Marketing, Advertising & PR
29 Oct
Account Director
The Account Director is a senior business leader responsible for the overall health, direction and growth of multiple client accounts. The role sits between Account Management and senior business leadership, with a strong focus on strategic client leadership, commercial growth and team development.
Responsibilities:
· Own the overall health and direction of a portfolio of client businesses, ensuring strong client relationships, quality of work and commercial performance.
· Build trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders and act as a strategic partner beyond day-to-day account requirements.
· Develop a strong understanding of the client’s business, category, marketing priorities and competitive landscape, and use this to identify opportunities for the agency.
· Provide strategic direction to Account Managers and account teams, ensuring businesses are being managed proactively and not simply driven by incoming briefs.
· Review the health of accounts regularly across client relationships, revenue, profitability, scope, quality of work and growth potential.
· Identify opportunities to deepen existing relationships through upselling, cross-selling and expanding the agency’s role within the client’s business.
· Develop account growth plans and work with Account Managers and senior leadership to convert identified opportunities.
· Own the commercial health of the portfolio, including revenue, scope, budgets, resource requirements and profitability.
· Lead senior-level client reviews and conversations, bringing recommendations, insights and a clear point of view to the table.
· Challenge client briefs and internal thinking where required, ensuring the agency is solving meaningful business and brand problems.
· Work closely with Creative and Strategy leadership to ensure the work across the portfolio is strategically strong, relevant and aligned with client objectives.
· Lead and mentor Account Managers and wider account teams, setting clear expectations around client management, business growth and ownership.
· Build strong second-line leadership within accounts, ensuring Account Managers are empowered to independently manage their businesses.
· Identify capability and resource gaps across the portfolio and work with leadership to build the right team structure.
· Act as the senior escalation point for significant client, commercial or team-related issues and drive them towards resolution.
· Partner with the AVP on larger business opportunities, key client relationships, strategic decisions and portfolio-level priorities.
· Support new business development and identify opportunities emerging from existing client relationships.
· Track performance across the portfolio through regular reviews, identifying risks early and driving corrective action.
· Contribute to improving account management standards, processes and ways of working across the wider business.
· Swift decision making and driving outcomes will always trump effort in our eyes.
Requirements
· 8+ years of experience in Account Management, Brand Management, Digital Marketing, Advertising or related fields, with significant exposure to creative agency environments.
· Prior experience in managing large businesses like P&G, HUL, Reckitt Benckiser preferred.
· Proven experience in managing multiple client accounts and independently leading sizeable or strategically important businesses.
· Strong experience in building and maintaining senior client relationships. • Demonstrated ability to grow existing client relationships and identify commercial opportunities.
· Strong understanding of brand strategy, content marketing and integrated communication.
· Experience in leading, mentoring and developing Account Managers and account teams.
· Strong commercial understanding, including account revenue, budgets, scope and profitability.
· Excellent communication, presentation and stakeholder management skills. • Strong strategic thinking and business acumen, with the ability to operate independently in a fast-paced environment.