and research briefings and presentations on priority agendas which the Academy is supporting.

Build close working relationships with regional HE Associations (where they exist) and their associated PVC groups/networks in order to nurture and develop informal networks of senior institutional learning and teaching managers on a regional basis

Foster cross-institutional dialogue and the sharing of good practice in relation to teaching and learning.

Provide opportunities for institutions to provide feedback and shape the ongoing development of the Academy’s offer.

Provide regular updates and reports to the Academy on individual institutional priorities and challenges and perceptions of the Academy and flag up any potential areas for concern (eg. potential non-renewal of subscription).

Maintain up-to-date records of interactions and engagements with portfolio of subscribing HEIs on the Academy’s stakeholder management system.

Undergo a formal training programme including attending the initial induction and thereafter, regular briefing meetings.

Work as part of the wider stakeholder management team to contribute to the Academy’s understanding of the issues and concerns of different groups or types of institutions.

Any other duties commensurate with the grade.

Responsible to:       

Head of Institutional Strategy

Responsible for:       

n/a

Working Relationships

Internal – with colleagues across the Academy, and particularly the team Heads and the communications team.

External – with subscribing HEIs, regional HE associations and other groups as appropriate.

Essential

Desirable

Experience

• Experience of academic or professional leadership in Higher Education with responsibility for specific areas of academic work or institution-wide support
• Recent experience of leading and/or managing institution-wide teaching and learning related activity
• Evidence of effective engagement (s) with national/regional agendas which are relevant to the role
• Experience of working in partnership with senior level staff (e.g. PVCs) in HEIs to effect strategic level change
• Evidence of managing external stakeholder/partner/customer relationships
• Substantial and significant teaching and/or academic staff development experience in HE
• Demonstrable experience of managing innovation, change and development within academic environment(s)

• Experience of working in learning and teaching/ professional development/ scholarship
• Experience of building teams and team working
• Experience of quality enhancement/assurance practices which support excellent student learning experiences
• Experience of working in a membership organisation
• Experience of working in and/or with a range of higher education institutions and/or relevant organisations
• Experience of working in distributed teams
• Fellow or Associate of the Higher Education Academy, or evidence of eligibility to work towards Fellowship status

Knowledge and understanding

• Knowledge of the key challenges and academic development issues affecting learning and teaching in HE
• Knowledge of effective teaching and learning practices.
• Understanding of effective systems for managing relationships with key clients
• An enterprising approach, able to identify and help exploit academic enterprise opportunities that align with the Academy’s mission
• A higher degree or equivalent

• PG Certificate in Higher Education (or equivalent)

Skills

• Effective strategic and creative thinking around  the strategic enhancement of institutional partnerships/networks
• Proven ability to promote high quality academically focussed provision in relationship to partnership development and providing timely support for subscribing institutions
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• High level interpersonal, networking and representational skills, including effective influencing and negotiating skills
• Ability to develop,  maintain and utilise effective networks, relationships and alliances to deliver results through extensive partnership working
• Ability to work independently, undertaking a high level of personal responsibility and initiative as required within the role. 
• High level organisational and time management skills, including the capacity to work under pressure
• Excellent computer skills, including use of MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint)

• Ability to understand and address the learning and teaching issues of academics and senior managers in HEIs