Technical Account Manager

Technical Account Manager

Ignitec is a product design and engineering consultancy based near Bristol. We help companies develop complex products, electronics, embedded systems, connected devices and technology-led solutions.

Our work spans sectors including industrial technology, medical, aerospace, defence, energy, oil and gas, IoT and critical environments. As the business grows, we are looking for a technically credible, commercially aware person to help us strengthen how we manage new enquiries, client relationships and long-term account growth.

This is a key role in the business. The right person will help us win the right work, support the right clients and bridge the gap between complex engineering and commercial relationships.

The Role

We are looking for a Technical Account Manager to sit between our clients, commercial team and engineering team.

This is not a conventional sales role. We are not looking for a cold-calling, volume-based salesperson or someone who pushes any opportunity through the door. Our engineering team works on complex, high-value projects, so the role is about quality, trust, technical credibility and client experience.

You will be responsible for handling new enquiries, qualifying opportunities, nurturing current and past clients, supporting the sales process, maintaining strong follow-up discipline and helping clients feel properly understood and looked after.

You will need to be confident discussing technical and commercial requirements, but you will not be expected to replace the engineering team. A big part of the role is knowing how to work with engineers, how to brief them properly, and when to bring them into the conversation.

What you will be responsible for

New enquiries and lead qualification

You will act as one of the first points of contact for new client enquiries. You will respond quickly, understand what the client is trying to achieve and assess whether the opportunity is a good fit for Ignitec.

This will include:

• Calling and following up with new inbound leads quickly
• Qualifying opportunities based on technical fit, commercial fit, budget, timescale and strategic value
• Understanding the client’s requirements before involving engineering resource
• Identifying high-quality opportunities that should be progressed
• Filtering out poor-fit, low-value or unclear enquiries before they consume engineering time
• Booking suitable calls with the right engineers when an opportunity is qualified
• Ensuring strong leads do not go cold

The focus is not simply to generate more activity. The focus is to make sure the right opportunities are handled properly.

Pipeline management and follow-up

You will help keep our commercial pipeline organised, accurate and moving.

This will include:

• Managing lead follow-up cadence
• Chasing open opportunities and proposals
• Keeping all opportunities updated in Pipedrive
• Moving leads through the pipeline accurately
• Logging calls, emails, notes and next actions
• Making sure every live opportunity has a clear owner and next step
• Re-engaging promising leads that have gone quiet
• Maintaining accurate lost reasons and pipeline visibility
• Supporting the Managing Director and Commercial Manager with pipeline reporting

You will need to be highly organised and disciplined with CRM use.

Sales administration

You will support the practical administration that keeps the sales process moving.

This may include:

• Coordinating NDAs

This is not an admin-only role, but you will need to be comfortable owning the detail.

Client calls and engineering coordination

You will help make sure client calls are well prepared, well run and properly followed up.

This will include:

• Preparing and distributing relevant materials before calls
• Briefing engineers on who they are speaking to and what the client needs
• Sharing commercial context, technical background and known sensitivities
• Making sure the right people are on the right calls
• Attending calls where appropriate
• Owning the commercial and relationship side of the conversation
• Keeping discussions focused and productive
• Capturing actions and ensuring follow-up happens afterwards

The engineer should bring the technical depth. You should make sure the meeting has structure, context and commercial direction.

Client relationship management

You will help make sure clients feel valued, understood and supported throughout their relationship with Ignitec.

This will include:

• Conducting regular check-in calls with current clients
• Re-engaging past clients to understand how they are getting on
• Maintaining warm relationships between active projects
• Understanding client roadmaps and future plans
• Identifying opportunities for repeat work
• Collecting feedback from clients
• Spotting relationship issues early
• Helping smooth over concerns when they arise

This role is as much about account care and client experience as it is about new business.

Client advocacy

A key part of the role is getting on board with the client’s vision.

You will need to understand what clients are trying to achieve technically and commercially, then help represent that clearly inside Ignitec.

This means:

• Understanding the client’s goals, pressures and roadmap
• Helping engineers understand the wider client context
• Translating client requirements into clear internal understanding
• Helping clients understand technical trade-offs and commercial implications
• Acting as a constructive bridge between the client and the engineering team
• Making sure the client feels listened to and properly represented
• Balancing client advocacy with Ignitec’s commercial and delivery boundaries

You are not there to blindly agree with the client. You are there to understand their world, help them make good decisions and make sure Ignitec supports them properly.

Roadmapping and account development

Over time, this role may include running or supporting client roadmapping and innovation sessions.

These sessions will help us explore:

• What the client is trying to build next
• What technical challenges are ahead
• What their commercial priorities are
• Where Ignitec can add value
• What future opportunities may exist over the next 6, 12 or 24 months

You may help set agendas, facilitate discussions, capture outputs and turn those conversations into future account plans.

This is an important part of how we add value to clients beyond simply responding to immediate project enquiries.

Essential experience and qualities

You should have:

• Experience in a technical, engineering, product development or consultancy environment
• Strong technical curiosity and technical credibility
• The ability to understand both the “what” and the “why” behind client requirements
• Experience working with clients in a consultative or account-focused role
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal
• Confidence speaking with technical and senior commercial stakeholders
• The ability to qualify opportunities properly
• Strong follow-up discipline
• Good CRM habits, ideally with experience using Pipedrive or similar
• The judgement to know when to bring engineers into a conversation
• The ability to build trust with both clients and internal technical teams
• A quality-led approach to sales and account growth

Highly desirable experience

Experience in one or more of the following areas would be a strong advantage:

• Electronics
• Embedded systems
• IoT or connected products
• Product development consultancy
• Industrial technology
• Oil and gas
• Intrinsic safety or hazardous area products
• Aerospace
• Defence
• Medical devices
• Energy
• Technical account management
• Technical sales
• Applications engineering
• Client success in a technical business
• Running client workshops, discovery sessions or roadmap sessions

Existing connections in one or more of our core sectors would be particularly valuable.

Personal qualities

The right person will be:

• Charismatic and confident
• Warm and professional with clients
• Concise and clear in communication

What this role is not

This is not a high-volume sales role.

We are not looking for someone who will push unsuitable work into the business just to hit a number. Our priority is high-quality, well-scoped, strategically aligned work that our engineering team can deliver properly.

This role is not suited to someone who wants to:

• Cold-call all day
• Chase volume over quality
• Sell things they do not understand
• Make technical promises without validation
• Work around the engineering team
• Operate as a generic closer
• Treat client relationships as transactional

What success looks like

Success in this role means:

• Strong leads are followed up quickly and consistently
• High-quality opportunities are properly qualified
• Poor-fit enquiries are filtered out early
• Engineers are better briefed before client calls
• Pipedrive is accurate and up to date
• Clients feel valued, supported and understood
• Current and past clients are contacted proactively
• Client feedback is collected and shared
• Repeat business opportunities are identified
• The commercial process feels smoother and more controlled
• Ignitec wins better-quality work, not just more work