International Key Account Manager

I am recruiting an International Key Account Manager for a major European office furniture manufacturer. This is a new business role – a hunter – to grow the number of international agreements the company holds with large global corporations. You will own a portfolio of selected international key accounts and strategic prospects, and build the pipeline of new ones. The job is to win and develop large, multi-country corporate accounts. That means getting under the skin of how a customer buys: their business model, workplace strategy, procurement process, decision structure, sustainability expectations and long-term needs. From there you build the account plan, map the stakeholders, qualify the opportunities and run the sales cycle through to a signed agreement. You will lead international tenders, RFI/RFP/RFQ responses, commercial proposals and contract negotiations, working with local sales organisations and central functions across the group – bid management, design, assortment, marketing, sustainability, logistics, customs, finance and legal. Once an agreement is signed you make sure it is launched and implemented properly across the export markets and local sales channels, and that pricing models and ways of working are clear to everyone who has to deliver against them. This is a matrix organisation. You will lead through influence, not line management: coordinating resources in other countries, chasing input to agreed timescales, and escalating commercial or delivery risk when it needs escalating. You report to the Head of International Key Accounts and work as part of a small central team. The role suits someone with a decade or more in international B2B sales, strategic sales, business development or key account management, who has run complex, multi-stakeholder sales cycles and negotiated international agreements before. You need to be commercially sharp – comfortable with profitability, pricing, forecasting and pipeline data – and genuinely motivated by opening new accounts rather than just servicing existing ones. The company's priority is solid sales experience, the energy to pursue new business and a real interest in international business. Fluent English is essential. Strong additional language skills – German, French or Swedish in particular – are a significant advantage. The role involves international travel.