Autotrader life

Looking for a career in sales and partnerships, but not sure where you'd fit best?

If you’ve ever looked at roles like New Business Consultants, Account Executive, Account Manager, or Performance Manager and wondered what the difference is, you’re not alone.

While all these roles involve building relationships and helping customers succeed, the day-to-day responsibilities and key strengths required can vary.

Whether you're motivated by winning new business, building long-term customer relationships, or using data to help businesses grow, there's a role at Autotrader that could be right for you. This guide breaks down each role, the skills you'll use, and the types of people who thrive in them.

Throughout this guide, you'll see us refer to our customers as retailers. These are the independent garages, dealership groups, and vehicle retailers that use Autotrader to market and sell vehicles.

Why are there so many different partnership roles?

Every retailer is at a different stage of their journey with us:

• Some roles focus on winning new business and opening doors with organisations that aren't yet working with Autotrader.
• Some focus on helping new retailers get started, building confidence and ensuring their first experience with Autotrader is a positive one.
• Some focus on nurturing existing relationships, helping retailers achieve their goals and uncover new growth opportunities.
• Some are more analytical and consultative, using data and insight to help retailers maximise performance and adoption of our products.

That's why we have different specialists focused on each stage of that journey.

Together, these roles form an interconnected ecosystem. No matter where a retailer is in their journey, we have a dedicated expert to help them get the most out of Autotrader.

New Business Consultants: Finding New Opportunities

New Business Consultants are our proactive growth drivers. This role focuses heavily on new business opportunities; prospecting, reaching out, and opening doors with companies that aren't yet working with Autotrader or aren't yet getting the full value from our solutions.

• A typical day would be prospecting and market research, initiating cold or warm outreach, pitching Autotrader’s value proposition, leading strategic pitch meetings, and negotiating initial terms.
• What success looks like: Consistently bringing new revenue into the business and expanding Autotrader’s footprint in untapped market segments.
• Key skills needed: Resilience, strategic thinking, persuasive communication, and a drive to achieve targets

You might enjoy this role if you thrive on the thrill of the chase, love opening new doors, and enjoy persuading businesses that technology can transform their operations.

Similar job titles: Business Development Executive/Manager (BDE/M), Sales Development Representative (SDR), Client Acquisition Specialist.

Account Executive: Helping Retailers Get Started

Account Executives are often the first point of contact for our new retailers, those working with us for the first time. You'll guide retailers through their initial options, help them get set up on the platform, and ensure their first experience with Autotrader is seamless and rewarding. In doing so, you'll build confidence, create strong first impressions, and lay the foundations for long-term success.

• A typical day: Introducing our products to retailers, guiding our new retailer customers through initial setup, answering questions about platform features, and running quick product walkthroughs
• What success looks like: Smooth onboarding experiences, high customer adoption rates from day one, and setting up new customers for long-term growth.
• Key skills needed: Clear communication, enthusiasm, quick problem-solving, and patience.

You might enjoy this role if: You love meeting new people, gain energy from helping someone learn something new, and take pride in turning a first-time user into a confident customer.

Similar job titles: Customer Onboarding Specialist, Junior Account Manager, Sales Executive.

Account Manager: Building Long-Term Relationships

Account Managers are the primary point of contact for our existing retailer base. Rather than hunting for brand-new retailers, you apply a partnership approach to help customers achieve their business ambitions and deliver meaningful solutions.

You have commercial conversations that help retailers expand their usage of our platform while building deep trust over time. You’ll use data and insight to have great conversations, identifying opportunities and risks that help customers make informed decisions.

• A typical day: Managing existing retailers, analysing account performance metrics, conducting check-in meetings, identifying growth opportunities, and resolving commercial or operational challenges
• What success looks like: High customer retention (low churn), account growth, and strong, trusting customer partnerships.
• Key skills needed: Effective questioning techniques, relationship management, commercial acumen, active listening, data-led analysis and the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels.

You might enjoy this role if: You prefer depth over breadth in your relationships, enjoy getting under the hood of a customer’s day-to-day business, and love turning challenges into win-win solutions.

Similar job titles: Partnerships Manager, Customer Growth Manager, Client Relationship Manager

Performance Manager: Optimising & Driving Success Through Data

Performance Managers blend consultancy, coaching and digital adoption expertise. Rather than traditional cold-selling, you partner with retailers and manufacturers to help them maximise the value they get from Autotrader's products and digital tools (such as Deal Builder, our online vehicle purchasing solution, and New Car, which helps retailers and manufacturers showcase new vehicle stock to in-market buyers)

You’ll use data to tell stories, identify underperforming areas, and coach customers on best practices.

• A typical day: Analysing performance data using tools like Excel or Looker, identifying stock availability or conversion gaps, delivering training sessions to customers, sharing best practices, and coaching retailers to adopt new digital features.
• What success looks like: Improved retailer conversion, higher ROI for the customer, accelerated product adoption, and mitigating commercial risk.
• Key skills needed: Data storytelling, commercial awareness, coaching, proactive problem-solving, and the ability to challenge and influence stakeholders

You might enjoy this role if: You love digging into data to find hidden opportunities, enjoy coaching people to work smarter, and get satisfaction from proving tangible ROI to business leaders.

Similar job titles: Customer Success Manager (CSM), Digital Adoption Specialist, Implementation Consultant, Account Optimisation Manager

What skills do all these roles have in common?

While the day-to-day work varies, every successful team member across sales and partnerships shares a core set of attributes:

• Curiosity: Asking the right questions to understand what a customer really needs.
• Relationship Building: Authentically connecting with people at all levels.
• Communication: Explaining complex ideas or data simply and clearly.
• Problem Solving: Looking past symptoms to find real solutions.
• Resilience: Staying positive and adaptable when things don't go to plan
• Commercial Awareness & Customer Focus: Keeping customer value at the heart of every decision

Important to know: You do not need previous automotive experience to succeed here. Many of our colleagues have joined us from retail, hospitality, recruitment, banking, technology, and other customer-focused industries. If you have the right mindset, commercial curiosity, and people skills, we will teach you the rest!

So, which role is right for you?

If you're someone who:

• Loves meeting new people and helping them get started → Account Executive
• Enjoys winning business and creating opportunities → New Business Consultant
• Builds trust and long-term relationships naturally → Account Manager
• Gets excited by data, insight, tech product adoption and coaching others → Performance Manager

Interested in Joining Us?

Whether you're taking your first step into sales, looking to build deeper strategic partnerships, or want to help customers unlock value through data and insight, we'd love to hear from you.

Explore our latest vacancies across our Sales and Partnerships teams and find the role that's right for you. If you'd like to learn more, contact our recruitment team at recruitment@autotrader.co.uk