VP, Strategic Client Partnerships

For over 50 years, Mintel has worked with the world's leading consumer brands. We are trusted for our consumer data, insights and knowledge by more than 2,000 clients in all corners of the world. We're excited to announce we have opened the next growth chapter for our business - a global consulting practice. This practice partners with the global leaders in FMCG to drive innovation and brand solutions that move the revenue needle on a truly worldwide basis. We offer solutions that combine the entire range of Mintel capabilities to help future-proof our clients’ business and allow them to realize opportunities around the globe.

Mintel’s Consulting business is a core driver of growth and is directly connected to our strategic priority to build high-value relationships with our clients.  Our clients choose us because they know we’re drawing on Mintel data, knowledge, expertise, and insights that are rooted in the rigorous, multi-disciplinary research on which our reputation has been built.  The year-over-year growth Consulting has delivered for the last five years reinforces our right to win in the market and we are impacting clients in new and bigger ways.

Knowing that exponential growth is a top priority, we have created a new senior leadership position within the Consulting team. As the VP, Global Strategic Client Partnerships, you will be at the forefront of Mintel’s growth strategy, serving as an integral part of the Commercial growth leadership team. This role demands an experienced sales leader with a proven track record of building high-performing teams, solution selling and exceeding business expectations. This is going to be an exciting, rewarding and career defining opportunity to develop and lead a world-class team, partnering with world-class brands. 

Change management is also going to be a critical aspect of this role, and as such, you must be a natural problem solver, a coach, a connector, and a relationship builder.  You will be tasked with leading both strategic initiatives and creating tactical plans. You will be expected to bring together people across all areas of the global organization to create a seamless client experience. You will have an influential role in bringing best practices to not only the Consulting team but across our matrixed leadership team.

This is a global role, with a team based across 10 markets. You will be responsible for managing 2-3 leaders with a team of 12+ indirect reports, as well as 6 direct reports, these teams will span both account management and client success. The team reporting to this role will be responsible for managing the relationship and client experience for a portfolio of high-growth, high-value global accounts.  In addition, this team will support new custom growth initiatives intended to benefit other client portfolios - this may include upskilling, coaching, and process improvements.

This role will be required to sit in London or Chicago and report directly to the SVP, Global Strategic Client Partnerships. We expect that this individual will be traveling globally at least 40% of the time in the first 12-18 months.

Minimum requirements include:

• Revenue success, including consulting solutions
• Experienced at navigating teams successfully through change management
• Seasoned commercial leader and coach
• A demonstrable innovator 

What We Are Looking For: 

• A Proven Business Growth Leader: 
• You have 7+ years experience in building and leading high-performing teams and developing talent. Experience in a global organisation is preferred.
• Proven ability to exceed revenue targets and KPIs, with a deep understanding of how to balance short-term sales goals and long-term client success
• Strong experience in the ability to recruit, coach and develop talent ensuring the capabilities and skills needed for exceptional growth, across multiple regions
• You possess a growth mindset, rarely satisfied with the status-quo. You can visualize a better future state, get others to join in the journey, and then actually get there. 
• Hands-on when needed and a willingness to get into the weeds and details of every sale with everyone on your team.
• You lead by example and are easily able to identify growth opportunities, you can comfortably and enthusiastically pitch and win consulting solutions, preferably aligned to innovation strategies, consumer demand and market expansion within the CPG industry.
• A Data-Driven Problem-Solver:
• You take a proven metric-driven approach to decision-making and are accustomed to not accepting an answer without data backing it up. 
• You anticipate challenges and proactively address them with well-thought-out solutions. You are always prepared to adapt and innovate to maintain a competitive edge in the market.
• You have experience coaching and running a system (MEDDIC, Sandler, Challenger, etc.)
• Experience of developing and executing account based marketing strategies is highly advantageous
• You are skilled at leveraging technologies such as AI solutions and revenue intelligence tools in order to achieve efficiencies, competitive edge, monitor, forecast and deliver predictable revenue streams.
• A Client Advocate:
• You actively attend sales meetings to speak with and listen to clients and consistently have clients tell the company what is and is not working.  
• You network at the highest possible levels with prospects and clients to ensure appropriate executive engagement.
• You are naturally curious and great at navigating client conversations, asking second and third-level questions to get at the heart of clients’ challenges and goals.
• A Coach: 
• You develop and boost the team’s confidence around the necessary sales skills and coach on emerging techniques.  
• You teach what you know and provoke new ideas and thinking while having formal and informal processes for coaching managers and individuals.  
• You help both your managers and individual contributors understand how their role fits into the broader organization.
• Short and Long-Term Focus:
• You are able to create a strategic plan that includes both short-term objectives and long-term goals, ensuring the plan outlines clear, actionable steps and milestones for achieving these goals.
• You are able to provide regular updates on the status of short-term projects and long-term initiatives, highlighting how current activities align with and support future objectives.
• You understand the immediacy of winning this quarter’s sales results while making the appropriate adjustments to ensure the business is relevant ten years from now.
• A Strategic Communicator:
• You are not only a strong speaker but also a strong listener, and take the time to know your audience.
• You are well-versed in communicating the importance of both short-term wins and long-term vision to the team and stakeholders using various channels, such as team meetings, reports, and presentations, to keep everyone informed.
• You are open and honest in your communication, focusing on building trust with your team and cross-functional partners. You own mistakes when you make them and take responsibility for the steps being taken to address them.
• You have extremely polished verbal and written communication skills, and can adapt your communication style to suit each client and internal business partner.

