Dual reporting to GM and Director of Strategy
Build the relationships, shape the commercial approach, and turn SST Think Tank's ecosystem into sustained opportunities for industry and the organisation.
Role Purpose
He/she is responsible for leading SST Think Tank's industry development, key account and commercial partnership activities across its portfolio of platforms, programmes and services. The Associate Director will own and develop relationships with SST Think Tank's most important corporate and industry partners, while leading the Industry Development &Partnerships team in managing a broader portfolio of local and international companies.
A core responsibility of the role is to understand the business priorities of SST's clients and partners and identify how the organisation's different offerings, including GSTCE, membership, market access programmes, industry intelligence and ecosystem initiatives, can create value for them.
The role will be an important contributor to SST Think Tank's commercial strategy, working closely with the Director of Strategy toco-develop the organisation's commercial approach based on client needs, market intelligence and business opportunities. The Associate Director will then play a key role in translating that strategy into commercial activity across GSTCE, membership and other relevant offerings.
The role requires strong commercial judgement alongside a client-servicing mindset, ensuring SST develops long-term industry relationships rather than pursuing transactional sales.
Key Responsibilities
1. Commercial Strategy & Development
- Work closely with the Director of Strategy and Geneal Manager to co-develop SST Think Tank's commercial strategy, particularly across GSTCE, membership and other industry-facing offerings.
- Bring client, account and market intelligence into commercial strategy development, ensuring SST's propositions respond to real industry needs and opportunities.
- Provide input into pricing, packaging, customer segmentation, sponsorship propositions, membership propositions and new revenue opportunities.
- Translate agreed commercial strategies into account priorities, pipelines and business-development activity across the Industry Development & Partnerships team.
- Develop and manage the commercial pipeline across exhibitors, sponsors, members and strategic partners.
- Identify opportunities to increase engagement and revenue from existing accounts by connecting organisations with multiple relevant SST offerings.
- Develop commercial propositions and partnership packages in collaboration with the Director of Strategy and relevant internal teams.
- Lead commercial conversations and negotiations with key partners and clients.
- Monitor commercial performance and provide management with visibility of pipeline, conversion, client feedback and emerging market opportunities.
2. GSTCE Commercial & Industry Development
- Lead the execution of GSTCE's industry-facing commercial activities in line with the broader commercial strategy developed with the Director of Strategy and General Manager.
- Bring exhibitor, sponsor and industry feedback into the continued development of GSTCE's commercial proposition.
- Identify, engage and convert priority exhibitors, sponsors and strategic partners.
- Develop account strategies for returning exhibitors and sponsors to deepen their participation in future editions.
- Work closely with Marketing to develop effective B2B campaigns, sales materials, lead-generation activities and client communications.
- Work closely with Operations to ensure commercial commitments are translated into a strong exhibitor and sponsor experience.
- Identify emerging client needs, competitive developments and potential new revenue opportunities for GSTCE.
- Represent GSTCE at relevant trade shows, industry events and business-development opportunities where appropriate.
3. Membership Development & Retention
- Drive the commercial and relationship execution for SST Think Tank membership.
- Work with the Director of Strategy to continuously strengthen the membership proposition based on market needs, member feedback and SST's wider strategic direction.
- Drive acquisition, retention and deeper engagement of member companies.
- Ensure membership is positioned as the gateway into SST Think Tank's wider ecosystem, intelligence, platforms and market-access capabilities.
- Work with Industry Development & Partnerships Specialists to understand member needs and identify opportunities to create greater value for individual companies.
- Monitor membership engagement, conversion and renewal pipelines and feed insights back into proposition development.
Measures of Success
Success in the role will be measured by:
- Achievement of agreed GSTCE exhibition, sponsorship and partnership revenue targets
- Growth and retention of SST Think Tank membership
- Strength and depth of relationships with SST's priority accounts
- Quality of client and market intelligence contributed to SST's commercial strategy
- Effective translation of agreed commercial strategy into account and business-development activity
- Growth in engagement and commercial value across existing key accounts
- Generation and conversion of qualified commercial opportunities
- Quality and predictability of SST's commercial pipeline
- Effectiveness of the Industry Development & Partnerships team
- Strong client experience and account retention
- Identification of new commercial opportunities and strategic partnerships
