Senior Client Manager - Defence Digital

Package:  Competitive Salary + Benefits 

Role ID:     SF18325

Are you ready to be part of the future? At QinetiQ, we’re not just imagining tomorrow we are creating it. From cutting edge defence technology to ground breaking innovations our mission is to empower and protect lives. Join us as a Senior Client Manager, working with our clients across Defence, where you will have the opportunity to work with cutting-edge technology in partnership with some of the most brilliant minds. 

Role Purpose

• Account Management of key customers in Defence Digital including associated Frameworks and drive revenues from this account.
• Provide coordinating interface and point of contact across customer stakeholder community for cradle to grave engagement from up front strategy, business development through to operational programme delivery.
• Provide clear communications between key customer stakeholders and internal QinetiQ teams in order to ensure common understanding of customer strategic growth plans, planned procurement opportunities and status of delivery across project portfolio.
• Proactive link back to the QinetiQ business to ensure forward planning, capability development and resource requirements are known and can be planned against in order to meet future demand from the customer.
• Similar to above, link back to the QinetiQ business to ensure that any issues/challenges with ongoing project delivery are flagged early so that remediation and response can be planned effectively.
• Proactive engagement with the customer stakeholders to understand/help inform and shape their future strategy as appropriate, and that QinetiQ continues to be well positioned to deliver into that strategy.

Key Accountabilities

1. Stakeholder engagement: development and implementation of customer stakeholder engagement plan - building trusted relationships across procurement and operational parts of their organisation. Establish similar relationships within QinetiQ to facilitate effective coordinating role across strategy development/BD and operational delivery.
2. Strategy development: build a detailed understanding of the customer’s strategic planning, their hot buttons, constraints and key drivers. Help shape and inform their strategy development as appropriate by leveraging wider QinetiQ experience and perspective. Feedback to QinetiQ to help support our strategic planning and investment decisions.
3. Opportunity Development: following on from above, build detailed understanding of the customer’s budget and future procurement plans. Provide clear comms and conduit back to the QinetiQ business to inform investments and future BD/Capture planning to align with customer strategy and planned procurements.  
4. Operational delivery: through established customer relationships build picture across our portfolio of delivery projects, eg customer perception of what is going well and what is not, where we have performance issues and what impacting factors are likely to emerge in the future. Subsequently feed this back to the QinetiQ team to inform future planning and early corrective actions as needed/appropriate. Inform messaging strategy and support communication back to the customer in relation to performance/improvements that can be made in operational delivery. Where necessary facilitate meetings of relevant parties from both sides to support resolution.
5. Heartbeat and tempo: support development of business rhythm between client organisation and QinetiQ (eg monthly account reviews, project reviews) bringing stakeholders from both sides together to support ambition of partnership (eg assured common view on operational delivery/performance and alignment on future strategic development and emerging opportunities). Proactively participate in this rhythm throughout.

Key Capabilities/Knowledge

• Domain knowledge: strong background working in and knowledge of Deployed Defence CIS and Defence Digital. In depth understanding of key drivers and constraints that will steer future strategy with an ability to link this to technical/operational requirements.
• Stakeholder management: ability to build relationships and inspire confidence at multiple levels with both the customer and QinetiQ organisations. Ability to span Operational, Commercial and Procurement domains to provide single coordinating role.
• Strategic vision: ability to operate in a complex environment with conflicting demands and diverse set of stakeholders to build clear strategy and forward path. 
• Influence/Trust: ability to influence and engender trust across diverse (internal/external) stakeholder community in order to help attain consensus in environments where frequently there is no clear single way forwards and diverging stakeholder views.
• Business acumen: ability to balance conflicting demands across multiple fronts to determine optimal way forwards for the customer whist ensuring QinetiQ’s business interests are also met.

Experience & Qualifications

• Proven track record with strong reputation working in Defence Digital and FLCs.
• Established network within the Defence customer community, built upon trust and mutual respect.
• Strong Technical/Operational background within the relevant market with in depth understanding of current status and future trends.
• Ability to work effectively across multiple stakeholders, providing clarity in a complex terrain/managing differing personalities/managing conflicting views and drivers to provide alignment and consensus on direction of travel.
• Appropriate clearances to allow access to customer stakeholders and visibility of their key strategic drivers and operational challenges in sufficient detail to support QinetiQ future strategic planning and ongoing operational delivery to this customer.

Why Join QinetiQ?

As we continue to grow into new markets around the world, there’s never been a more exciting time to join QinetiQ. The formula for success is our appetite for innovation and having the courage to take on a wide variety of complex challenges.

As a QinetiQ employee, you’ll experience a unique working environment where teams from different backgrounds, disciplines and experience enjoy collaborating widely and openly as we undertake this exciting and rewarding journey. Through effective teamwork, and pulling together, you’ll get to experience what happens when we all share different perspectives, blend disciplines, and link technologies; constantly discovering new ways of solving complex problems in a diverse and inclusive environment where you can be authentic, feel valued and realise your full potential. Visit our website to read more about our diverse and inclusive workplace culture.  www.qinetiq.com/en/careers/life-at-qinetiq

Our Benefits

• Matched contribution pension scheme, with life assurance
• Competitive holiday allowance, with the option to purchase additional days
• Compressed working option with Friday afternoons or alternative Fridays off
• Health Cash Plan, Private Medical Insurance and Dental Insurance
• Employee discount portal: Personal Accident Insurance, Travel Insurance, Restaurants, Cinema Tickets and much more
• We are proud to support the Armed Forces community by honouring the Armed Forces Covenant
• Volunteering Opportunities - helping charities and local community

Our Recruitment Process:

We want to make sure that our recruitment process is as inclusive as possible and we aspire to bring out the best in our candidates by creating an environment where everyone feels value, heard and supported.  If you have a disability or health condition that may affect your performance in certain assessment types, please speak to your Recruiter about potential reasonable adjustments.

Many roles in QinetiQ are subject to national security vetting being completed, applicants who already hold the appropriate level of vetting may be able to transfer it upon appointment. A number of roles are also subject to additional restrictions, which mean factors such as nationality or previous nationalities may affect the roles that you can be employed in.

Please note that all applicants for this role must be eligible for SC clearance, as a minimum.

UKSV National Security Vetting Solution: guidance for applicants - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)