Account Director (fixed term contract - 12 months)

FIRST; Greater London; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private Medical Insurance

28 Days Annual Leave

Personal Volunteer Day

20 Days of Sick Pay

Enhanced Parental Leave

Wellness Stipend

Headspace access

Life Insurance

EAP

Cycle to Work Scheme

Season Ticket Loan

Mobile Phone Allowance

Pension Scheme Enhancements

Discretionary Bonus Structure

Global Opportunities

Job summary

FIRST is seeking an Account Director to lead client relationships and strategic delivery across key accounts. You will steer program success, drive client satisfaction, and identify revenue growth opportunities while partnering with FIRST’s global teams.

Responsibilities include manage contracts, budgets, and performance reviews while mentoring colleagues and maintaining strong client partnerships across diverse sectors.

Qualifications

• 8+ years’ client management experience with large accounts.
• 3+ years’ event management experience preferred.
• Advanced experience in events, conferences, meeting and production management.

Responsibilities

• Lead account leadership and client growth across assigned accounts.
• Act as primary contact and strategic advisor for clients.
• Build and maintain long-term client relationships and growth opportunities.
• Oversee contract negotiations, SLAs, KPIs, and financial performance.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure high-quality service delivery.

Skills

Account leadership

Client growth

Strategic advisory

Relationship building

Financial acumen

CRM

Sales pipeline

Presentation skills

Salesforce

Tools

Salesforce

Job description

Building a Brand Starts with a Story

FIRST is a leading global brand experience agency providing Content, Creative, Digital Technology, Management & Delivery, and Data & Insights services. For 30 years, we have utilized three flexible delivery models: Embedded teams, Corporate Campus operations, and a Full-Service Agency.

Building a Brand Starts with a Story

FIRST is a leading global brand experience agency providing Content, Creative, Digital Technology, Management & Delivery, and Data & Insights services. For 30 years, we have utilized three flexible delivery models: Embedded teams, Corporate Campus operations, and a Full-Service Agency.

Managing over 37,000 events & projects annually across 110 countries, FIRST serves 130+ brands, specializing in Fortune 500 companies within the Financial Services, Technology, Healthcare, Media, and Professional Services sectors. FIRST is part of the broader Encore family of companies. Encore is a global leader in event production and technology.

Consistently recognized for excellence, recent honors include 2026 Chief Marketer Agency of the Year, the Ad Net Zero Award for sustainability, and more.

Learn more at www.firstagency.com

What You Would Get To Do

The Account Director plays a key role in managing client relationships and supporting the strategic development of assigned account(s). This role is responsible for ensuring the successful delivery of programs, driving client satisfaction, and contributing to revenue growth opportunities.

Acting as a trusted partner to clients and an internal leader, the Account Director oversees account performance, supports financial management, and contributes to long-term account planning. The Account Director demonstrates strong client management experience, commercial acumen, and the ability to guide teams toward consistent, high-quality service delivery.

Your Contributions

• Account Leadership & Client Growth
• Act as the primary point of contact and strategic advisor for assigned clients
• Build and maintain strong client relationships, ensuring long-term partnerships and continued growth opportunities.
• Maintain account plans and develop a pipeline of growth opportunities across the client’s business
• Conduct monthly updates and lead quarterly account reviews
• Monitor monthly performance against annual targets, proactively identifying gaps and implementing actions to close them.
• Monitor client satisfaction trends and proactively address issues, risks, and opportunities for improvement and growth

Contract & Financial Oversight

• Manage contract negotiations and renewals, collaborating with shared services
• Monitor client contracts, service level agreements (SLAs), and key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure service excellence.
• Collaborate with the Commercials Team to manage account budgets, forecasts, and financial performance, ensuring accuracy and account profitability
• Follow client invoice and finance processes
• Analyze historical information and trends to provide insights for current fiscal status
• Identify future opportunities and track in CRM system
• Manage and execute client requests for Compliance and Account related matters
• Maintain accurate reporting in internal systems such as CRM (Salesforce), ensuring visibility into pipeline, performance metrics, and financials

Business Development & Growth

• Act as the primary point of contact and strategic advisor for assigned client
• Build and maintain strong client relationships, ensuring long-term partnerships and continued growth
• Identify new opportunities and develop proposals for account growth
• Qualify all new business opportunities and pull in the needed expertise and capability from across FIRST as well as externally to deliver on commitments to clients
• Proactively look for ways to streamline processes, identify best practices and new solutions

What We Are Looking For

• 8+ years’ client management experience, delivering exceptional service to large client accounts
• Strong and consistent track record of meeting and exceeding account/departmental targets and objectives
• Experience with corporate/financial clients is highly preferred
• 3+ years’ event management experience highly preferred
• Advanced experience of events, conferences, meeting and production management
• Extensive experience in working with and managing senior clients
• Proven ability to build a foundation for projects and initiatives – a “doer” mentality as opposed to a delegator
• Ability to effectively communicate with impeccable written and verbal communication skills
• Strong leadership experience; both leading and motivating colleagues in a manner that enhances working relationships and encapsulates the company brand and values
• Resourceful and highly motivated individual with the ability to work independently, think analytically and remain calm under pressure to meet established deadlines
• Team player; work in tandem with other divisions in expanding the business and adhering to standard operating procedures and efficiencies
• Proficient working knowledge of Microsoft Office
• Excellent time management, multi-tasking and follow-through skills
• Ability to professionally engage with management at all levels
• Ambitious, proactive and resourceful with a calm and flexible approach to handling pressure and stress

At FIRST, we believe that the passion, creativity, and commitment of our teams drive our success. That's why we offer a range of benefits and perks to support your personal and professional growth

• Private Medical Insurance with BUPA from day one
• 28 Days Annual Leave PLUS Bank Holidays
• Personal Volunteer Day
• 20 Days of Sick Pay each Year
• Enhanced Parental Leave (Maternity & Paternity)
• Wellness Stipend
• Complimentary access to Headspace, Rocket Lawyer & Maven
• Life Insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Season Ticket Loan
• Mobile Phone Allowance
• Pension Scheme Enhancements
• Discretionary Bonus Structure
• Global Opportunities: With a presence in 7 countries worldwide, including headquarters in London, New York, and Singapore, you may have the opportunity to work on exciting projects across different locations.

FIRST is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. FIRST is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications without regard to race, color, religion or belief, national, social or ethnic origin, sex (including pregnancy), age, physical, mental or sensory disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital, civil union or domestic partnership status, past or present military service, family medical history or genetic information, family or parental status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. We stand firm: FIRST will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. If any candidate feels that they are unable to meet the requirements of the role, please get in touch to discuss adjustments or other suitable roles.