Customer Relationship Manager

Location

Abingdon, Oxfordshire | United Kingdom

Job description

At RM Assessment we are experts in online exam testing and marking and the management and analysis of educational data. We work with government ministries, exam boards and professional awarding bodies for high stakes assessment such as GCSEs, A Levels and professional qualifications. A customer starting on their digital assessment journey can move from paper to digital, with our products and services providing an end-to-end solution to support their transition. For use in single session or on-demand schedules, our products enable customers to create and author their own content as well as providing remote invigilation and other services to support successful exam sessions.

Each year, our software is used globally to carry out hundreds of thousands of on-screen tests and to mark millions of paper-based scripts. For over a decade we’ve been partnering with the world’s leading awarding bodies to deliver intuitive, secure and reliable e-marking solutions. Every year more than a million people around the world get the results they deserve thanks to RM and partners.

RM offer a range of services to our customers from a full managed service to hosting, licence and support services. The RM vision is to continue the strong growth RM has established in the last 15 years in the Assessment market by developing the relationships with our existing customers as well as bringing on-board new business.

The customer relationship manager is responsible for ensuring the contract commitments are delivered to their customer and executed within the expectations of the customer. The job holder is empowered to take the action necessary to deliver on commitments and to deliver profitable, longstanding relationships with these organisations. The job holder will work with senior customer stakeholders within the customer’s operational teams and RM functional teams to ensure that an excellent service is delivered and a firm basis is developed upon which to retain and grow the business.

The role is focused on planning and delivering the appropriate customer service strategy and service plan, and will ensure that RM functional teams, the virtual account team and customer operations teams, are ready for and successfully execute commitments, through matrix management of these functions as necessary.

The customer relationship manager role is a key role in the account team which is a matrix managed “virtual” team comprising of an account director, solution architects, project managers, sales managers, operational managers.

The job holder will need to have solid commercial and financial acumen, customer focus, commitment to delivery, excellence and creativity. They need the ability to effectively manage a range of stakeholders, internally and externally. They will be used to and comfortable working in a matrix managed environment.

Service Delivery through Contract Management

• Lead the delivery of the service in accordance with contracted service levels and other contractual obligations that may be in place, including software delivery and financial risk management.
• Develop a service strategy and plan that is aligned to the contract and account strategy. The service plan will be maintained and reported on monthly as part of the contract P&L and include: contract commitment register; contract risk register that clearly defines reputational, delivery and financial impact to the account; continuous service improvement plan aligned to the customer strategy (where applicable business cases for investment) and opportunities for the account plan including revenue/profit growth and/or strategic partnering; contract change.
• Be accountable for the customer’s delivery, including planning software release cycles, exam session readiness and ensuring that internal teams and the customer deliver to the agreed or contractual commitments.
• Manage all changes to scope of contract as contract changes adhering to all revelant governance procedures (sizing, scoping, pricing and approval)
• Be the primary operational escalation point for customer and RM management.
• Ensure the contracted service budget is maintained and targets are met.
• Manage SLA reports and hold service performance reviews with the customer.

Financial Management

• Deliver the profit targets for the contract working with the Account Director/Head of Territory to develop the plan to deliver the account targets.
• Deliver the volume and service change revenue as per the budget/forecast; where there is a shortfall in revenue identify a plan with the Account Director to mitigate the impact to the account P&L.
• Build relationships with the customer to ensure invoices are paid to contract credit terms with zero aged debts.
• Manage a financial service penalty risk register as part of the service plan.
• Manage the service cost forecasting for the Account Director in the Account P&L, understand and review all actual costs on a monthly basis and challenge where costs are unexpected or not forecast.
• Contribute to the monthly account P&L reports and reviews where overall account and service financial “health” is presented to the Business Unit Director and Finance Director.

Customer Relationship Management

• Develop and maintain strong customer relationships with accountable job holders within customer organisations.
• Deliver existing services to the customer’s satisfaction, ensuring they are aware of all added value provided.
• Own and resolve issues and escalations from customer or internal teams
• Develop an understanding of the customer’s strategy and objectives and business problems/drivers for change. Use this understanding to identify opportunities within the Account, working with the Account Director/Head of Territory to continuously develop the account plan, aligning future and current offerings to customer strategy and business drivers.
• Analyse multiple customer listening posts (Net Promoter surveys, complaint tracking, call listening, operational metrics) and work with RM and customer teams to drive service improvements.
• Own and manage escalations and complaints from customers.
• Own action plans arising from major customer issues or satisfaction surveys.

Contract Growth

• Support the Account Director to increase the contract size through supportable and sustainable contract changes and recognising or creating growth opportunities
• Take ownership or support the Account Director to manage and maintain the account plan in the CRM system
• Take ownership for or support the Account Director during contract renewals/extension negotiations.

Experience

• Between 1 and 10 years’ experience in business to business customer-facing operational or service delivery roles
• Experienced working in service management functions for large-scale, time-critical and complex software services
• Experienced working with senior client representatives, and liaising with multiple customer stakeholders
• Track record of managing within a line or matrix team structure balancing priorities and keeping focus on quality and timely delivery
• Experienced in the management of P&L budgets with a focus on cost management and achievement of invoiced revenue

Behaviours / Skills

• Able to demonstrate the capability to manage effectively within a highly complex, operational environment, demonstrating good judgement and decision making, delegation and planning skills
• Customer focused with ability to form close professional relationships with senior customer stakeholders
• Excellent communication, influencing and negotiation skills at all levels with customers, suppliers and colleagues
• Exceptional interpersonal skills, a highly personable, engaging approach. Strong listening skills and the ability to adapt complex messages according to the audience. High level emotional intelligence.
• Demonstrable drive, energy and passion for understanding and meeting customer needs. Able to motivate the RM delivery teams to continually improve the service
• By personal example, encourage all RM departments to see Customer Relationship Management as integral to achieving their targets and use CRM to its full capability
• Demonstrable ability to deliver results meeting service level, commercial and customer satisfaction levels
• The ability to work at a high pace while maintaining quality of output and be flexible in response to meeting challenging deadlines is essential

Knowledge

• Business to business relationship management
• Understanding of service or project management methodologies (e.g. ITIL, PRINCE) are expected
• An understanding of how software and service organisations operate is key to the role
• Knowledge of modern IT infrastructures, would be an advantage
• Knowledge of e-assessment and/or e-testing would be an advantage

What’s in it for you?  

At RM we recently introduced My Work Blend @RM which provides office - based colleagues with multi location and hybrid working options to suit them . As well as your office base , you can spend a proportion of your time working at other locations that suit your role and your life, including home, other offices, customer sites, distribution centres or on the move. We encourage you to discuss arrangements for this role with your potential line manager during the recruitment process. We expect how we make best use of hybrid working may continue to adapt as we adjust to our new ways of working.  

At RM we are committed to making the recruitment process as inclusive as possible for everyone. Should you require additional support with your application or through the interview process, please contact us a t [email protected] .  

As well as a competitive salary and our core benefits package which includes private medical healthcare, life assurance and a Group Personal Pension Plan with higher contribution levels available , some roles are also eligible for a performance-related bonus .  

There are lots of voluntary benefits too. You could buy additional annual leave, join our dental plan, sign for a health assessment , or take part in our cycle to work scheme. You could even earn yourself an extra bonus for successfully recommending a friend or family member for a position within RM.  

Job tags

Salary