Client Development Partner

Title:                    Client Development Partner.

Location:             Office based, Stockbridge, UK (hybrid) but with some travel

Reporting to:     Managing Director

Type:                    Permanent, full-time

About Ennis & Co

Ennis & Co is trusted by many of the world’s leading automotive and mobility brands to appoint their senior leaders. We combine deep executive search expertise with a strong industry presence built on research, thought leadership and long-standing relationships across the sector.

We’re a close-knit team that’s known for the depth of our automotive knowledge, the quality of our client & candidate relationships and the added value provided. As the market grows and evolves, we’re investing in how we develop those relationships, and that’s where this role comes in.

The opportunity

We have more opportunity in front of us than we’re currently capitalising on: existing clients to nurture and refresh, dormant relationships to reawaken, prospects we’ve carefully identified and mapped within our ICP, and a network of senior figures including high-calibre candidates from previous searches who are now in hiring roles themselves.

The automotive market is in heavy structural reset: large-scale OEM job cuts and plant closures, EV investment recalibration, Chinese pressure on European volume, tariff- and cost of energy-driven supply-chain distress. This, in turn, creates leadership churn and demand for executive search but it also means volatile budgets, longer buying cycles, and caution. The person in this role needs real commercial judgment to read where demand and budget persist, not just where the headcount used to be. It’s not enough to have a warm list; you need to know which warm leads are real opportunities right now.

This said, we have a sophisticated understanding of our Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and a strong understanding of where the real decision-makers are. This is not spray-and-pray outreach. You’ll have the data and the relationships to work with precision.

This is a role for someone with real industry poise and charisma who wants to develop in a senior, expert environment. You don’t need decades behind you because we’re betting on your presence, your ability to build trust quickly, and your drive to make things happen. You’ll be the engine that keeps our relationships warm and our pipeline moving: researching the right people, reaching out with relevance, building genuine relationships, and teeing up qualified opportunities for our senior team to take forward. It isn’t a cold-calling job, it’s about doing the groundwork well and learning the craft of a considered, high-value sale from someone who knows it inside out.

What you’ll do

• Keep existing relationships warm — stay in regular, useful contact with the clients we already hold, so nothing goes cold through neglect
• Reactivate dormant clients — reach back out to organisations we’ve worked with before and reopen the conversation
• Research and build target lists — identify prospects within our ICP and work out who to approach, when, and with what angle
• Run outreach and nurture campaigns — execute structured, multi-touch sequences that lead with genuine value rather than a pitch: a considered series of useful, relevant touches that build trust and earn the conversation. Proactive and warm, never cold
• Get people talking — confident and effective on the phone and over email, engaging people who have a reason to hear from you, following up diligently, and booking meetings
• Activate our network — reach out to senior contacts from our relationships and past placements, including executives we’ve placed or shortlisted
• Make the data work — use market research, signals and our CRM to target the right people with the right message and keep our pipeline data accurate and up to date
• Support the senior team — get the right opportunities in front of your senior colleagues and the Managing Director, qualify them, and hand over cleanly
• Flag good ideas — bring curiosity. Where you spot a smarter approach or a new angle, say so

How we work & what success looks like

You’ll own the early stages of our commercial pipeline: researching, engaging, nurturing and qualifying opportunities, then handing them to senior colleagues and the MD to take forward and close. Success is measured by the quality and volume of warm, qualified opportunities you generate and the relationships you keep alive, with the support and coaching to grow as you go.

Requirements

What you’ll bring

• Charisma and executive presence. You’re someone people want to talk to. You come across as assured, personable and credible, the kind of person senior leaders take seriously. You don’t need thirty years’ experience; you just need genuine poise and the ability to hold a room
• Automotive / mobility sector experience. You have genuine experience within the automotive or mobility sector, ideally Tier 1 or Tier 2 supplier, OEM, or retailer environment. You understand how the industry works and can hold a credible conversation with senior figures in it. This is essential
• Relevant BD experience. A background in B2B sales, business development, client service, recruitment or a comparable commercial or relationship-led role. You should be able to show you can build rapport and get results
• Strong data and CRM skills. You’re comfortable using research, market insight and a database to target and personalise your outreach.  You keep your data clean and organised with regular reporting
• A confident, personable communicator. You build rapport quickly, you’re happy to pick up the phone, and you come across as credible and professional
• Organised and resilient. You can manage a lot of moving relationships at once, follow up without dropping the ball, and stay positive when things take time
• Coachable. You want to learn the craft, take feedback well, and grow into a more senior commercial role over time
• Able to travel. Willing to travel to meet clients when the role requires it; a full driving licence is probably required

How we recruit

We assess candidates on experience, skills and the strengths they bring to the role. We’re an equal-opportunity employer and welcome applications from every background; diversity and inclusion are central to how we operate.

Benefits

Package

• Base salary: c.£50,000 (subject to experience and / or negotiable)
• Performance-related commission structured around qualified opportunities with achievable targets (OTE circa £85,000 with stretch to £100,000+, but uncapped)
• Benefits: Pension, holiday, life cover, critical illness, healthcare (after probation), LTIP after 3 years service, company car, hybrid working (two days per week in the office, rest flexible)