Account Manager - Lead Referral Partner Development

The Account Manager - Lead Referral Partner Development will be responsible for building, managing and expanding a focused network of new and existing Lead Referral Partners to increase the volume, quality and conversion of SenseHub and livestock monitoring leads. Whilst Sensehub will be primary focus the personnel will also seek out opportunities for new Lead Referral Partners within our ID portfolio. The role will provide dedicated ownership of partner engagement, ensuring referral partners are activated, supported and equipped to generate a steady stream of qualified opportunities from priority veterinary, trade, dairy, beef and wider agricultural influencer channels.
Lead Referral Partners represent an important route to market for livestock monitoring by creating warm introductions through trusted farmer advisers and commercial partners.
The role would ideally be field based in a dairy-dense region with strong potential for referral partner activation and efficient access to larger herds.
Responsibilities:
Develop and execute a national or regionally prioritised Lead Referral Partner plan,
Identify, recruit, onboard and activate new Lead Referral Partners across priority channels.
Increase lead volume from existing partners.
Build trusted, long-term relationships with partner stakeholders.
Provide first-line commercial support to partners.
Work closely with Monitoring New Business Managers, Customer Success Specialists, Vet and Trade Account Managers, Market Access and Marketing to ensure qualified leads are followed up quickly and progressed through the sales journey.
Maintain an accurate referral partner pipeline.
Use insight from partners to identify market opportunities, barriers to adoption and future partnership models that can support wider SenseHub growth.
Support partner-facing events, CPD sessions, farmer meetings, trade days and regional campaigns.
Ensure all activity is compliant with company policies, referral scheme terms and relevant professional, regulatory and industry standards.
Measures of Success
Partner activation: number of new Lead Referral Partners identified, recruited, onboarded and actively referring within agreed timescales.
Growth from existing partners: increase in referral volume from established partners versus baseline, with clear focus on moving low-activity partners into regular referral behaviour.
Qualified lead generation: volume of qualified SenseHub and livestock monitoring leads generated through referral partners, with quality assessed against agreed customer-fit criteria.
Lead conversion: proportion of referral partner leads converted into sales opportunities, demonstrations, proposals and closed business.
Pipeline value: value of partner-sourced pipeline created and progressed, including visibility of likely close date, opportunity stage and expected revenue contribution.
Speed and quality of follow-up: timely handover of qualified leads to Monitoring New Business Managers or relevant Account Managers, with clear tracking of next actions and outcomes.
Partner engagement: completion of agreed partner contact plans, review meetings, training sessions, joint activity and campaign follow-up.
Data discipline and reporting: accurate CRM or pipeline records for partner status, lead source, lead quality, conversion progress and revenue attribution.
Cross-functional impact: positive feedback from Monitoring, Vet, Trade, Market Access and Marketing colleagues on the quality of collaboration, lead handover and partner support.
Strategic insight: regular identification of partner trends, barriers, opportunities and recommendations that can improve the referral partner model and support future SenseHub growth.

Strong relationship builder who is confident engaging a wide range of external stakeholders and can build lasting, trusted partnerships.
Commercially focused, with the ability to turn partner relationships into measurable lead generation and sales pipeline outcomes.
Good understanding of dairy and beef farming systems, including the role livestock monitoring can play in reproductive performance, health, welfare, productivity and labour efficiency.
SenseHub knowledge preferred, or a strong ability to quickly develop credible knowledge of monitoring systems and their practical value on farm.
Comfortable working across matrix teams, including Monitoring, Vet and Trade sales, Market Access, Marketing, Finance and Customer Success.
Highly organised, with strong pipeline management, follow-up discipline and ability to prioritise partners by opportunity and likely return.
Confident communicator who can present clearly, run partner reviews, support training sessions and translate technical value into practical partner and farmer benefits.
Resilient and proactive, with the persistence to build momentum in a developing route to market.
Required Skills: Agribusiness, Agricultural Consulting, Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Law, Dairy Products, Farm Planning, Livestock Management, Livestock Production, Partner Engagement, Resource Referrals
Preferred Skills

Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, Rahway, NJ, USA, does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. All CVs / resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at our company without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of our company. No fee will be paid in the event a candidate is hired by our company as a result of an agency referral where no pre-existing agreement is in place. Where agency agreements are in place, introductions are position specific. Please, no phone calls or emails.