Account Development Lead, LIONS Advisory - 12 Months FTC

Informa Festivals marks an exciting new chapter in B2B events, bringing some of the world's most influential creative, technology and business festivals together. We’re combining prestigious brands like Cannes Lions, Black Hat, Money20/20 and London Tech Week with cutting-edge marketing intelligence platforms and advisory services to deliver unmissable experiences and insights.

Our festival-led approach reimagines traditional B2B events, creating powerful, immersive experiences that drive innovation and industry advancement. Building on decades of expertise and powered by Informa's international reach, we're shaping the next generation of business festivals.

We’re part of Informa, a global business with a network of trusted brands in specialist markets across more than 30 countries, and a member of the FTSE 100 who are #3 in Glassdoor's Best Places to Work 2025 UK list. 

Job Description

About LIONS
LIONS powers the marketing segment, showcasing global best practice in creativity. As the global benchmark in creative and effective marketing, we help influential brands and companies use creativity to drive growth. 
Lions Division Advisory is our creative advisory business that brings together the combined power of LIONS Advisory, WARC Advisory and Contagious Advisory. We partner with companies and brands that are ready to leverage creative marketing as a driver of business growth.

We facilitate Creative Transformation, setting out the blueprint for success and guiding clients through programs that build creative cultures and capabilities whilst inspiring marketing and agency teams to raise the creative bar and do their best work.

The LIONS brand is probably most synonymous with Cannes Lions, The International Festival of Creativity, the definitive meeting place for the global creative communications and advertising community. It’s five days of inspiration, aspiration, unlimited magic and potential. The Festival has been championing creative excellence since 1954 with the goal of providing a global destination and the definitive benchmark for creativity that drives progress.

LIONS is going through an exciting time as it’s recently repositioned as The Home of Creativity, supporting those in the business of creativity at every step of their journeys with an extended portfolio of new advisory, learning and intelligence services. Our purpose is to drive progress through creativity for an incredibly diverse and talented global creative community.

About the Role

As an Account Development Lead, you'll be at the forefront of delivering growth, retention, and strategic development for key client accounts globally. This exciting role empowers you to foster strong client relationships, identify new partnership opportunities, and ensure the delivery of exceptional Advisory services. You'll collaborate closely with marketing and creative capabilities units of major global brands, offering training, knowledge, and tools to help these brands unlock the power of creativity.

Key Responsibilities

• Strive to meet or exceed annual revenue targets
• Maintain accurate and continuous commercial forecasting of revenue conversations across your client portfolio
• Develop the advisory client base by identifying intelligent opportunities to expand our services
• Build and nurture strong relationships with key stakeholders, understanding their challenges and pinpointing where we can add value to their business
• Proactively identify and mitigate risks to client repeat revenue, proposing and executing plans to increase the likelihood of continued engagement
• Serve as a project manager for major ongoing agreements, ensuring adherence to timelines and scopes by collaborating with the LIONS Advisory team
• Continuously enhance your knowledge of the LIONS Advisory product to better support our diverse client base
• Utilize our CRM system to record accurate and timely details of our relationships with clients and prospects
• Collaborate with other teams, such as Intelligence and Partnerships, to create a seamless sales experience for prospects

Please note that this list is not exhaustive, and you may be required to undertake additional responsibilities as needed.

Qualifications

We value diverse experiences and backgrounds. The following skills and

qualifications

are guidelines, and we encourage you to apply even if you don't meet all of them:

• Strong commercial acumen with a track record of achieving financial targets through upselling and cross-selling
• Clear and concise communication skills, with the ability to adapt to diverse audiences
• Talent for building and maintaining strong client relationships across various cultures and backgrounds
• Aptitude for interpreting client briefs and collaborating with the wider team to create compelling proposals
• Experience with RFPs, contracts, and T&Cs (prior experience is valuable, but we're open to those willing to learn)
• Passion for customer service and exceeding expectations
• Ability to work independently, manage a varied workload, and meet deadlines
• Drive and determination to achieve targets
• Collaborative spirit, with a history of contributing to both individual and team goals
• Knowledge of Salesforce CRM system is beneficial but not mandatory (we provide training for those new to the system)
• Energetic, curious, and resilient with a 'can-do' attitude

Additional Information

We work hard to make sure Life at Informa is rewarding, supportive and enjoyable for everyone. Here’s some of what you can expect when you join us. But don’t just take our word for it – see what our colleagues have to say  LifeAt.Informa.com

Our benefits include:

• Freedom & flexibility: colleagues rate us highly for the flexibility and trust they receive and most of us balance time in the office with time working remotely
• Great community: a welcoming culture with in-person and online social events, our fantastic Walk the World charity day and active diversity and inclusion networks
• Broader impact: take up to four days per year to volunteer, with charity match funding available too
• Career opportunity: the opportunity to develop your career with bespoke training and learning, mentoring platforms and on-demand access to thousands of courses on LinkedIn Learning. When it’s time for the next step, we encourage and support internal job moves
• Time out: 25 days annual leave, rising to 27 days after two years, plus a birthday leave day and the chance to work from (almost!) anywhere for up to four weeks a year
• A flexible range of personal benefits to choose from, plus company funded private medical cover
• A ShareMatch scheme that allows you to become an Informa shareholder with free matching shares
• Strong wellbeing support through EAP assistance, mental health first aiders, a healthy living subsidy, access to health apps and more
• Recognition for great work, with global awards and kudos programmes
• As an international company, the chance to collaborate with teams around the world

We’re not solely focused on a checklist of skills. We champion energy and ambition and look for colleagues who will roll their sleeves up, join in and help make things happen. If it sounds like a match and you have most – although not all – of the skills and experience listed, we welcome your application.

At Informa, you'll find inclusive experiences and environments where all perspectives and backgrounds are welcomed. As part of this approach and our diversity and inclusion commitments, we are also formally an Equal Opportunities Employer. This means we base decisions on relevant

qualifications

and merit and do not discriminate on the basis of key characteristics and statuses, including all of those protected by law. Ask us or see our website for full information.

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