• A Role Model:
• Ability to thrive in an environment when there can be ambiguity, demonstrating flexibility and solutions-orientated mindset to navigate uncertain situations.
• You have the grit and competitiveness to find ways to always be moving forward, no matter the obstacle in front of you. Still, you have the humility to realize that all of the success you and your team have achieved is because of so many others around you. 
• You are a people enthusiast. You recognize and enjoy the impact that you have on others and you understand that How you do things and How you treat others matters the most.
• You have a very high EQi, and when facing adversity, you are pragmatically optimistic. 

What You Will Be Doing:

• Leading  a Team: You will manage a high-profile,  high-performing global team. This team will be the beacon of commercial excellence and best practice within the global organisation. You will:
• Build, develop, and inspire a high-performing global team of strategic client partnership professionals, setting clear goals, performance objectives and  providing ongoing coaching, feedback and fostering a collaborative and client-centric culture.
• Attract and retain top talent to ensure the team’s continued success. Provide training and development to ensure the team is equipped to sell consulting solutions effectively.
• Maintain their expertise and knowledge of Mintel’s on-demand product offerings and deepening their focus and knowledge of Consulting and Data Integration Solutions. 
• Develop and implement strategies to optimize sales performance through ongoing monitoring and continuous improvement.
• Positioning Mintel as a trusted business advisor and creating a culture obsessed with influencing optimal client outcomes.
• Work closely with business partners including consultants, marketing, enablement, revenue operations, product, and client success, to ensure alignment and smooth execution of client projects.
• Revenue Generation and Business Growth: The pivotal component of this role’s success lies in the ability to drive exponential growth of the Consulting business.  This will be done through the direct management of a portfolio of high-growth accounts and taking on responsibility for commercial revenue targets - executed in partnership with a team of Lead Client Partners. It’s expected you will:
• Execute a philosophy and a methodical approach for developing a consistent pipeline that delivers results, month-in-and-month out.
• Lead efforts to sell consulting solutions across the portfolio, ensuring sales targets and KPIs are exceeded
• Develop and execute strategies, to maximise upsell opportunities and expand existing client relationships.
• Guide the development and execution of comprehensive global account strategies that incorporate all aspects of Mintel’s business.
• Achieve a balance between developing new relationships for medium/long-term growth and delivering more immediate opportunities.
• Create a unified client experience by implementing consistent training, tools, and templates across regions.
• Adding value: You will build long-term strategic partnerships with clients through a deep understanding of their business opportunities and effectively designing Mintel solutions (on-demand and custom) that uniquely create value and influence positive outcomes.  This includes coaching the team on:
• Uncovering new business opportunities through advanced questioning, and leading with insight. 
• Identifying client opportunities with the strongest ROI.
• Advising on client-centric messaging to be consistently delivered through teams, tools, and channels.
• Building and nurturing relationships with senior client stakeholders across multiple functional areas, positioning our consulting solutions as essential to their long-term success

• Fostering an external perspective: You will stay informed about industry trends, and client business dynamics, ensuring the long-term relevancy of Mintel’s value proposition. You will:
• Understand client sector dynamics, strategies, business objectives, and opportunities.
• Regularly meet with clients to gather feedback and understand their unmet needs.
• Provide regular pulse reports to the business to inform longer term growth strategies
• Network with your industry peers to remain informed and agile on the latest trends, insights, techniques and technologies underpinning commercial excellence

Equal Opportunity Employer: Race/Color/Sex/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity/Religion/National Origin/Disability/Vets

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