Group Account Director at Edelman

The Group Account Director is a business-minded steward of the client relationship and is entrusted and empowered to ensure both the clients’ and agency’s business objectives are met. You will effectively manage several clients, projects and/or teams while delivering integrated thinking rooted in insights. You will help leverage the full suite of Edelman resources while creating a climate that encourages excellence, courage and integrity.  

SKILLS (Client & Stakeholder Engagement, Business & Project Management, Business Development and Talent Development/Leadership) Possesses deep understanding of client businesses

• Ability to think and program across a variety of platforms, channels and audiences
• Consistently identifies business problem(s) that clients are looking to solve and ensures they are understood by team
• Maintains an intimate understanding of the clients’ businesses, priorities, pain points and competitive landscape and helps the team do the same
• Stays knowledgeable about markets, sectors and channels in which clients operate; uses internal/external resources to address knowledge gaps for self and team
• Anticipates what’s next; helps clients get ahead of issues and capitalize on new opportunities
• Demonstrates empathy for clients – understands clients’ mindset, challenges (personal, professional, internal and external) and barriers to success and takes appropriate action
• Balances the needs of the client and the needs of the firm with grace and understanding

Assembles, builds and leads integrated teams

• Reflects our understanding of clients’ needs today and our anticipation of their future needs
• Can evolve, promote and protect clients’ interests
• Delivers integrated thinking rooted in insights
• Delineates team roles and manages intra-team conflict
• Holds self and team accountable consistently for performance, compliance and ethical business conduct in accordance with firm values
• Deals directly and effectively with poor team performance via feedback and escalation as necessary
• Leverages full suite of Edelman resources
• Serves as clients’ advocate within Edelman and ensures broad understanding of their business, goals and point of view
• Facilitates proper expertise against client needs
• Helps identify and mentor future client leaders
• Prioritizes growth of self and team regularly
• Helps create climate that encourages excellence, courage and integrity
• Helps develop and align with compelling and inspired vision of possibilities and direction
• Implements and supports initiatives to create positive changes and helps others adapt to change

Measures, monitors and advances client-agency relationships and the firm overall

• Manages client relationship mapping and development across a portfolio 
• Actively listens – asks smart questions, listens to what’s not being said, is willing to have honest, ongoing dialogue about what’s working and what isn’t
• Identifies and acknowledges problems swiftly and directly, offers solutions and course-corrects as needed
• Measures what matters – tracks progress and reports results based on agreed-upon metrics and achievement of business and communications goals
• Manages and monitors client relationships using formal and informal tools and touch points
• Navigates conflicts with other businesses
• Escalates client problems and client opportunities to Edelman senior leadership with equal amounts of urgency
• May participate in the development and adoption of new products, services, development of IP and thought leadership materials

SKILLS (Client & Stakeholder Engagement, Business & Project Management, Business Development and Talent Development/Leadership) - Delights the client

• Develops consistent “continuous white-boarding” mentality to apply to client businesses and relationships overall
• Works on and implements annual strategies for client engagement, which address internal and external relationships we can leverage on behalf of clients and other meaningful experiences we can create for clients inside and outside the firm
• Ensures clients are benefitting from Edelman IP, insights, best practices and methodologies

Behaviours - Relentless pursuit of excellence

• Serves as a positive role model; supports and respects colleagues, clients and partners; focuses on self-improvement and ensures work is based on strategic insights
• Effectively and consistently manages strengths and weaknesses of self and others; enables self and others to bring the best of their skills and talents to work; is consistently ambitious in setting and achieving goals
• Always takes all feedback as a constructive learning opportunity and acts upon it; enables others to thrive as part of agency life and adapts to others’ styles to do so; ensures excellence is repeated by rigorously identifying and socializing key learnings for all colleagues

Behaviours - Freedom to be constantly curious

• Pushes for creative ideas; is purposeful and enterprising in problem-solving; embraces diverse trends, skills, specialties and viewpoints
• Delivers substantial change for clients and the communities in which we operate; ensures new insights from self and others fuel innovation in agency approach and client work; uses diversity of perspective to elevate client counsel, the agency and own career
• Effectively implements change for clients and agency in a way that demonstrates powerful and unique thinking; uses thoughtful, strategic insights and knowledge to balance risk-taking for clients and the agency; holds others accountable for open-mindedness and embracing diverse viewpoints

Behaviours - Courage to do the right thing

• Ensures work and relationships are founded on open and honest communications; listens and asks the right questions during day-to-day work; upholds creative, ethical and legal standards
• Ensures that client counsel and agency action is always purposeful and challenging; prioritizes the interests of the wider agency; holds subordinates, peers and superiors accountable for demonstrating integrity and ethical behavior
• Demonstrates a strategic and thoughtful approach in challenging others to ask the right questions; prioritizes the interests of client service excellence ahead of individual advancement

“Business of the business”

• Manages contractual agreements with clients, including MOAs, LOIs, SOWs, etc.
• Manages all financial aspects of client relationships, including team utilisation, over/under service, and profit/loss across accounts
• Oversees client budget management and forecasting; proactively addresses changes to meet profitability and revenue targets
• Creates growth plans for bringing in new capabilities against client needs, proactively  seeking out new revenue opportunities, cross-selling and up-selling programmes by leveraging Edelman’s full suite of services.

Entrepreneurial Spirit

• Fully understands and can demonstrate to clients, as well as prospects, command of Edelman’s full suite of IP, including Trust Barometer, Earned Brand, Transmedia Stortytelling and others.
• Seeks out new clients and actively participates in the new business process, with the ability to lead sizeable opportunities
• Leverages network and relationships to proactively bring Edelman to the table to share our thinking and expertise
• Regularly integrates with global client, practice and sector leads to ensure the network is up to speed on clients and work being done across the business

Qualifications

• Solid experience in Communications Marketing and/or related fields, including research, advertising, management consulting, media or publishing
• Strong communication – active listening, negotiation and persuasion
• Confidence and conviction in presenting ideas and providing counsel to internal and external audiences
• Strong and consistent problem-solving and analytical skills
• Ability to manage competing interests
• High emotional intelligence
• Good judgment and ability to take risks
• Forward-thinking
• Learns and builds from experience