Head of West Midlands - Regional Sales

Job Description

Location: Hybrid (West Midlands Office base) (minimum of two days a week in the office. You can do more than two days if preferable)

Contract type: Permanent full time (9 day fortnight)

Team: Engagement

Direct Reports: Yes

Band: 4.3

Salary: £80,000 - £85,000 (depending on proven ability)

Reports to: Director of Regional Engagement

Closing date: 28th May 2024

Connected Places Catapult is the UK's innovation accelerator for cities, transport, and place leadership. We provide impartial ‘innovation as a service’ for public bodies, businesses, and infrastructure providers to catalyse step-change improvements in the way people live, work and travel. We connect businesses and public sector leaders to cutting-edge research to spark innovation and grow new markets. We run technology demonstrators and SME accelerators to scale new solutions that drive growth, spread prosperity, and eliminate carbon.

This role is part of the team that focusses on the devolved administrations, city regions and local authorities across the UK. We aim to support the sector in creating the right conditions for innovation to flourish, securing commercial opportunities for Places, City regions and local authorities and other CPC ecosystems. For West Midlands, CPC is looking to build presence in the region as a key innovation partner and this role is critical in leading that.

With regular in-person presence, this role is key to CPC building and maintaining relationships across the West Midlands, aligned to our strategy. This will be achieved primarily managing complex stakeholder relationships to build opportunities for CPC and the West Midlands.

In essence, this role leads our West Midlands based activity through;

• Creating key West Midlands place-based partnerships.

• Engaging and communicating our core purpose and capabilities, articulating how these can deliver impact.

• Working closely with external and internal stakeholders to build collaborative relationships and defined outcomes.

• Developing a pipeline of opportunity from inception to closure to meet revenue targets

Requirements

• Sales Strategy: Develop and execute a comprehensive sales strategy for the West Midlands region, aligning with the organization's overall sales objectives and growth targets.
• Client Relationship Management: Build and maintain strong relationships with key clients, stakeholders, and decision-makers in the West Midlands, including government agencies, local authorities, businesses, and other relevant organizations.
• Business Development: Identify and pursue new business opportunities within the region, including potential partnerships, collaborations, and sales channels, to expand the organization's presence and market share.
• Sales Pipeline Management: Manage the sales pipeline effectively, from lead generation and qualification to contract negotiation and closure, ensuring timely follow-up and proactive engagement with prospects and clients.
• Market Intelligence: Stay informed about market trends, competitor activities, and industry developments in the West Midlands region, and use this knowledge to inform sales strategies and identify new opportunities for growth.
• Sales Performance Tracking: Implement robust sales tracking and reporting mechanisms to monitor performance against targets, analyse sales metrics, and identify areas for improvement or optimization.
• Delivery: Working with the Head of Region Delivery, develop and ensure delivery against scope of commercial opportunities aligned to our strategy, capabilities and KPIs.
• Thought Leadership: Be a thought leader in the Place domain. Stay abreast of relevant policy developments and advocate for policies that support the advancement of connected places initiatives in the West Midlands.
• Team Working: Working closely with CPC leads, including across Region Delivery, Global, Academic, SME and Ecosystem Directors. Work closely with relevant programme sponsors, ensuring they are informed and engaged.
• Strategic Business Development:
• Proactively engage target organisations to sell relevant services, focusing on delivering value and impact for the customer and for CPC.
• Develop and maintain a network of key relationships, enhancing CPC’s reach and impact.
• Develop and execute strategic sales plans for pipeline growth, targeting new clients and identifying opportunities.
• Lead the identifying, qualifying, negotiating, and closing of multi-£m project opportunities, ensuring proposals are completed to a high-quality and reflect client outcomes.
• Oversee commercial aspects of the role, including understanding and managing agreements.
• Revenue Forecasting and Accuracy Ownership:
• Ensure all opportunities are recorded and tracked in our CRM tool from an early stage of development.
• Take responsibility for the accuracy of your pipeline revenue forecasts, managing weightings and dates to ensure they are realistic and achievable.
• Regularly review and update revenue forecasts
• Additional Responsibilities:
• Uphold and promote CPC’s values, fostering an inclusive and diverse work environment.
• Commit to equal opportunities and ethical practices in all aspects of work.
• Any and all other additional responsibilities that may be deemed necessary by the business and or your manager.

Benefits

• 9 day fortnight for everyone, we have a full company shutdown every other Friday.
• 23.5 holiday entitlement for everyone, with pro-rata calculations for part-time employees, along with a Christmas shutdown period for additional days off.
• Competitive pension, up to 10% company contribution to help you save for your future.
• Two paid days of volunteering leave per year (pro-rata for part-time employees) to support charitable activities.
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) providing 24/7 confidential work/life support services to you and your immediate family members.
• Cycle to Work Scheme with bike racks and showers available, encouraging a healthy and sustainable commute.
• Cash Health Plan, offering reimbursement for a wide range of essential and everyday healthcare expenses, promoting your well-being.
• Payroll Giving scheme, allowing regular charitable contributions from pre-tax income, maximizing the impact of your donations.
• Discounts and offers from a wide variety of retailers, enhancing your purchasing power and providing savings opportunities.

Employment here is based solely upon individual merit and qualifications directly related to professional competence. We strictly prohibit unlawful discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, colour, religion, national origin, ancestry, pregnancy status, sex, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, mental or physical disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, or any other characteristics protected by law. We also make all reasonable accommodations to meet our obligations under laws protecting the rights of the disabled.