Account Director

Acorn Digital Strategy; Abu Dhabi; Hybrid; AED 420,000 - 600,000; Full time

Job summary

ACORN STRATEGY seeks an Account Director in Abu Dhabi to provide senior strategic leadership across client accounts, shaping communications strategy and guiding teams on narrative, messaging, media engagement and reputation considerations.

The role combines strategic oversight with strong commercial and people leadership, onboarding new clients, strengthening challenging accounts, developing junior colleagues and contributing to pitches and business development for agency growth.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations, Communications, Marketing or a related field.
• 5–7 years of agency account-management experience with leadership of large accounts.
• Experience advising clients on AI, data analytics, or technology is advantageous.
• Proven ability to manage complex accounts with autonomy and accountability.
• Strong strategic communications skills for campaigns and programmes.
• Deep knowledge of media engagement, messaging and reputation.

Responsibilities

• Act as the senior strategic owner of assigned accounts, ensuring client satisfaction and long-term health.
• Serve as senior client counsel, shaping strategy and positioning.
• Translate strategy into campaign direction with measurable client value.
• Lead onboarding and day-to-day direction of new accounts.
• Provide senior oversight of budgets, resourcing and profitability.
• Lead and develop junior colleagues through clear direction.
• Identify opportunities for account growth through additional services.

Skills

Account management

Leadership

Strategic communications

Media engagement

Business development

Client counsel

Education

Bachelor's degree in Public Relations, Communications, Marketing

Job description

JOB TITLE: Account Director

LOCATION: Abu Dhabi, Hybrid

CONTRACT TYPE: Full-time

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

We are seeking an Account Director to provide senior strategic leadership across a portfolio of client accounts, holding responsibility for client relationships, quality of output and long‑term account health. The role will act as trusted counsel to clients, shape communications strategy and guide teams on narrative, messaging, media engagement and reputation considerations.

The Account Director will combine strategic oversight with strong commercial and people leadership. They will help onboard new clients, strengthen challenging accounts, develop junior colleagues and contribute to pitches and business development. This is an opportunity to play a senior role in delivering excellent client outcomes while supporting sustainable team capacity and continued agency growth.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Act as the senior strategic owner of assigned accounts, maintaining trusted client relationships and taking responsibility for quality, satisfaction and long‑term account health.
• Serve as senior counsel to clients, shaping communications strategy, advising on approach and positioning, and anticipating issues before they arise.
• Translate strategy into clear campaign and programme direction, ensuring delivery aligns with agreed objectives and adds measurable client value.
• Set the direction for media engagement and storytelling, guiding teams on narrative, messaging and reputation considerations.
• Lead the onboarding and day‑to‑day direction of new accounts, embedding Acorn's ways of working and coordinating effectively with other senior leaders.
• Proactively stabilise challenging accounts, resolve complex client or delivery issues and reduce the need for escalation.
• Provide senior oversight of account scope, budgets, resourcing and commercial performance, ensuring work is delivered efficiently and profitably.
• Lead, coach and develop junior colleagues through clear direction, delegation, feedback and workload management.
• Maintain high standards of strategic thinking, account management and delivery across multiple concurrent priorities.
• Identify appropriate opportunities to grow existing accounts through additional services and expanded scopes of work.
• Contribute senior strategic thinking, ideas and client insight to business‑development activity and pitches.
• Work collaboratively across the agency, using sound judgement, entrepreneurial thinking and practical problem‑solving to support shared outcomes.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in Public Relations, Communications, Marketing or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 5-7 years of agency account‑management experience, including leadership of large or complex accounts and senior client counsel.
• Experience supporting clients in artificial intelligence, big data analytics or advanced technology would be advantageous.
• Proven ability to lead large or complex client accounts with a high degree of autonomy and accountability.
• Strong strategic communications capability, with experience developing strategy and translating it into effective campaigns and programmes.
• Deep understanding of media engagement, storytelling, messaging and reputation considerations.
• Commercial and operational awareness, including account scope, budgets, resourcing, profitability and workload management.
• Demonstrable people‑leadership skills, including coaching, delegation and development of junior team members.
• Confidence managing difficult client relationships or situations, with strong judgement and proactive problem‑solving skills.
• Experience contributing to business‑development activity, pitches and account‑growth opportunities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, collaborative leadership and enthusiasm for the communications industry.

WHY JOIN US?

• Be part of a global, growing organisation with exposure across multiple markets.
• Work in a collaborative, multicultural environment.
• Opportunity for career growth as the organisation expands.
• Play a senior role in shaping client strategy, developing teams and contributing to agency growth.

ABOUT ACORN STRATEGY

Voted Large Agency of the Year and winner of multiple international awards, Acorn Strategy is a full‑service communications consultancy with offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Melbourne, Perth, and London, and an ever‑expanding client roster. We are an integrated marketing, public relations, and digital consultancy that delivers sharp, agile, and creative strategies to help grow our clients' business.

OUR CULTURE

We understand that our success depends on recruiting and retaining the highest quality individuals. We have created an environment for people to grow and learn through a culture that empowers creativity, innovation, and professionalism. The core values we live by are collaboration, agility, bravery, curiosity, and integrity.

OUR PEOPLE

Over the years we have come to realise that although each of our team members are unique, we each share a series of personal traits that have successfully linked us culturally as a team and as an agency at large.

ACORN STRATEGY is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are dedicated to creating and building a respectful and empowering environment. We aim to create an inclusive workplace that supports our diversity and increases our potential to produce work that better represents and resonates with the world around us.