How to Become an Engagement Manager
Michael Yi
Are you excellent at fostering working relationships and are a great communicator?
The job of an engagement manager involves managing customer relations during projects. The role includes building and nurturing the relationship with the client, as well as being their first point of call. To help breakdown everything you need to know about the role of an engagement manager, we’ve taken a look into the skills, job progression and more surrounding this rewarding career path!
Industry outlook
Engagement managers earn an average salary of $106,077 per year for a full-time position. The industry is considered to have predictions of strong growth and is slated as a top job of the future in Australia. Already in 2019, job openings for this role grew 43%.
On top of this, it’s a role with constant opportunity for career advancement.
Engagement manager average salary: $106,077
Engagement manager job opening growth in 2019: 43%
Career advancement rating: 9/10
What does an engagement manager do?
The engagement manager role is to ensure client satisfaction with the company’s product or service during a project. Often stemming from a project management background, engagement managers find more efficient processes and procedures to maximise productivity and solve issues that may arise.
Often working across multiple projects at a time, engagement management needs to be able to multitask between several clients and teams to assure that their needs are met. Some of the key responsibilities of an engagement manager include:
- Communicate with clients and other key stakeholders
- Upsell and cross-sell the company’s products and services to further assist the client
- Analyse data to gain insight into how to improve the client’s experience further and improve profitability
- Manage the project teams to maximise execution of tasks
- Prepare project performance reports
Key skills
The ideal candidate for an engagement management position is someone with broad business knowledge, coupled with a friendly demeanour, and an innate ability to lead and communicate with a team.
As the role entails managing client relationships, a background in sales or customer service would be highly advantageous.
Various interpersonal, organisational and problem-solving skills are required to be an engagement manager. Some important skills that you may find in a job description for an engagement manager may include:
Communication skills
One of the most fundamental skills for engagement manager jobs is being able to communicate effectively, both with clients and with other team members within the company.
The engagement manager needs to be able to concisely communicate with the client to make sure they are both on the same page, and these communications should always be friendly and customer-oriented.
Communication can be pivotal in upselling and cross-selling other products or services to help customers achieve their goals. This also requires the engagement manager to be an effective listener to ensure that the client’s needs are being met.
Organisational and planning skills
Helping multiple clients achieve their ongoing goals requires an engagement manager to be exceptionally organised. Working with clients during various stages of the customer journey means that no two days in the job will look the same.
With potentially several projects happening at once, being organised is vital to fulfilling deadlines across the board. Effective planning is also desirable when looking to identify potential new clients for the business.
Problem-solving skills
As the first point of contact, the engagement manager is often involved with their clients when a problem may have arisen with the product or service.
Being proactive with potential roadblocks and having an ability to identify them before they happen can also assist in maintaining a great working relationship with their customers.
Ensuring that issues that arise can be mitigated and not affect the outcome of the project is crucial in the role of an engagement manager.
Career progression opportunities
Working as an engagement manager offers fantastic opportunities for career progression and elevation within a business. Often beginning in other roles, engagement managers typically start in positions like:
- Project management
- Account management
- Team leadership roles
Many job advertisements for engagement manager positions look favourably on having a strong background in customer service or customer relations. Past experience in these roles shows you have a friendly demeanour and aptitude for addressing customer issues, both skills which are required as an engagement manager.
A career as an engagement manager can eventually lead to more senior roles such as:
- Senior project manager
- Director of project management
- Director of business development
The engagement management career path offers fantastic opportunities for career growth.
Study options
The journey into engagement management can begin with a broad knowledge of business and management concepts.
Typically, engagement managers will have a Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Marketing or a related field. Having background knowledge in IT related topics can also be advantageous.
Engagement manager roles will often work closely with various divisions, and having a technical understanding can help stand out when looking at these positions.
Working as an engagement manager offers plenty of exciting and diverse opportunities. If you have a passion for communicating with people and helping them achieve their goals, a career in engagement management could be for you.
