Account Director

RAMP Marketing; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading marketing agency in Toronto is seeking an experienced Account Director to lead client relationships and oversee high-profile events. The role requires over 7 years in experiential marketing and strong leadership skills. You will manage a team, ensure successful execution of client programs, and actively seek new business opportunities. This hybrid position offers a dynamic work environment with competitive compensation.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in experiential marketing, events, or brand activations within an agency.
• Experience in building and maintaining senior-level client relationships.
• Willingness to travel and work flexible hours (up to 20% annually).

Responsibilities

• Manage client relationships and develop new business opportunities.
• Oversee execution of high profile events and brand activations.
• Lead and mentor team members while managing performance.

Skills

Client relationship management

Leadership

Event planning

Financial management

Communication

Education

Post-secondary education in business, marketing, or related field

Job description

Account Director

will work across a portfolio of tier-one brands and will play an important leadership role across all departments, including team performance management, ensuring the flawless execution of client programs, maintaining a growth mindset for client business while supporting an engaging agency culture. The Account Director will be based out of the Liberty Village office 4 days / week (1 day remote) and report into the Vice President, Client Service.

Client Relationship

• Proactively manages client relationships while seeking opportunities to strengthen / build new relationships as needed.
• Develop client relationships that lead to long-term partnerships and repeat business.
• They will serve as the trusted advisor for clients, ensuring they meet and exceed expectations.
• Provide ongoing updates, insights, and program reviews through clear and compelling reporting.
• Build collaborative relationships with stakeholders across both external and internal teams.
• Communication: Senior level presentation skills. Ability to effectively and confidently run a meeting, present & communicate across various groups.
• Proactive problem solving: Solves client issues, anticipates potential challenges and risks to the business, independently moderates conflicts with significant complexity and political sensitivity; leads internal teams to resolve conflicts and find solutions.

New Business Development

• Seeks new opportunities to showcase agency work among current and prospective clients.
• Drive pipeline growth by identifying and securing new opportunities.
• Lead pitches and proposals, collaborating across teams to deliver tailored solutions.

Event Strategy

• Oversee concept development in partnership with strategy and creative teams.
• Implement high profile, large-scale events and brand activations.
• Ensure event strategies align with client and brand goals, delivering measurable impact.
• Onsite execution: With little direction is able to lead on site for set up, execution and tear down for high profile events and activations.

Leadership & Team Development

• Comfortable in a leadership role managing a team. Able to coach, mentor, manage and lead by example.
• Seen as the point person for senior client contacts.
• Able to support junior team members, setting clear goals and encouraging growth.
• Promote a culture of collaboration, creativity, and accountability.
• Partner with executive leadership on business strategy and represent the activations team.
• Manage up to 7 full-time staff, along with client account teams of varying sizes.

Agency Operations

• Manage team financials, staffing, and administration to support profitability and efficiency.
• Refine workflows and processes to improve scalability across the activations team.
• Provide performance insights and reporting to senior leadership.
• Understands agency revenue and profitability model.
• Ensures programs are completed within budget. Owns the revenue and forecast for the brand. Determines and negotiates budget needs. Vigilantly seeks to optimize agency services and internal resources.
• Risk Management: Keeps management informed of account status, problems, plans, and meetings and gets senior management involved as needed.
• Team Leadership: Provide assistance related to agency / team / management policies and practices.

Industry Knowledge

• Experience in leading high profile projects and complicated events.
• Comprehensive understanding of client needs, activation elements, vendor management, supplier management and production.
• Completes site visits with clients and stays in the know on current trends.
• Understanding of industry trends, has broad knowledge of what's going on in the marketplace to offer solutions to clients.
• Cultivates relationships with appropriate thought leaders to help maintain solid knowledge of client's business while building strong relationships.

Key Attributes

• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills.
• An understanding of experiential marketing and brand activations.
• Passion for the industry and able to inspire creatives, their teams and clients.
• A strong record of coaching and mentorship, and the ability to identify and grow high potential managers.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment managing a large volume of work with fair but demanding clients.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in experiential marketing, events, or brand activations within an agency.
• Post-secondary education in business, marketing, or related field.
• Experience building and maintaining senior-level client relationships.
• Deep experience in brand activations and hospitality, including vendor oversight (F&B, creative, signage, AV, and transportation).
• Experience collaborating across departments (strategy, creative, production, and finance).
• Solid financial knowledge with budget management experience.
• Willingness to travel and work flexible hours (up to 20% annually).
• Valid driver's license required.