Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

In fast changing markets, customers worldwide rely on Thales. Thales is a business where brilliant people from all over the world come together to share ideas and inspire each other. In aerospace, transportation, defence, security and space, our architects design innovative solutions that make our tomorrow's possible.

We have been present in Saudi Arabia for 40 years and with over 600 employees to date, we are growing rapidly. Together we are delivering our signalling, control and train protection systems for the North –South Railway (NSR), the longest system of it’s kind in the world. Together we are key suppliers of In-flight entertainment and connectivity systems as well as air traffic management solutions in Saudi. We are making Saudi Arabia a safer place by securing the country’s critical infrastructure and e-security solutions that secure the country’s electronic payment systems. Thales has been selected to supply major electronic systems for air defence and the Group also supplied communication and optronic systems for the Army, the Saudi Arabia National Guards and the Air Force.

JOB OBJECTIVE         

The role of the Key Account Manager is to understand the customer’s business and to articulate how Thales, as a Group, can help the customer to perform better.

With this understanding, the Key Account Manager delivers profitable order intake based on the account plan. The role helps Thales to increase its long-term wallet share with the customer. 

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES  MISSIONS & RESPONSIBILITIES

Build the Key Account Plan in order to define the account strategy and align the plan with the customer and the internal stakeholders by:

Understanding the customer's stakes, expectations and vision and how Thales offers can support the customer's businessMonitoring the performance of Thales’ competitors with the customer Identifying and Defining Strategic Initiatives, in collaboration with the customer, to generate growth beyond business as usual and contributing to build and strengthen a customer relationship based on partnershipWorking closely with Account Marketing for support on actions plans (growth opportunities, engagement plan, must-wins, market segment content)

Orchestrate and network with all internal and external stakeholders by:

Sharing general interest information on the customer (i.e. customer strategy and structure, customer needs, budgets) and represent the Customer internallyOrchestrating, aligning and managing the account team (on subjects such as tendering, project execution, technology portfolio, customer satisfaction…) and supporting the sales teams in all actions required to close Order Intake Sharing the Account Plan and facilitating the execution of the related action plan with countries and GBUs involved. The Strategic Account Manager takes part in the enhancement and update of Group CRM dataInforming the account team and account steering committee of customer satisfaction issues and supporting the development of customer satisfaction measuring in the account

Act as “One face to the customer” on behalf of Thales by:

Maximizing customer satisfactionSetting actions together with the customer to develop trust and loyalty between both organizationsDeveloping Group Order Intake in the short and medium term by managing Customer intimacyDriving and securing strategic initiatives as defined in the Account Plan

DECISIONS OWNED / KEY DELIVERABLES

Engage all actions required to execute the Account plan Define Customer governance, as part of the Account Plan (“who meets who and when”)Deliver an aligned and reviewed Account Plan (at least twice a year)Perform the Opportunity presentations (“Gate 0: Early Opportunity Review”)Deliver Order Intake forecast

KEY INTERACTIONS

BL Sales Manager, Project Teams, Capture teams, Service teams, Account Marketing Local country management Heads of GBUs, GBU VP Sales, BL Sales director Account Executive SponsorSegment MarketingDigitalCommunicationsAny other member of the Thales organization and leadership as required (Finance, Legal, Quality, Program, Bid…)

WORK EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS           

Proven experience in account/customer management within relevant or allied markets and/or sales in complex environments.Demonstrated ability to work to targets and clear objectives with a strong track record.Strong leadership and management skills, with experience leading teams.Excellent ability to adapt and work within complex organizations.Commercial awareness and numeracy to analyze reports and understand margins.Experience in Key Account Management and BusinessExperience working with Business Units (BUs) and Global Business Units (GBUs) is an advantage.

PREFERRED SKILLS  

Extensive exposure to the customer industryCapable of driving results across virtual teams and able to represent Thales Group as a wholeEntrepreneur mindset with a true sense of initiative, curiosity and autonomyActs naturally as a team builder and is a good communicatorAbility to convince, persuade and negotiate, both internally & externally

QUALIFICATION, CERTIFICATION & EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS          

Master’s / bachelor’s in management/engineering or similar

At Thales we provide CAREERS and not only jobs. With Thales employing 80,000 employees in 68 countries our mobility policy enables thousands of employees each year to develop their careers at home and abroad, in their existing areas of expertise or by branching out into new fields. Together we believe that embracing flexibility is a smarter way of working. Great journeys start here, apply now!