Head of Client Services

BLOND; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive base salary with KPI bonus

Birthday day off

Education days: two paid days off per

Friendly office dog

Annual Christmas ski trip

Team socials and events

Job summary

BLOND, a London-based studio of designers, strategists and engineers, is seeking a head of client services to join our leadership team. You will build and lead our client services discipline from the ground up, acting as the premier partner to enterprise clients and safeguarding our design teams from commercial friction.

Based in the London studio, this permanent full-time role requires seven years of senior client servicing experience and a track record of multi‑million‑pound relationships.

Qualifications

• Seven+ years in senior client servicing or account management within top-tier design studios or strategy led studios.
• Proven track record of managing multi-million-pound enterprise relationships and long-term retainers (£150k–£1m+).
• Fluent English with outstanding verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to intercept scope creep and manage commercial conversations to protect design integrity.

Responsibilities

• Lead and establish the client services discipline across the studio.
• Serve as executive sponsor and trusted strategic partner to key enterprise accounts.
• Act as a senior buffer between clients and creative teams.
• Intercept scope creep, manage difficult commercial conversations and protect designer focus and wellbeing.
• Replace the founder as the primary port of call for client escalations, SLA governance and commercial conflict resolution.
• Farm organic revenue within existing accounts.
• Identify follow-on phases, cross-sell studio capabilities and negotiate retainer renewals.
• Partner with the operations director to forecast studio capacity, maintain billing transparency and protect account-level gross margins.
• Build, mentor and lead a future team of account directors, account managers and project managers.

Skills

Senior client servicing

Enterprise account management

Commercial acumen

Scope management

Fee negotiations

MSAs

Gross margins

Emotional intelligence

Stakeholder management

Design empathy

Protect design integrity

Collaborative mindset

Verbal & written communication

Organizational skills

Silicon Valley enterprise experience

Account management frameworks

Job description

So we stay curious about culture. We ask deeper questions. We think long and hard before picking up a pencil. We chase down simple solutions to complex problems. Our big ideas survive contact with reality. We are a London-based studio of designers, strategists and engineers. We create meaningful brands, products, spaces and experiences for the world’s leading companies and most exciting startups. And we deliver them with meticulous attention to detail. Because we care as much as you do.

That’s why Red Dot has ranked us the No.1 design studio in Europe and the Americas five years running 2022–2026.

We are BLOND. We make things better.

The Opportunity

We are looking for a head of client services to join our London leadership team.

BLOND is a studio of 30 curious minds looking to scale quickly.

Our lead designers are brilliant at solving complex design challenges. But right now, they also manage day-to-day client communications, commercial scope and line management. That creates delivery bottlenecks and creative burnout. At the same time, our founder is handling client escalations and account governance.

We need an exceptional client partner to change that.

You will sit alongside our creative director, operations director and commercial director as a core pillar of studio leadership. You will build and lead our client services discipline from the ground up. You will act as our premier account farmer and team protector. You will intercept scope creep, resolve commercial friction and build deep trust with enterprise clients. Most importantly, you will provide a strategic shield so our design teams can focus on world-class creative craft.

This is a permanent, full-time position based in our London studio.

Duties

• Lead and establish the client services discipline across the studio.
• Serve as executive sponsor and trusted strategic partner to our key enterprise accounts, and global leaders across consumer electronics, medical and FMCG.
• Act as a senior buffer between clients and creative teams.
• Intercept scope creep, manage difficult commercial conversations and protect designer focus and wellbeing.
• Replace the founder as the primary port of call for client escalations, service level agreement (SLA) governance and commercial conflict resolution.
• Farm organic revenue within existing accounts.
• Identify follow‑on phases, cross‑sell studio capabilities and negotiate retainer renewals.
• Partner with the operations director to forecast studio capacity, maintain billing transparency and protect account‑level gross margins.
• Build, mentor and lead a future team of account directors, account managers and project managers as the studio scales toward 60 people.

Skills & Attributes (Required)

• Full right to work in the UK.
• At least seven years of senior client servicing, account management or client partnership experience within top‑tier design consultancies, brand agencies or innovation studios.
• Proven track record of managing, retaining and expanding multi‑million‑pound enterprise relationships and long‑term retainers (£150k–£1m+).
• Exceptional commercial acumen.
• You are fluent in scope management, fee negotiations, master service agreements (MSAs) and gross margin protection.
• High emotional intelligence, gravitas and diplomacy.
• You advise executive stakeholders with ease and calmly de‑escalate high‑pressure situations.
• Deep respect and empathy for the creative and industrial design process.
• You know exactly when to push back on a client request to protect design integrity and team health.
• Low‑ego, collaborative approach aligned with BLOND’s craft‑first ethos.
• Outstanding verbal and written communication skills in English.
• Highly organised, detail‑oriented and comfortable managing complex enterprise stakeholders.

Skills & Attributes (Beneficial)

• Direct experience managing enterprise accounts within Silicon Valley tech, consumer electronics, FMCG or medical devices.
• Experience introducing structured account management frameworks and tools (e.g. Float, agency ERPs) during studio growth from 30 to 60+ people.

There’s more to life than design. We live and breathe our jobs. But we have lives outside the studio too. Because well‑rested, curious designers do better work.

• