Senior Account Director

Wasserman is forever committed to serving our clients, colleagues and community with exceptional insight, influence and creativity, while making a positive and lasting impact. We support our employees’ professional aspirations, with a rich internal culture where curiosity is rewarded. We offer our people multiple learning and development programs throughout the world. What we do is fast-paced, exciting and rewarding which is why we love it and why you’ll love life at Wasserman. Join our team today!

WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING

We’re looking for a Senior Account Director to work across one of CSM's most important clients. We’re looking for a senior lead who can bring together three project-leading Account Directors in a holistic portfolio dynamic, provide strategic consultancy and oversee the rollout of World Class activation plans. You will be part of our Brands team based in CSM’s UAE offices (with remote and flexible working options). You will work with colleagues across the Middle East as well as the wider global team and will need to travel between UAE and KSA, as well as other countries in the region as required. You will report into an Associate Director with a dotted line into a Regional Managing Director and will have direct reports.

You will need to be passionate and knowledgeable about a wide variety of sports and have previous experience managing complex projects, multiple rights holders across a range of sports partnerships. Additional experience in electric motorsport and/or tennis will be preferred. General responsibilities breakdown into the following key areas:

1. Relationship Management: As the day-to-day point person, you are the key to fostering a ‘one team/one partnership’ relationship across a portfolio.
2. Business Development: Help identify and grow sports opportunities across the CSM/VCCP business focused on retained clients.
3. Creative and Production Management: You will need to have an oversight on this, working with project managers and producers to ensure the right people are engaged at the right points and delivering excellent creative work.
4. Strategic Oversight: Your role is crucial in shaping and driving forward sponsorship strategy across campaign/partnership activation.

Key Responsibilities

1. Account Management:
   1. Relationship management across CSM for wider business or brand opportunities.
   2. As the liaison point between CSM & the client, ensure clear communication between all the relevant stakeholders.
   3. Integral knowledge of CSM skillsets, capabilities and positioning to help win and develop opportunities.
   4. Help develop and evolve clear creds and capabilities presentations to use as new business tools and drivers.
   5. Thought leadership and inspiration sessions in the sport and content areas.
   6. Essential to have significant experience working within one or more of the key sporting landscapes of Golf, Tennis or Electric Motorsport.
2. Planning & Strategic Management:
   1. Enhance and develop effective strategy at concept phase sense check all briefs to validate opportunity and activation planning.
   2. Manage communication channels; Account management, activation, creative and production will be split between project teams, and you will need to coordinate.
   3. Where required idea generation (with the wider team) in brainstorms.
   4. Monitor and improve workflows going forward. While we need to adopt a flexible and adaptable approach, we also need to be efficient.
   5. You will need to oversee multiple projects at one time and effectively manage your workload and project priorities.
   6. Oversee project managers and account teams in the management of all campaign assets, activation planning, delivery and reporting.
   7. Manage approvals and delivery aligned to client feedback.
3. Forecasting + Profitability:
   1. You will need to track and monitor budgets across the client projects.
   2. Work closely with project managers, account team leads and finance to set up processes for reporting and tracking.
   3. Forecasting overall profitability + regular reporting on a monthly basis.
   4. Use information of reconciliations to inform and advise on future scoping to aid efficiency, profitability and ensure consistency.
   5. This information will also inform the type and number of speculative opportunities and pitches we should be going after.
   6. Run a monthly financial status.

THE SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE YOU NEED

Extensive experience in a similar position with a proven track record of success across Account Management, Brand Planning and Brand Activation.

Prior agency experience including past success in managing brands that invest substantial budgets in partnerships, ideally at a global level.

Acumen to look at business performance and drive incremental account growth.

Understanding of brands, rights holders and competitor agencies.

Strong understanding of financial processes, including both forecasting and reporting.

Full comprehension and ownership of agency-client dynamic.

Strong interpersonal skills, demonstrated empathy and commitment to success, along with a proven ability to manage expectations.

Confident, articulate, passionate individual with the ability to work both independently and collaboratively as well as an ability to listen.

Strong project management style that can own and lead the client relationship and create the right team structure and environment to deliver proactively and beyond client expectations.

Not afraid to challenge/question the strategic direction to ensure client objectives are achieved.

Wasserman does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, age, national origin, marital status, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other reason prohibited by law in provision of employment opportunities and benefits.