Manufacturer Relations Account Manager

Description Motability Operations are currently recruiting for a Manufacturer Relations Account Manager to join our team in London on a full-time, permanent basis. Your role will be to coordinate the relationship between Motability Operations and an appointed portfolio of vehicle manufacturers through the development of effective working relationships across all levels within their organisation. You will ensure that vehicle manufacturers have a good understanding of the business opportunity that Motability Operations represents and are provided with a strong business case to supply a wide choice of vehicles for Scheme customers at the best possible prices. You will also scope and understand the future distribution models and routes to market of the brands within your portfolio and ensure a balanced offering of EV and ICE product as Motability Operations transitions to an electric fleet. This role will require regular travel to supplier sites and will come with a company car as part of our package. Qualifications Commercially Minded Understands the business and commercial objectives of both Motability Operations and our manufacturer partners. Broad knowledge of the automotive industry (including market trends, whole life cost drivers, the fleet sector, automotive regulation changes). Able to identify trends from quantitative and qualitative data and from that develop a cohesive strategy. Constructive negotiation approach which delivers workable proposals and solutions. Accountable for decision making with the ability to foresee the wider impact of decisions on other key stakeholders including customers, vehicle remarketing, dealer network and the Motability Foundation. Impact and Influence Willingness to take responsibility, and explain rationale, for actions. Excellent communications skills. Presence and confidence to use relationships to overcome objections, explain a position and achieve objectives. Ability to deliver a clear message and gain buy-in from internal and external stakeholders. Shares ideas and best practice with others. Relationship Management Builds and maintains credible and trustworthy relationships. Utilises management information to support and develop the relationship at all levels, through consultative review and action plans. Has a 'can do' outlook and willingness to resolve problems quickly and effectively. Has empathy and understanding towards manufacturer constraints and industry challenges. Demonstrates a mix of diplomacy and enthusiasm to support delivery of Motability Operations and manufacturer objectives. Comfortable working with employees at all levels. Minimum criteria: Experience of the UK automotive industry, preferably with knowledge of car manufacturers and fleet/contract hire organisations. Evidence of managing relationships with key suppliers to deliver strategic objectives. Demonstrable evidence of working across different functions internally and externally to achieve common goals for the benefit of customers. Excellent verbal, written, analytical and presentation skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with stakeholders at all levels. Holistic view of the automotive ecosystem - supply, in-life fleet management, warranty, aftersales, insurance, vehicle disposal along with current industry trends and challenges. Negotiation skills with direct experience of large volume supply negotiations. Benefits We're the company behind the Motability Scheme. We exist to deliver smart, sustainable solutions that improve our customers' mobility in a fast-changing world. We're the UK's largest car leasing company and we help over 800,000 people get on the road. We employ over 1800 people, across London, Bristol, Edinburgh, and Coalville. We know our people are key to our success, so we aim to create an environment that allows our employees to flourish. We look for highly motivated people with a combination of commercial sense and real enthusiasm to meet our customers' needs. What we do We lease a wide range of tailored mobility solutions to people who receive of one of the Government's qualifying mobility allowances. Our customers choose a car, Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV), scooter or powered wheelchair that best suits their needs. We take care of their insurance, breakdown, servicing and more, as part of our worry-free package. At the end of the lease, our customers can exchange their vehicle for a brand-new model. Each year we sell and move around 200,000 cars. This makes us the largest supplier of single-source vehicles back into the used car market. The Scheme has been providing affordable, all-inclusive motoring for over 45 years. We pride ourselves on delivering outstanding customer service, with an independent customer satisfaction rating of 9.6 out of 10. How we work We work in a hybrid way. That means remotely for up to two days each week and in our great office spaces the rest of the time. This gives us a good work/life balance and lets us collaborate and deliver for our customers. Visit our website to find out more. We do our best to accommodate part-time and flexible working requests, where possible, to build on our culture of trust, empowerment, and flexibility. Our beliefs and values We believe in building a diverse workforce, where our people are empowered to attend work as their true selves. We encourage people from all backgrounds to apply. We want to sustain a nurturing culture. And our people to be rewarded equally, regardless of race, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, age, disability, or gender. Our values are at the heart of everything we do: We believe no one should be left behind - We find solutions We believe we must take the lead - We drive change We believe everything starts with the customer - We care What we can offer you Pay: competitive salary, with a yearly discretionary bonus, based on your performance Holiday: 28 days, and you can buy and sell days Pension: 15% non-contributory pension (9% during probation) Health and wellbeing: Private Medical Insurance cover available for all employees and free health screenings for over 50s. Life assurance at four times your basic salary, to give you peace of mind. Free access to healthcare apps like Peppy, Unmind, and Aviva Digital GP. Mental Health Allies and an Employee Assistance Programme Development: A library of internal training on our myLearn platform Family friendly: We have competitive family leave policies Diversity and inclusion: We embrace the diversity of our people and empower them to come to work as their true selves. We want them to flourish and be rewarded equally. We have Employee Network Groups, and we pride ourselves on being inclusive and all our offices have first-rate disability access Helping our community: One volunteering day each year, and access to volunteering platform Neighbourly Schemes: Car Benefit Scheme for electric and hybrid cars. This means you can lease a brand-new electric or plug-in hybrid car, with insurance and more, for a fixed monthly amount. Cycle to Work Scheme. Employee Discount Scheme, to save money across lots of retailers Other, voluntary benefits: charitable giving, critical illness insurance, dental insurance, health and cancer screenings for you and your partner, discounted gym memberships and season ticket loans, free fresh fruit and snacks in the office Please note, Motability Operations reserves the right to bring forward the closing date of any of its job vacancies if we receive a suitable number of quality applications from which to make a shortlist. Therefore, we recommend that you apply as soon as possible rather than wait until the published closing date. TPBN1_UKTJ

Created: 2026-05-03