Account Director

Arke UK; Brighton; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 55,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Living Wage employer

Great Place to Work

Endometriosis Friendly Employer Scheme

Profit Sharing

Pirkx benefits scheme

Vitality health insurance

Job summary

Arke UK is seeking an Account Director to lead a portfolio of its most strategically important client relationships in Brighton. You’ll own senior partnerships, shape multi-year growth plans, and be accountable for commercial performance across your portfolio.

You’ll coach the Account Management team, raise the standard of how we plan, sell, and deliver work, and partner with clients to identify expansion opportunities while aligning with Arke’s growth priorities.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of relevant agency/publisher account management experience.
• Experience with C-suite and board-level meetings, QBRs, and negotiations.
• Forecasting, margin awareness, and contract management across retainers and projects.
• Strategic account planning across annual and multi-year horizons.
• Experience guiding multi-channel campaigns (organic, paid, creative, digital).
• Marketing consultancy experience across Arke’s services.
• Leadership experience coaching other account leads and setting expectations.
• Ability to challenge clients and internal teams constructively.

Responsibilities

• Own and grow a portfolio of Arke’s most strategically important accounts.
• Develop and lead annual and multi-year client strategies driving growth and value.
• Lead senior client relationships with clear objectives and priorities.
• Identify expansion opportunities and guide clients to Arke’s full-service offering.
• Own revenue forecasting, targets, pipeline, renewals, and risk management.
• Lead proposal pitches and support wider agency new business.
• Oversee delivery health: scope, resourcing, and early intervention.
• Contribute to tenders and high-quality proposals.

Skills

Agency experience

Stakeholder management

Commercial ownership

Strategic planning

Digital marketing breadth

Marketing consultancy

Leadership coaching

Challenging clients

Job description

Salary: £35,000 – £55,000 dependent on experience + OTE

We’re looking for an Account Director to lead a portfolio of Arke’s most strategically important client relationships. You’ll own senior stakeholder partnerships, shape multi-year growth plans, and be accountable for commercial performance across your portfolio. You’ll also play a visible leadership role internally, coaching the Account Management team, and helping raise the standard of how we plan, sell, and deliver work.

Who we are

Arke is a multi-award-winning, bold, and innovative digital marketing agency based in Brighton. We break norms and merge creativity with strategy to deliver campaigns and customer experiences that don’t just hit targets – they redefine them. Driven, curious, and unapologetically ambitious, we push boundaries to help our clients lead their industries while staying true to our values: Be Real, Be Curious, Be Bold.

Experience

• Seasoned Expertise: You have 5+ years of relevant and hands‑on agency/publisher experience in an account management role or similar managing contracts for brands & organisations in various verticals and industries.
• Senior stakeholder confidence: Comfortable operating with C‑suite and board‑level contacts, including leading high‑stakes meetings, QBRs, and commercial negotiations.
• Commercial ownership: Proven forecasting, margin awareness, and contract management across significant retainers and project work, including oversight of invoicing rhythms and growth plans.
• Strategic operator: Can turn insight into clear direction, building annual and multi‑year account strategies that align client goals with Arke’s growth priorities.
• Digital marketing breadth: Strong understanding of digital marketing strategy and experience guiding complex multi‑channel campaigns and projects (organic paid, creative, digital).
• Marketing consultancy: Experienced at creating and delivering marketing support and consultancy across Arke’s services.
• Leadership and coaching: Experienced at leading other account leads, setting expectations, raising standards, and handling performance issues early and fairly.
• Challenge and judgement: Willing to challenge clients and internal teams constructively when direction, planning, or quality isn’t where it needs to be.

Responsibilities

Client leadership and growth

• Own and grow a portfolio of Arke’s most strategically important accounts, typically at higher complexity and value.
• Develop and lead proactive annual and multi‑year client strategies that drive sustainable growth and measurable value.
• Lead senior client relationships, ensuring clarity on objectives, performance, priorities, and what success looks like.
• Identify and convert expansion opportunities, guiding clients into Arke’s full‑service offering in a way that feels consultative

Commercial performance

• Be accountable for revenue performance across your portfolio: forecasting, targets, pipeline, renewal plans, and risk management.
• Own the brief proposal pitch sale process for your accounts, and support wider agency new business where needed.
• Oversee commercials and delivery health: scope control, resourcing alignment, and early intervention when work drifts.
• Contribute to tender submissions and strategic new business proposals, setting a high quality bar and strengthening the agency’s win rate.

Delivery oversight and quality

• Ensure projects are delivered efficiently and to a consistently high standard, with the right internal teams in the room at the right time.
• Lead Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) for key accounts, making them genuinely valuable, insight‑led sessions that drive action.
• Act as a senior escalation point for complex issues or crises, protecting the relationship while solving the underlying problem.

Team leadership and agency contribution

• Line‑manage Account Managers , and mentor AM team , building capability across the team and strengthening client leadership standards.
• Champion best practice in account planning, client comms, documentation, and time recording within Teamwork.
• Drive internal improvements that make the agency easier to work in and better for clients, sharing what’s working and fixing what isn’t.
• Stay close to industry change and bring relevant ideas to clients and internal teams (paid, creative, digital trends).

Who you are

• You’re Real: We are inclusive and collaborative; we encourage the free exchange of ideas; we respect and celebrate diversity and diverse ways of working. We are accepting: of new ideas, new partnerships, and new ways of doing things.
• You’re Curious: We believe in the power of curiosity, always hungry to know more, to challenge known truths and to uncover new trends, innovations and approaches. We never want to do the “same old”, we push boundaries and bring excitement to all we do.
• You’re Bold: We encourage creative thinking and conviction in your delivery. We embrace differences and use this as our USP to show our innovative approach to often similar challenges.

As an equal opportunity employer, we actively encourage diversity and respect the independent perspectives of all.

Package

You will be an integral part of an exciting and fast‑growing company that is proud to be:

• A Living Wage employer
• A certified Great Place to Work
• A member of the Endometriosis Friendly Employer Scheme

Every member of staff’s personal development is extremely important to us. So, you will receive a personalised progression plan crafted to suit your ambitions and all the training required to help you achieve them.

We also have a generous benefits package, including:

• Annual Leave: 25 days of paid holiday, in addition to public holidays.
• Special Days Off: An extra day off to celebrate your birthday.
• Hybrid Work: The flexibility to work from home on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
• Loyalty Holidays: An additional day of holiday for each year of service as a token of our appreciation for your dedication.
• Volunteering Leave: Two extra days of paid leave annually to support volunteering activities of your choice.
• Profit Sharing: Eligibility for participation in the company’s profit‑sharing scheme, allowing you to share in our success.
• Benefits Options: Pirkx benefits scheme from day 1, and a choice between Vitality health insurance, a gym membership, or a health and wellness package with Revitalise Hove, tailored to support your well‑being, with an additional benefit added in year 2.
• Flexible Working: Early/late start and finish, and Time Off in Lieu (TOIL) to help you balance work and personal commitments.
• Employee Events: Seasonal events arranged by our Culture Committee.
• Friday Perks: Early finishes on Fridays, accompanied by social drinks to kick off the weekend right.

This package is designed to reward your hard work and commitment and support your health, well‑being, and work-life balance.