Lead Client Relationship Director

SS&C is a global provider of investment and financial services and software for the financial services and healthcare industries. Named to Fortune 1000 list as top U.S. company based on revenue, SS&C is headquartered in Windsor, Connecticut and has 20,000+ employees in over 90 offices in 35 countries. Some 18,000 financial services and healthcare organizations, from the world's largest institutions to local firms, manage and account for their investments using SS&C's products and services.

Job Description

The role will suit an experienced, dynamic and results-oriented Client Relationship Director with experience of leading a high performing team. The role will be responsible for managing and cultivating relationships with existing clients, driving sales growth, increasing revenue, and executing strategic initiatives to further the company's growth objectives.

This will involve owning and managing senior client relationships to executive levels to maximize customer satisfaction and achieve the company's strategic objectives of revenue growth and client retention.

The role will be required to develop and build executive level client relationships, managing all commercial elements of the agreement, and achieving revenue growth for client accounts allocated. The role will also oversee the Client Relationship team and will lead a high performing team of experienced Relationship Managers / Directors.

An expectation in this role is to interact with other SS&C global relationship leaders to ensure a co-ordinated approach to management of client relationships & accounts, while developing opportunities in the region through these connections. This will include engaging directly with SS&C local, regional and global executive leaders to ensure the business is client focused and working on priorities aligned with those of our clients & SS&C’s growth objectives.

Further, the role is expected to be connected within the industry, fostering relationships with industry peers & relevant stakeholders with active involvement in applicable market events, industry forums to develop networks.

Opportunity Snapshot

This role is focused on a range of products with the portfolio consisting of:

• Unit registry / transfer agency Business Process Outsourcing clients
• Fund administration services
• The scope of this fast-paced role predominantly covers MFA’s Custodian and Fund Manager clients (across Melbourne, Sydney and other locations as required).
• It involves identifying and developing key senior relationships within the client as the key senior SS&C contact for all commercial and strategic client activities.
• Ability to lead an experienced relationship team will be important.
• Travel will be expected from time to time

Role Responsibilities

Relationship Management

• Leading a team of experienced relationship directors / managers for the business.
• Relationship management including periodic strategic reviews & commercial meetings.
• Develop and execute account plans for clients with relationship matrices, revenue & growth objectives, whole of SS&C relationship, new upsell opportunities and sales initiatives.
• Maintain and enhance relationships with senior leaders, executives and C level decision makers at the client, establishing strong, long-term client relationships and cultivate new business opportunities.
• Commercial management of contracts and escalation for the CRM team.
• Drive overall customer satisfaction for assigned accounts with business leaders.
• Senior escalation point in the business for client account retention in support of Relationship Managers and in conjunction with management peers from the Service Delivery team.
• In-depth understanding of clients’ business scope & strategic goals and how MFA can support and partner with them.
• Personal knowledge of the scope of services offered to clients and their current true satisfaction levels with “finger on the pulse” of the account at senior levels to escalate potential dissatisfaction or retention issues.
• This will require being able to articulate the overall value proposition & strategic offering for MFA.
• Responsibility for revenue forecasts for clients, including monitoring of variance to forecasts on a monthly basis with the responsible RMs. A key part of this role will be to identify potential revenue changes early and report this internally while developing strategies to maximise account revenue.
• Keep management informed on key account activity in a timely fashion including reporting.
• Stay current with market trends and industry developments, gather intelligence on competitor activities to identify opportunities for growth and innovation and provide feedback to stakeholders.
• Provide input to the scope of services through knowledge of competitors, industry & regulations.
• Commercial management of client accounts including but not limited to; contractual engagement, quotation and pricing issuance, rate cards, term extensions, invoice and revenue management.

Sales

• Achieving new sales for the business to generate revenue across allocated client accounts.
• Supporting any bids/RFPs for existing clients or identified new clients as allocated to you by the company.
• Prepare and deliver presentations to clients on company offerings and value propositions.
• Quotation of new services or projects to clients, maximising revenue opportunities whilst achieving value for the client.
• Manage & grow account revenue to maximum value while maintaining customer satisfaction level.
• Collaborate and coordinate with local & global SS&C teams to identify revenue opportunities & drive revenue growth.
• Identify opportunities to upsell additional services and products to existing clients.
• Cross sell relevant MFA services to local and global clients of SS&C to win new business.
• Input into change management prioritisation for strategically important or revenue generating client activities to ensure the deal is closed.
• Adherence with SS&C sales, relationships processes to ensure systems are updated in a timely manner to give a full picture of revenue opportunities, meeting notes and key client activities as required. Includes oversight and achievement of relationship management staff deliverables.

Additional Support & People Leader responsibilities

• Lead a team of high performing Client Relationship Directors / Managers, acting as a key escalation point and supporting the team members with their client relationships.
• Support Client Relationship Directors / Managers at key meetings for clients as necessary.
• An expectation will be to develop relationships with all MFA clients, in addition to allocated accounts.
• As a senior business stakeholder, promote the level of accountability with other leaders and provide mentorship for the Client Relationship team members.
• Providing leadership by setting standards for a high performing relationship management function that advocates for the client and high service standards for the business.
• Additional responsibilities as allocated by commercial and business unit leaders.

Key performance indicators:

• Positive client results and feedback (In regard to RM support, performance levels, client satisfaction and stated account outcomes).
• Achievement of account revenue growth targets.
• Meet or exceed sales targets and revenue goals set by the company.
• Effective management of quotations, maximise new service & project revenue while delivering value to clients.
• Promoting and achieving the key strategic outcomes of the business with assigned clients
• Accurate, engaging and effective client presentations.
• Achievement of positive and engaged senior relationships with all clients including relationship matrices and account plans being up to date and effective.
• Timely management of escalations relating to payment collection and clear explanation of fees to clients.
• Sales targets as allocated.
• Specific client relationship, revenue and sales KPIs as allocated.

Skills and competencies:

• Strategic thinker with the ability to develop and execute plans to achieve business objectives.
• Action and results oriented with strong drive, resilience and tenacity while demonstrating enthusiasm and passion
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment and self-start with high levels of autonomy
• Ability to build strong senior relationships and influence/motivate people at all levels
• Identifiable leadership skills in a team environment, specifically the ability to lead by example
• Commercial experience and know how
• Extensive contract management experience with a good understanding of fund services commercial contracts
• Excellent written, MS powerpoint and verbal communication skills
• Multitasking and time management/organisational skills with ability to work under pressure

Knowledge and experience:

• 15+ years Financial Services/Wealth Services experience with registry and custodial services experience an advantage
• 10+ years senior client relationship management experience
• Experienced people leader with demonstrable background of successfully managing senior people in client roles.
• Proven track record of success in senior client relationship management and sales within the financial services industry.
• Direct experience and knowledge of fund structures, the funds industry, relevant trends and clients that operate within the industry.
• Regional and Global experience and/or knowledge of the global funds industry is an advantage.
• Demonstrated understanding and experience in servicing Fund Managers and or Custodians to a high standard.