Key Account Manager - Corporate

Find your future at United! We’re reinventing what our industry looks like, and what an airline can be – from the planes we fly to the people who fly them. When you join us, you’re joining a global team of 100,000+ connected by a shared passion with a wide spectrum of experience and skills to lead the way forward.Achieving our ambitions starts with supporting yours. Evolve your career and find your next opportunity. Get the care you need with industry-leading health plans and best-in-class programs to support your emotional, physical, and financial wellness. Expand your horizons with travel across the world’s biggest route network. Connect outside your team through employee-led Business Resource Groups.Create what’s next with us. Let’s define tomorrow together.At United, we strive to provide only the best travel experiences – to our customers and our clients. Our Sales team works closely with travel agencies, United travel departments, corporate clients and more to provide phenomenal customer solutions that lead to fruitful business relationships. And through valued customer feedback, optimized partnerships, and innovative sales strategies, Sales continues to be the largest revenue-generating department at United.Key Responsibilities:The Key Account Manager plays a pivotal role in driving business results for a portfolio of assigned corporate customers with +$15M in industry spend. They maintain a comprehensive understanding of United’s and the client’s business objectives, developing strategies and tactics to move those objectives forward. They understand and leverage United’s business and customer needs, effectively aligning products and services with appropriate customer opportunities using value proposition, industry trends, new technologies and strategic selling techniques. They skillfully align products and offers with the appropriate customer opportunity to optimize program profitability, while engaging and building partner relationships including internal and external stakeholders and C-suite executives.Drive business results through analysis and strategy

• Consistently achieve or exceed individual, divisional, and commercial sales goals through development and execution of strategic account plans.
• Identify business opportunities by leveraging customer insight reporting and conduct analysis to inform business decisions.
• Collaborate efficiently across internal departments and joint venture airlines partners to develop and implement customer-focused strategies to maximize sales/network potential with a measurable ROI.
• Negotiate financially relevant agreements and manage program performance in collaboration with sales colleagues, joint venture alliance partners and internal departments.
• Understand the clients’ business, build relationships across all aspects of the client’s organization.
• Develop a deep understanding of the customer’s business beyond travel program responsibilities. Expand knowledge of customer’s core business, industry performance and individual traveler profile to maximize the partnership and drive loyalty to United.

Understand United’s Unique Product Offerings and B2B Strategy

• Demonstrate strong knowledge and understanding of United’s expanding slate of products, services, and distribution capabilities.
• Develop deep understanding of the customer’s business beyond travel program responsibilities. Expand knowledge of customer’s core business, industry performance and individual traveler profile to maximize the partnership and drive loyalty to United.
• Continually embrace trends and technologies. Identify the potential impact on United and our customers to incorporate related sales strategies.
• Implement and execute sales and promotional programs that provide market impact. Attend and/or coordinates customer, industry and trade organization events/meetings serving as a brand ambassador and demonstrate leadership in the business travel marketplace.
• Collaborate with Sales Strategy & Pricing team and other relevant internal stakeholders/departments to create tailored contractual and non-contractual client solutions.

Strategic Account and Deal Management

• Establish a position as trusted advisor with customers through value proposition selling. Broaden network across departments within the account’s organization that coincide with strategic priorities.
• Understand the role and level of influence across the account’s travel purchase ecosystem (Customer/Buyer, Travel Management Company, Individual Traveler, meeting planning and other relevant departments).
• Develop, facilitate, and re-negotiate contracts according to the changing business environment ensuring mutual value received. Responsible for articulating value and taking the lead on the delivery of United and Joint Venture Partners’ commitments.
• Create and deliver high-quality client-facing presentations, serving as a key business partner with the goal of advancing the client partnership.
• Use consultative value-based selling and leadership accessibility to build strong, enterprise relationships to establish United as a strategic business partner.
• Maintain CRM to reflect current and relevant account information including critical account information, account strategies, and tasks.

Note: This position provides for a remote work arrangement, with preference toward candidates in Chicago, IL; with customers located from the Midwest and East Coast. This position will be required to travel up to 60%-80% of the time.QualificationsWhat’s needed to succeed (Minimum Qualifications):

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience
• 4+ years of sales/airline management experience
• Advanced understanding of airline sales or travel industry sales
• Demonstrated strong business acumen and financial aptitude
• Demonstrates excellent time management skills with prompt external/internal communication and follow through
• Energetic, results orientation with entrepreneurial and bias for action mindset
• Proficiency in key business computer applications (ex. MS Excel/PowerPoint/Word and Salesforce)
• Travel within assigned territory with periodic travel to other destinations as required for internal and customer meetings
• Actively demonstrates good judgment, flexibility, creativity and initiative
• Demonstrate strong leadership skills
• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States for any employer without sponsorship
• Successful completion of interview required to meet job qualification
• Reliable, punctual attendance is an essential function of the position

What will help you propel from the pack (Preferred Qualifications):

• MBA or Advanced degree
• Experience leading or mentoring a team
• CTE/GLP

United Airlines is an equal opportunity employer. United Airlines recruits, employs, trains, compensates and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical ability, age, veteran status and other protected status as required by applicable law. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform crucial job functions. Please contact [email protected] to request accommodation.
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