Job description template

Account Manager Job Description

Account manager job description: roles and responsibilities from renewals and upsells to account reviews, plus skills, KPIs, qualifications and a template.

Account Manager Job Description

The role in brief

An account manager owns the relationship with a set of existing customers after the sale: making sure each account gets the value it paid for, renewing contracts, growing revenue through upsells and cross-sells, and representing the customer inside the company. In many companies the account executive wins new business, the account manager keeps and grows it, and customer success drives product adoption, though the split varies. A strong account manager job description names the book of business (how many accounts, how large), the targets the role carries, and who owns onboarding and support.

  • Own a portfolio of customer accounts and act as the main contact for day-to-day questions, escalations and commercial matters
  • Build relationships with several people in each account, including the budget holder, day-to-day users and an executive sponsor
  • Run regular account reviews, such as quarterly business reviews, that show the value delivered and agree priorities for the next period
  • Manage renewals from early risk signals to signed contract, including pricing, terms and negotiation
For hiring teams

Paste the description into Cohesyve to find, contact and test Account Manager candidates on the real work. Ten candidates free, no card.

Applying for a role like this? Practise the assessment free →

Responsibilities

  • Own a portfolio of customer accounts and act as the main contact for day-to-day questions, escalations and commercial matters
  • Build relationships with several people in each account, including the budget holder, day-to-day users and an executive sponsor
  • Run regular account reviews, such as quarterly business reviews, that show the value delivered and agree priorities for the next period
  • Manage renewals from early risk signals to signed contract, including pricing, terms and negotiation
  • Find and close expansion opportunities: upsells, cross-sells and new teams or regions within each account
  • Write account plans for strategic accounts that map stakeholders, risks, untapped opportunities and next steps
  • Coordinate support, delivery, product and finance teams to solve customer problems on time
  • Keep CRM records, pipeline and forecasts accurate in Salesforce, HubSpot or a similar system
  • Pass customer feedback and feature requests to the product team, and report on account health and churn risk
  • Deliver against retention and expansion revenue targets

Required skills

Relationship building with stakeholders at several levelsCommercial negotiation for renewals, price changes and expansionsAccount planning and prioritising a book of businessConsultative questioning to uncover needs and opportunitiesClear written and spoken communication, including presenting to senior customersCRM discipline and accurate forecastingCoordinating internal teams to solve problemsUnderstanding how the product saves or makes money for the customer's business
For hiring teams

Hiring an Account Manager? Start from this description

Paste the description above into Cohesyve. It finds Account Manager candidates, reaches out to them and tests each one on an AI job simulation of the real work, then returns a ranked shortlist. Ten candidates free, no card.

Nice to have

Account management experience in your industryCustomer success platforms such as GainsightRunning business reviews with executive sponsorsReading a customer's budget cycle and building a business caseA second language for international accounts

Qualifications

  • 1Bachelor's degree in business, marketing, communications or a related field, or equivalent experience
  • 2Two or more years in account management, sales, customer success or client services (adjust for the size of the accounts)
  • 3A record of renewing and growing accounts against a target, with numbers the candidate can walk through
  • 4Experience with a CRM such as Salesforce or HubSpot
  • 5Willingness to travel to customer sites as the accounts require

Work environment

Work environment

Office-based, hybrid or remote, with most customer meetings on video and some travel to key accounts. The workload follows the renewal calendar, so quarter-end and the end of the financial year are busy. Pay often combines a base salary with variable pay tied to retention and expansion.

Career growth

Account managers progress to senior, key or strategic account manager, then head of account management or director of client services. Some move into new-business sales as account executives, into customer success leadership, or into sales management.

Common questions

What are the roles and responsibilities of an account manager?

An account manager looks after existing customers: acting as their main contact, running account reviews, renewing contracts, finding upsell and cross-sell opportunities, and coordinating internal teams to solve the customer's problems. The role is measured on keeping and growing revenue from its accounts.

What is the difference between an account manager and an account executive?

An account executive wins new customers; an account manager keeps and grows customers after the first sale. Some companies, especially smaller ones, give one person both jobs and use the titles loosely, so describe the split of new and existing business in the job description.

How is an account manager different from a customer success manager?

An account manager owns the commercial relationship: renewals, pricing and expansion. A customer success manager focuses on adoption and outcomes, making sure the customer uses the product well, and in many companies carries no sales target. Where one person does both, say so and set targets that reflect it.

What KPIs are account managers measured on?

Common measures are gross revenue retention (revenue kept from existing customers, ignoring growth), net revenue retention (revenue kept plus expansion, minus downgrades and churn), expansion revenue, renewal rate on time, and customer satisfaction scores. Pick two or three that match what the role controls and put them in the posting.

How should you assess account manager candidates?

Run a role-play: a renewal with a price increase, or a customer who is unhappy and talking to a competitor. Then give a one-page brief on an account and ask for a short account plan. Watch for questions before solutions, honest handling of the price, and a clear next step at the end of the call.

For hiring teams

Put this Account Manager job description to work

Cohesyve takes the description, finds Account Manager candidates, reaches out to them and runs an AI job simulation of the work, then returns a ranked shortlist.

1,500+

assessments completed

50%

faster time-to-hire

5 min

from JD to assessment

No credit card · 10 free candidates · Plans sized to your hiring volume

See Cohesyve in action

Free 30-min walkthrough

See it on your role