Senior Account Manager - Durban based

Job Description

As Senior Account Manager, you’ll be a driving force within the Client Service team, managing the delivery of memorable and effective transcreated campaigns for our client. All the while building and maintaining strong relationships with both our clients and internal agency stakeholders. You will consistently drive excellence and have an excellent eye for detail.

The Senior Account Manager will be responsible for:

• Management of digital campaigns and internal and external stakeholder communication on a day-to-day basis.
• Management of client expectations and service delivery by being a focal point for day-to-day interaction.
• Project management of digital and performance marketing campaigns.
• Ensure the timely delivery of required assets.
• Oversee the financial components of projects, ensuring that we are delivering within scope and flagging any areas of scope creep.

Specific Responsibilities:

Leadership & Team Work

• Strong team player.
• Support team development and mentorship of junior account staff where required.
• Actively look to maintain and build positive working relationships.
• Manage up – ensure your seniors are abreast of all activity on the account and empower them to support you through open lines of communication.

Client Services

• Drive client meetings when necessary, managing meeting protocols, agenda, etc.
• Ensure status is consistently up-to-date and correct.
• Ensure that all meetings have thorough agendas, driving a productive outcome.
• Ensure that contact reports are delivered timeously with key deliverables and then drive out those deliverables to the agreed timings.
• Plan and participate in client review/approval meetings with team.
• Develop a consulting/advisory capability with client and internal teams wherever possible.
• Be consistently responsive and accessible to your client at all times.
• Have tough and honest conversations with your client to enable service delivery excellence and to create trust with your client.
• Have the ability to manage all kinds of personalities and always strive to get the best out of each individual.
• Have an excellent knowledge and understanding of the client, the agency, the strategy, and the process in order to deliver efficiently and to the highest quality.

Account Management, Project Management, and Planning

• Work together with your full team across Creative (studio), Production, Development, etc. to deliver high-quality work.
• Manage tight deadlines while adhering to processes.
• Seamlessly manage multiple stakeholders under the guidance of your business lead.
• Take full ownership of every job that comes through you – ensure that every job is measured against client requirements and on-brand.
• Write briefs with full clarity on all requirements.
• Consider the impact of any given change briefed by client on other elements in a campaign or other jobs in the system – this might be a timing impact or it might require more work on other elements/jobs.
• Communicate with excellence, maturity, and intent when writing or speaking.
• Have excellent self-management, with thorough to-do lists and personal organization which supports your ability to be efficient and effective in your job.
• Have an opinion and be solution-oriented.

Finance

• Work with senior to finalize programme and budgets for client.
• Assume accountability for financial aspects of cost management on client programmes.
• Aware of financial status of accounts at all times.
• Accurately review billing arrangements for clients.
• Identify early account problems and act/advise solutions, in conjunction with seniors.
• Support seniors to ensure smooth integration of new business and smooth running of existing accounts.
• Understand what jobs are in scope and out-of-scope to ensure that costs are raised accurately and upfront as required.
• Ensure that your billings are completed by billing cut-off each month.
• Ensure that client CEs are approved before any supplier POs are raised.

Excellence in Digital Delivery

• Maintain the integrity of the creative strategy and work throughout the campaign.
• Ensure that the right people have approved all work before it is sent to client.
• Understand digital best practices, platforms, and specs.
• Ensure that the right people have been included in client meetings to support the outcome of the meeting and that everyone is prepared and aligned.
• Keep abreast of what is happening in the market (broad communication trends and client competitor work) in order to add additional value to your client’s business.
• Be prepared to work long hours as and when necessary in order to deliver according to the deadline and to support the broader team.

Culture

• Support company culture; actively seek new, smarter ways of doing things.
• Be seen as an ambassador for the company.
• Join in the agency culture to build strong relationships across the business.