Group Account Director

Job Summary:

The Group Account Director is a critical client partner role demonstrating leadership, strategic direction, exceptional brand stewardship, accountability, business acumen, and vision for their portfolio of businesses. Develops and implements complex strategic plans to achieve clients' marketing objectives, and leads organic growth strategies and business development initiatives. The Group Account Director effectively leverages experience, knowledge, and skills to drive innovative thinking and set challenging team goals and objectives by balancing client, company, and team needs.

This position will have day-to-day relationships with senior client leaders and be the key contact for partner agency leads. In addition, the role acts as the steward and mentor for the full team, ensuring strong team unity and ways of working, optimizing talent utilization and growth among all team members while overseeing talent management & development.

Key Responsibilities include:

• Manage all aspects of the client business providing superior customer service while maximizing business opportunities.
• Establish strong relationships with multiple senior client stakeholders through a demonstration of industry knowledge and the application to business challenges
• Maintain each client's respect and confidence as a trusted advisor and confidant offering an eager and open ear, sound judgment, proven business acumen, and a range of relevant approaches to various issues and opportunities.
• Lead and manage the annual planning and quarterly strategy process for most complex accounts.
• Negotiate statements of work and annual retainers.
• Effectively and confidently balance the dual expectations and business goals of the client and agency as well as the expectations of multiple clients and agency teams.
• Ensure the use of best practices and conformance with agency policies, processes, and procedures.
• Proactively monitors communication between agency and client teams ensuring client satisfaction.
• Accountable for overseeing portfolio pacing, project health reviews, and required tradeoffs/prioritizations when escalated.
• Lead assigned account personnel and oversee client satisfaction, retention, and growth.
• Interfaces with internal stakeholders and other client influencers to strengthen partnership and agency reputation.
• Handles escalations in conflict and problem resolution with limited direction from leadership.
• Acts as brand steward and maintains deep knowledge of client's business, consumers, industry, and competitors.
• Ensures the timely development and execution of plans, campaigns, and projects to ensure earnings, growth, and profit goals are achieved.
• Remains in touch with the agency's day-to-day business on behalf of clients.
• Assures that client relationships remain harmonious and that the clients receive a quality of service that will encourage further growth and profitability in our relationships
• Works with SMEs to develop strategic recommendations, presenting and defending new ideas that solve clients' business objectives.
• Leads client conflict resolution + maintains open and complete communications of client issues with functional leaders and management.
• Develop briefs for high-profile work, oversee the quality of briefs for the portfolio of accounts, and provide training with brand strategists as needed for assigned personnel.
• Lead cross-department peers and work with vendor/other agency partners to develop integrated POVs and reports that address client needs, guiding the team through ambiguous requests by providing clarity to gray areas. Routes deliverables to senior clients for stakeholder reviews when high-touch engagement is required.
• Define the overall presentation strategy for key accounts, and provide executive oversight ensuring high quality and strategic alignment. Lead presentations for high-stakes or high-value clients, articulating strategic importance and expected outcomes.
• Facilitate cross-departmental and vendor/agency collaboration, guiding decisions to ensure a cohesive campaign strategy, seamless execution, and comprehensive performance evaluation. Balances client needs, internal goals, and team dynamics to achieve optimal outcomes.
• Maintain up-to-date financial forecast and billing for a group of accounts, identifying revenue risk, opportunities, and profit swings that could impact the achievement of the annual agency budget.
• Oversees account/brand P&Ls to identify opportunities for improvement. Consistently deliver revenue and margin targets and improve account financial health.
• Oversees full-time staff. Responsible for performance management, employee development, and engagement. Makes talent management recommendations to senior leadership.
• Attends appropriate business/social functions that may enhance the image of the Agency, reveal growth opportunities, identify risks to the business, or solidify client relationships.
• Actively pursue new revenue sources, participate in new business efforts; and advise of the potential for new business opportunities.