Walker and Sloan are proud to be working with a very well known communications/crm agency in Gloucestershire. Due to some fantastic growth they are looking to bring on an Account Director to the team on a full time basis with hybrid (1/2 days) working.
Purpose of the Job:
As an Account Director you will be responsible for delivering an exceptional service to our clients. Leading a high performing team, you will be responsible for their management of work for your assigned clients, coordinating internally and externally, to deploy best in class and best fit projects within an agreed account plan. You'll also need to be hands on - willing and able to support your team to ensure the successful delivery of programmes of work,minimising issues, helping with resolutions where they do occur and escalating to the Senior Account Director where needed.
Key Responsibilities:
Client Management:
- Build strong relationships with your key client stakeholders at all levels, understanding their business challenges and targets, and supporting them in achieving them.
- Work with the Senior Account Director to develop and maintain the Account Development Plan.
- Ensure client expectations are understood and managed, and any contractual obligations are met.
- Ensure the maintenance and provision of thorough and accurate status updates to internal teams and client stakeholders.
- Support the Senior Account Director in identifying new client contacts and business development opportunities.
- Participate in and lead client workshops and Quarterly Business Reviews.
- Write clear, engaging presentations and be able to present with credibility and gravitas to clients and other parties at senior levels. For example: Client campaign results, Business project proposals, CRM plans & strategy
Project Management:
- Lead your team to deliver best-in-class project management in line with agency processes.
- Coordinate the relevant internal Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), external client stakeholders, and any third-party providers to deliver the services required to complete the client's requirements:
- Meet with SMEs to discuss the client requirements and writing comprehensive briefs that reflect these
- Coordinate with approved third parties for provision of any agreed services ensuring all necessary upfront documentation is raised (e.g. NDAs, SLAs, Security questionnaires, POs).
- Create, circulate and manage all related project plans and schedules to relevant stakeholders
- Ensure post project evaluations are carried out via review meetings, and any learnings/successes are captured and shared internally.
- Have a thorough comprehension of ISO and GDPR compliant processes - ensuring all projects adhere to these
- Ensure the maintenance and provision of thorough and accurate status updates to internal teams and client stakeholders.
- Support the Senior Account Director in identifying new client contacts and business development opportunities.
- Participate in and lead client workshops and Quarterly Business Reviews.
- Write clear, engaging presentations and be able to present with credibility and gravitas to clients and other parties at senior levels.
Team Leadership:
- Lead, motivate and inspire your account team in their roles managing clients, client requirements and their own contribution and development.
- Be seen as the "goto" senior presence on your accounts, working closely with teams across the agency.
- Ensure your team is aware of the financial goals for the year and the plans for achieving them.
- Contribute to the annual appraisal process and identify training needs and opportunities.
Commercial Ownership:
- With the support of the Senior Account Director, be accountable for the financial control of clients within your portfolio, ensuring the necessary paperwork has been raised within required timescales and is kept up to date: Raising quotations, Sourcing client purchase orders, Raising POs for external suppliers, Issuing invoices
- Maintaining an accurate and up to date Client Sales Forecast
- Maintaining target contribution.
Technical Solutions Delivery:
- Work with Solution Leads and the wider Solution Delivery team to ensure that you understand all the key components of services provided to your clients. For example:
- Data: transformation, processing business rules/logic, database design/ERD, relevant data outputs and where feeds go, data governance and retention policy
- Marketing Applications: the setup/configuration, the capabilities and integrations, keeping up to speed on new capability releases and updates
- Reporting/MI: what dashboards/reporting is provided, the metrics and KPIs shown and the associated data to support them.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience:
- A strategic thinker who can make a clear assessment of business opportunities and service enhancements / optimisations
- A numerate, creative problem solver who can demonstrate structured, effective thinking and is able to:
- Identify issues affecting delivery timescales or output, and structure solutions to resolve these issues
- Foresee potential issues with a project and propose solution options.
- Demonstrable communication, influencing and relationship management skills.
- An ability to motivate, inspire and develop your team.
- Excellent verbal and written skills to be able to communicate concisely, clearly and with excellent grammar, spelling, and vocabulary.
- Solid account management background with experience of managing and leading significant client accounts.
- An understanding of direct marketing, CRM, martech and integrated approaches (including direct mail, email, media and digital/social).
- Line management experience advantageous.
- An approachable personality who can build strong rapport with clients and colleagues alike.
- High levels of energy and resourcefulness.