The Director, Account & Relationship Management is responsible for leading Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions' global Account Management organization and driving the commercial success of the company's enterprise customer portfolio. This is a quota-carrying leadership role with accountability for customer retention, expansion revenue, and long-term account growth across a global installed base of strategic enterprise customers.
Reporting to the Vice President, Global Sales, the Director leads a team of Account Managers responsible for managing complex, multi-product customer relationships with many of the world's largest corporate legal departments. The Director develops and executes commercial strategies that strengthen executive relationships, modernize legacy commercial agreements, accelerate product adoption, and create long-term customer value.
This leader combines strategic thinking with disciplined execution, partnering across the business to deliver exceptional customer outcomes while maximizing recurring revenue and customer lifetime value.
Commercial Leadership
Lead the global Account Management organization responsible for protecting and growing recurring revenue across the installed customer base.
Carry and achieve annual renewal and expansion quotas.
Establish annual and quarterly business plans that deliver Gross Revenue Retention (GRR), Net Revenue Retention (NRR), and Expansion ARR objectives.
Develop accurate forecasts and maintain disciplined pipeline management for all renewal and expansion opportunities.
Create a high-performance culture focused on accountability, execution, and measurable business outcomes.
Strategic Account Leadership
Develop comprehensive account strategies for the company's largest and most strategic global customers.
Build trusted executive relationships with General Counsel, Chief Legal Officers, Legal Operations leaders, Procurement, Finance, IT, and executive sponsors.
Lead Executive Business Reviews that demonstrate measurable business value and align customer priorities with WK ELM's strategic roadmap.
Identify opportunities for cross-sell, upsell, geographic expansion, business unit expansion, and adoption of additional products and AI capabilities.
Act as executive sponsor for strategic customer relationships and lead executive engagement plans for key accounts.
Contract Modernization & Commercial Strategy
Lead the modernization of legacy commercial agreements to better align with current products, pricing strategies, and customer business needs.
Simplify complex contractual structures while protecting commercial value and enabling future growth.
Partner with Legal and Finance to negotiate sophisticated enterprise agreements, renewals, amendments, and commercial restructures.
Develop innovative commercial strategies that improve profitability while creating long-term customer partnerships.
Identify contractual risks, renewal challenges, and commercial opportunities well in advance of renewal cycles.
Customer Retention & Expansion
Own strategic renewal planning across the global customer portfolio.
Develop proactive customer engagement strategies that increase retention and reduce commercial risk.
Drive adoption of new solutions, AI capabilities, and platform functionality to increase customer value realization.
Build multi-year account growth plans that expand customer investment and strengthen strategic partnerships.
Cross-Functional Leadership
Partner with Customer Success Management to improve customer health, adoption, value realization, renewal readiness, and executive engagement.
Partner with Customer Support Leadership to resolve escalated customer issues and improve the customer experience.
Partner with Product Management Leadership to influence roadmap priorities and accelerate adoption of new capabilities.
Partner with Engineering Leadership to prioritize strategic customer issues and support technical modernization initiatives.
Partner with Professional Services Leadership to ensure successful implementations and identify expansion opportunities.
Partner with Legal and Finance to negotiate commercial agreements, modernize contracts, and improve profitability.
Partner with Revenue Operations to improve forecasting, reporting, account planning, and commercial analytics.
Partner with Marketing to support customer engagement, advocacy, and expansion campaigns.
Partner with New Logo Sales Leadership to ensure seamless coordination between new customer acquisition and existing customer expansion.
Influence across organizational boundaries and drive coordinated execution.
Leadership & Talent Development
Recruit, coach, mentor, and develop a high-performing Account Management team.
Establish consistent operating rhythms, account planning disciplines, and performance expectations.
Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, customer focus, and continuous improvement.
Coach Account Managers in executive engagement, strategic selling, commercial negotiations, and business planning.
Develop succession plans and organizational capability.
Qualifications
Bachelor's degree required; MBA preferred.
10+ years of enterprise software, SaaS, or technology services experience.
5+ years leading Account Management, Strategic Account Management, Enterprise Sales, or Customer Growth organizations.
Demonstrated success carrying and achieving significant recurring revenue, renewal, and expansion quotas.
Extensive experience negotiating complex enterprise software and services agreements.
Experience managing Fortune 500 and multinational customer relationships.
Strong financial and commercial acumen.
Experience leading organizational transformation.
Leadership Competencies
Executive presence with the ability to influence C-level stakeholders.
Strategic thinking combined with disciplined execution.
Exceptional commercial negotiation skills.
Strong business and financial acumen.
Ability to navigate complex global organizations.
Data-driven decision making.
Outstanding communication and relationship-building skills.
Proven ability to lead through change.
Key Performance Indicators
Gross Revenue Retention (GRR)
Net Revenue Retention (NRR)
Expansion Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)
Renewal attainment against quota
Forecast accuracy
Customer Lifetime Value growth
Strategic account plan execution
Executive relationship development
Contract modernization progress
Product adoption and expansion
Customer health and satisfaction
Team performance and engagement
Cross-functional execution and operational excellence
Why Join Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions?
Lead one of the industry's most strategic enterprise customer portfolios while transforming Account Management into a world-class commercial organization.
Shape customer strategy, modernize commercial relationships, drive AI-enabled growth, and partner with executive leadership to accelerate growth.
Our Interview Practices
To maintain a fair and genuine hiring process, we kindly ask that all candidates participate in interviews without the assistance of AI tools or external prompts. Our interview process is designed to assess your individual skills, experiences, and communication style. We value authenticity and want to ensure we're getting to know you-not a digital assistant. To help maintain this integrity, we ask to remove virtual backgrounds and include in-person interviews in our hiring process. Please note that use of AI-generated responses or third-party support during interviews will be grounds for disqualification from the recruitment process.
Applicants may be required to appear onsite at a Wolters Kluwer office as part of the recruitment process.
Compensation:
$137,900.00 - $246,350.00 USD
This role is eligible for Commission.
Compensation range listed is based on primary location of the position. Actual base salary offer is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skills, experience and actual hiring location. Your recruiter can share more information about the specific offer for the job location during the hiring process.
Additional Information:
Wolters Kluwer offers a wide variety of competitive benefits and programs to help meet your needs and balance your work and personal life, including but not limited to: Medical, Dental, & Vision Plans, 401(k), FSA/HSA, Commuter Benefits, Tuition Assistance Plan, Vacation and Sick Time, and Paid Parental Leave. Full details of our benefits are available upon request.
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