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Laila Saidu

@lailasaidu

Account & Partnerships Manager | 97%+ retention, portfolio growth | Ex-WEF, UNDP | CRM: Salesforce, HubSpot | Remote-first, open to relocate

Switzerland

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What I'm looking for

I am looking to lead account and partnerships growth where I can manage multi-stakeholder client portfolios, turn strategy into signed deals, and use AI to strengthen outreach, client insights, and retention. Open to any sector, remote or relocation, with a focus on Account Management and Business Development roles at globally distributed companies.

I am an Account and Partnerships Manager with over five years of experience managing high-value corporate accounts and driving business development for global organizations, including the World Economic Forum, UNDP, and UNHCR. I have engaged corporate partners such as Salesforce, Danone, LVMH, IBM, and OCP Group.

I built a corporate partnership pipeline from scratch by personally sourcing and cold-emailing close to 100 target companies across Africa and Europe, converting outreach into signed commitments with Salesforce, OCP Group, and Reforest’Action. I have contributed to headline outcomes including a $2.15B multi-party partnership at COP16 and a $200M+ sector-wide funding mobilization during an emergency crisis response.

My core strengths are account management, client retention (97%+), portfolio growth, and executive reporting, using Salesforce and HubSpot CRM. I use AI-augmented workflows (Claude, ChatGPT) to cut reporting and outreach turnaround by up to 75%.

I am interested in Account Management and Business Development roles at globally distributed companies, and I am open to any sector. I bring strong cross-border collaboration experience, having worked remotely and across time zones with teams in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. I am currently based in Nigeria (UTC+1) and am open to fully remote roles or relocation for the right opportunity.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Account Manager, Business Development

DIFA Consultancy

Jan 2025 - Jun 2026 (1 year 5 months)

Owned partner and prospect relationships for AI and data privacy consulting across African markets — full-cycle outreach and pipeline tracking in HubSpot. Closed 5 engagements worth $20K+, with 10 in active negotiation. Identified 20+ partnership targets for AI Summit Luxembourg and Rwanda. Built AI workflows (Claude, ChatGPT) cutting reporting turnaround 60–75%.

HubSpot Business Development Account Management Outbound Partnership Sourcing Cold Outreach Pipeline Management Client Relationship Management B2B Sales AI Claude Claude Workflows

COP16 Partnerships Consultant

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Oct 2024 - Dec 2024 (2 months)

Oct 2025 to Dec 2025 · 3 months
Managed relationship and deal pipeline across 100+ private-sector, philanthropic, and government stakeholders in a 10-week sprint, maintaining 97%+ retention. Closed commitments from 10+ global corporations (Danone, LVMH, Suzano, IBM MEA) toward a $1B/day sector target. Built dashboards informing a $2.15B multi-party partnership launch.

Partnership Development Deal Sourcing Deal Closing Stakeholder Management Account Retention Executive Reporting Google Analytics Cross functional Coordination

Regional Coordinator (Account Manager)

World Economic Forum

Sep 2023 - May 2024 (8 months)

Personally sourced and cold-emailed ~100 target companies to build a corporate partnership pipeline from scratch. Helped launch the 1t.org European Chapter — securing Reforest’Action as founding Secretariat partner — backed by a $200,000 Salesforce pledge and an OCP Group pledge (70,000 ha conserved, 10M trees). Managed a 100+ account portfolio in Salesforce.

Cold Outreach Partnership Development Account Management Deal Sourcing B2B Sales Account Prospecting Portfolio Management Account Health Renewal Management Executive Reporting Client Onboarding Stakeholder Engagement Client Relationship Management Client Success Salesforce Customer Retention

Account Coordination- Intern

International Labour Organization (ILO)

Sep 2022 - Feb 2023 (5 months)

Managed cross-functional relationships with implementing partners and government counterparts to keep account deliverables — timelines and reporting — on track for $1.9M and $1.1M funded infrastructure programmes across Africa and the Middle East.

Account Coordination Cross Functional Collaboration Programme Delivery Partner Relationship Management Account Research

Donor Relations and Visibility Intern

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Dec 2021 - Jul 2022 (7 months)

Managed a 20+ government account portfolio (~80% of total funding) during a critical emergency response, as the sector secured $200M+ in new commitments within weeks of the Ukraine crisis’ onset.

Account Management Partner Relationship Management Client Relationship Management Due Diligence Complex Account Mapping Portfolio Risk Retention Account Health Reporting Retention Strategy Account Research

Partnership & Market Adoption Consultant

Essential Tech Centre, EPFL

Feb 2021 - Nov 2021 (9 months)

Built adoption and purchase pipelines for emerging technologies across Lebanon, Haiti, and Mozambique — evaluating client readiness, mapping stakeholder buy-in, and identifying pathways to procurement for new tech solutions.

Scalability Client Adoption Readiness Evaluations Market Analysis Technology Procurement Emerging Technologies B2B