Head of SMB
This is a chance to take full ownership of a commercial engine that’s already working, and make it scale. You’ll build and lead the SMB function from the front, set the standard for what good looks like, and turn a high-volume sales and account management team into a repeatable growth machine. The volume is there, the brands are there, and the market position is strong. What’s missing is the leader who can bring it all together.
You’ll coach a team to perform at their best, design the processes that let them move fast without burning out, and own the numbers that matter: revenue, retention, repeat spend and growth. If you want a role where your leadership directly shapes how a business grows, this is it.
Who you’d be doing it for
My client is a fast-growing advertising business that connects well-known consumer brands with student audiences across UK campuses. They work with a mix of local, regional and national advertisers, and they’re now evolving their commercial model to build deeper expertise, stronger partnerships and more repeatable growth. They’re the market leader in their space, and SMB is where a lot of their future growth gets created.
What you’ll own
You’ll lead both new business sales and account management for SMB advertisers, accountable for the full picture: performance, development, team delivery and a model that scales sustainably.
- Own revenue, retention, expansion, activity and quality across the SMB advertiser base
- Set and execute an SMB strategy built on simplicity, efficiency, repeatability and scale
- Directly manage and develop SMB sales execs, account managers and team leads
- Run 1:1s, performance reviews and development conversations focused on results and growth
- Coach people to lift sales quality, productivity, commercial judgement and customer management
- Address underperformance early and fairly, with clear feedback and decisive action where needed
- Drive CRM discipline, forecasting accuracy, pipeline hygiene and account visibility
- Own scalable processes for account allocation, lifecycle management and repeat business
- Work with Growth Account Management to define clear graduation paths from SMB to Growth
- Partner with Sales, Marketing, Product and Campaign Management to improve propositions and delivery
What you’ll bring
- Proven experience leading SMB, mid-market or high-volume sales and/or account management teams
- Strong people management, including coaching, feedback and performance conversations
- Sharp commercial judgement, with a focus on revenue, retention, efficiency and scalable execution
- A track record of managing performance through data, structured processes and clear operating rhythms
- Experience building or improving processes that support volume without adding complexity
- A calm, fair, consistent leadership style that balances pace with quality
- Experience in media, advertising, events, student marketing or B2B services is a bonus
Why it matters
SMB is where volume, velocity and future growth get created. You’ll build a function that helps small and medium businesses succeed quickly, creates repeatable revenue, improves retention, and turns SMB into a genuine growth engine for the business. Get this right and you’re not just running a team, you’re building the part of the business that powers everything else.
…