Head of Agreements and Strategic Customer Partnerships

At Konecranes, we believe that great customer experience is built on the people behind the Konecranes name. Everything we do, we do with passion and drive. We believe diversity drives business success and is the foundation for our growth. We welcome different backgrounds and skills that enrich our community and we promote a place where we can ALL be ourselves. This is what makes Konecranes a unique place to work.

The Agreements and Strategic Customer Partnerships is a hands-on leadership role responsible for driving profitable growth, customer retention, and the expansion of strategic agreements and key accounts across Sub-Region North. The team will work closely with the EMEA Strategic Industries and Account Management organisation

The role leads a unified team responsible for agreement sales and renewals, large agreements, and industry/key account management, working in close collaboration with the EMEA Strategic Industries and Account Management organization. As a working manager, the position combines team leadership with direct commercial ownership, customer engagement, and execution.

In addition to leading the team, the role personally manages selected strategic customers and agreements, ensuring strong customer relationships and long-term partnership development. The position drives alignment between Industrial Equipment and Service to maximize customer value, business growth, and operational excellence.

Leadership Competencies

- Customer-centric mindset
- Strategic thinking with strong execution capability
- Commercial drive and business ownership
- Influencing and stakeholder management
- Coaching and talent development
- Data-driven decision making
- Change leadership
- Collaboration across functions

Success Profile

The successful candidate is a commercially driven leader who combines strategic account leadership with a hands-on approach to customer engagement. This individual is equally comfortable leading a team, negotiating complex agreements, developing growth strategies, and personally managing some of the region's most important customer relationships. The role is expected to act as the "voice of the customer" within the North organization and be a key contributor to sustainable growth and customer loyalty.

Responsibilities

Lead, coach, and develop the Agreements and Strategic Customer Partnerships team.; Establish a high-performance culture focused on customer centricity, accountability, and growth.; Set clear objectives, KPIs, and development plans for team members.; Drive collaboration across Sales, Service, Operations, and Regional Leadership teams.; Develop and ensure standardized account management and agreement management practices across the region.; Personally manage a portfolio of selected strategic customers and key agreements.; Develop and execute account plans aligned with customer business objectives and growth opportunities.; Build executive-level relationships with customer stakeholders.; Identify and drive cross-selling, up-selling, modernization, digital, and lifecycle opportunities.; Serve as executive sponsor for key strategic customer relationships.; Own growth, retention, and profitability targets for agreements across the North region.; Drive contract renewals, extensions, and new agreement acquisition.; Monitor contract performance and customer satisfaction.; Promote value-based selling and lifecycle service solutions.; Ensure effective governance of strategic agreements and framework contracts.; Ensure wins for strategic large agreement opportunities across the North region, driving cross-functional collaboration and successful contract closure.; Deliver profitable growth through Agreements and Key Accounts, including revenue, margin, and retention.; Drive pipeline development and agreement base forecasting excellence, ensuring visibility and predictability of agreement sales, renewals, and large agreement opportunities.; Lead commercial negotiations and contract discussions for major opportunities.; Analyze market dynamics, competitive developments, and customer requirements to identify strategic growth opportunities.; Guide pricing strategy and key commercial decisions to maximize customer value and business performance.; Drive customer loyalty, retention, and advocacy programs.; Monitor key customer satisfaction indicators and implement improvement actions.; Resolve escalated customer issues and ensure timely corrective actions.; Foster a proactive approach to customer engagement and value delivery.; Develop and execute annual business/account plans for the Agreements and Key Account Management function.; Provide regular performance reporting and business reviews to North Sales Leadership.; Drive CRM discipline, funnel management, and data quality.; Ensure compliance with company policies, contractual obligations, and commercial governance processes.; Agreement base growth; Agreement renewal rate; Key account revenue growth; Gross margin performance; Customer retention rate; Pipeline value and conversion rate; Forecast accuracy; Customer satisfaction / NPS; Cross-selling and up-selling performance; Employee engagement and team development metrics

Requirements

Master´s or Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Finance or other relevant field.; 8+ years of experience in B2B sales, service sales, key account management, or commercial leadership.; Proven experience leading customer-facing teams.; Strong track record in strategic account management and contract negotiations.; Experience managing multi-country or regional customer relationships.; Excellent commercial, financial, and business acumen.; Swedish / Finnish language skills is a plus

Nice to have

Experience in industrial equipment, service, or heavy machinery industries.; Knowledge of lifecycle service agreements and long-term customer contracts.; Experience working in a matrix organization.