Senior Account Executive - Sandton at TBWA\ South Africa

Requirements/Character traits

• Account Executive plays as a support function to the more senior incumbents to deliver objectives for the clients, which may include liaising with the client, planning, scheduling, reporting and finalising all administrative deliverables and building excellent external and internal relationships.

Administration

• Produces monthly status reports for each of his/her accounts.
• Organises regular internal status meetings
• Is responsible for organising client meetings and the requirements thereof (e.g. booking physical or online rooms/sessions, catering, room layout, presentation aids)
• Records all client meetings accurately and produce contact reports to be distributed within 24 hours.
• Maintains a central filing system for documentation and tapes.
• Checks the quality of all work leaving the agency
• Knows the workings of the agency outside the confines of account management
• Assists their line manager in anticipating problems before they arise.
• Develops a reputation with clients and within the agency for total reliability. Answers all internal queries promptly – if you are unable to due to capacity/awaiting of relevant information, reply and give an estimated time of response.

Client

• Show enthusiasm and knowledge for the client’s business.
• Actively and proactively engages client on current projects and initiatives of the business based on the above knowledge
• Regularly monitors competitive advertising and competitive product activity.
• Answers all client queries promptly – if unable to, due to capacity at that moment, acknowledge and give an estimated time of response.

Creative

• Demonstrates drive and commitment to produce outstanding advertising.
• Has well-formed knowledge about what makes great advertising.
• Provides creative teams with necessary product and business knowledge stimulus to assist generation of top-quality work.
• Works with creative teams to help produce the most relevant presentation materials for new work. Identifies opportunities when client needs more involvement/studio needs more insight before an issue arises.
• Makes an effort to watch competitive agency reels, and to read industry publications like AdFocus and Marketing Mix.

Finance

• Is responsible for budget control of their account(s).
• Ensures that all WIP can be billed as soon as possible.
• Checks clients’ monthly statements and invoices and writes the required covering explanatory letter.
• Chases client for payment of invoices and clears up invoice queries promptly.

Traffic/Production

• Assists the line manager in the production of all campaigns.
• Updates the traffic manager as soon as any changes happen to the status of a job.
• Reviews status of all jobs with traffic on a weekly basis.
• Starts jobs as soon as required
• Regularly closes bags which are no longer live.
• Submits timing plans/estimates to client for approval.
• Gives clear indication of dates by which work is required. Any urgent requests will need to be discussed with the line manager and traffic manager before committing to client.
• Where possible, gives sufficient time for briefs to be worked on, to standard timings.
• Immediately informs client of revisions to timing plans/estimates, supplying and gaining approval of supplementary estimates where necessary.
• Checks quality of all advertising produced on his/her account (e.g. checks spelling and grammatical accuracy of advertising.)

Planning

• Makes a contribution to the writing of insightful, single-minded briefs.
• In conjunction with the planner, oversees the production of stimulus material (mood boards, narrative tapes, etc.) for research.
• Makes an active contribution to the promotion of brand stewardship amongst clients.

Requirements
Requirements/Character traits

• Account Executive plays as a support function to the more senior incumbents to deliver objectives for the clients, which may include liaising with the client, planning, scheduling, reporting and finalising all administrative deliverables and building excellent external and internal relationships.

Administration

• Produces monthly status reports for each of his/her accounts.
• Organises regular internal status meetings
• Is responsible for organising client meetings and the requirements thereof (e.g. booking physical or online rooms/sessions, catering, room layout, presentation aids)
• Records all client meetings accurately and produce contact reports to be distributed within 24 hours.
• Maintains a central filing system for documentation and tapes.
• Checks the quality of all work leaving the agency
• Knows the workings of the agency outside the confines of account management
• Assists their line manager in anticipating problems before they arise.
• Develops a reputation with clients and within the agency for total reliability. Answers all internal queries promptly – if you are unable to due to capacity/awaiting of relevant information, reply and give an estimated time of response.

Client

• Show enthusiasm and knowledge for the client’s business.
• Actively and proactively engages client on current projects and initiatives of the business based on the above knowledge
• Regularly monitors competitive advertising and competitive product activity.
• Answers all client queries promptly – if unable to, due to capacity at that moment, acknowledge and give an estimated time of response.

Creative

• Demonstrates drive and commitment to produce outstanding advertising.
• Has well-formed knowledge about what makes great advertising.
• Provides creative teams with necessary product and business knowledge stimulus to assist generation of top-quality work.
• Works with creative teams to help produce the most relevant presentation materials for new work. Identifies opportunities when client needs more involvement/studio needs more insight before an issue arises.
• Makes an effort to watch competitive agency reels, and to read industry publications like AdFocus and Marketing Mix.

Finance

• Is responsible for budget control of their account(s).
• Ensures that all WIP can be billed as soon as possible.
• Checks clients’ monthly statements and invoices and writes the required covering explanatory letter.
• Chases client for payment of invoices and clears up invoice queries promptly.

Traffic/Production

• Assists the line manager in the production of all campaigns.
• Updates the traffic manager as soon as any changes happen to the status of a job.
• Reviews status of all jobs with traffic on a weekly basis.
• Starts jobs as soon as required
• Regularly closes bags which are no longer live.
• Submits timing plans/estimates to client for approval.
• Gives clear indication of dates by which work is required. Any urgent requests will need to be discussed with the line manager and traffic manager before committing to client.
• Where possible, gives sufficient time for briefs to be worked on, to standard timings.
• Immediately informs client of revisions to timing plans/estimates, supplying and gaining approval of supplementary estimates where necessary.
• Checks quality of all advertising produced on his/her account (e.g. checks spelling and grammatical accuracy of advertising.)

Planning

• Makes a contribution to the writing of insightful, single-minded briefs.
• In conjunction with the planner, oversees the production of stimulus material (mood boards, narrative tapes, etc.) for research.
• Makes an active contribution to the promotion of brand stewardship amongst clients.