Senior Account Manager - Thai Airways

The incumbent will implement a business development and retention strategy for Thai Airways and assigned customer(s), while ensuring a high level of service through the extended account team. Identify and prioritize business opportunities with the customer.

Business Context

Amadeus is at the heart of the travel industry, making the experience of travel better for everyone, everywhere. We are the world's leading provider of IT solutions for Airlines, powering critical business functions through our Altéa Inventory, Reservations, and Departure Control systems, along with many upstream and downstream applications. Amadeus is at the forefront of travel innovation, supporting Airlines' Retail and Order transformation into a new traveler-centric experience through offer differentiation, personalized servicing, and loyalty.

Senior Account Manager Role

The Senior Account Manager for Thai Airways is a strategic role to define and implement a business development and retention strategy for Thai Airways, and any other assigned airline customer(s). The Senior Account Manager identifies and prioritizes business opportunities with our customers, and leads an extended account team in maintaining strong relationships with our customers and ensuring the right level of service.

Main Responsibilities

Vision and Strategy

• Define, own, continuously improve and communicate the Amadeus strategy and vision to the Extended Account Team, Top Management and the Account Management community
• Analyze Customer business drivers, challenges, organization, and decision processes across all aspects of their business that may impact Amadeus
• Align Customer needs with Airlines & Travel Sellers and Other Business Units' objectives and develop an acquisition, growth and retention strategic plan
• Formalize into a Strategic Account Development Plan (SADP) according to agreed timing and standards
• Communicate the SADP to the Management, team and stakeholders and ensure acceptance from different parties

Customer Excellence

• Develop a relationship structure and governance between the relevant levels of decision for both Amadeus and Customer organizations
• Facilitate and foster this relationship to maximize information flow, influencing, lobbying and Customer's satisfaction
• Advocate Customer voice into Amadeus to ensure the best service to customer
• Escalation point for customer issues when standard escalation processes have failed
• Ensure contract execution for the interest of both Amadeus and customer and liaise with legal to resolve issues
• Ensure constant alignment of implemented services, contracted services & invoices
• Align Amadeus departments to act on the priorities and objectives to meet account development plan, and to deliver unified responses to customer
• Monitor quality of product and service delivery to customer, escalate delivery issues, request improvements if needed

Business Development & Budgeting

• Manage P&L for assigned accounts, profitability, sales pipeline and bespoke development forecast, and provide annual budget input
• Identify & develop new business opportunities while maintaining or increasing revenue and profitability
• Identify Customer product and services requirements and give recommendations to Amadeus product departments regarding products and pricing policies
• Manage directly (for simple sales) or through the sales organization the targeting, sale, negotiation and contracting processes for additional products & services
• Support and provide guidance to sales, legal and solutions organizations to adapt Amadeus approach to Customer and maximize success
• Approve proposals, response to RFPs, delivery plans proposed by the business units
• Represent Amadeus' interests within the Customer organization
• Ensure that CRM/Salesforce information is updated at all times

Organization

• Lead a cross-functional group of global Amadeus staff in the delivery of products and services
• Ensure execution of contract by program delivery teams
• Collaborate with cross departmental initiatives

Internal Communication

• Identify, share and use commercial best practices, experiences, and lessons learnt within the commercial organization (through forums, calls, communities, etc.)
• Actively share account information within the Extended Account Management team and with other stakeholders
• Collaborate to knowledge creation, sharing and maintenance with commercial support teams (Solutions Management, Pre-Sales, Legal, etc.)
• Maintain commercial knowledge repositories up-to-date: Airline Knowledge Community, CRM, etc.

Resources and Skills Development

• Adopt and implement the Account Management vision and strategy through personal development and review
• Set objectives and monitor performance for the Extended Account Teams in collaboration with the Regional Director for South East Asia, when applicable
• Participate in a continuous improvement process for measuring and improving performance, satisfaction and skills (via targeted training)

About the candidate

Relevant experience

• More than 8 years of industry experience in the airline sector preferably in IT domain
• Experience in either an airline or large IT consultancy or integrator is an asset
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in a customer facing environment (e.g. account management, project management, sales, customer support or business development) with business ownership in the multi-million euros range
• Experience in IT sales or e-commerce direct sales highly desirable
• Management responsibility in terms of staff (directly or indirectly) desirable
• Ability to work in a complex business environment with exposure to customer top management and internal stakeholder

Business understanding

• Strong understanding of the airline IT and distribution industry and influencing factors affecting the strategic direction of airlines and global distribution system providers
• Good understanding of the economics of the IT & distribution businesses including local distribution practices in Southeast Asia
• High-level understanding of Amadeus organization and products, and/or airline business processes around passenger handling

Languages

• English: Fluency in Speech and Writing
• Thai: Fluency in Speech and Writing

Diversity & Inclusion

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and seek to hire the best candidate regardless of age, beliefs, disability, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation.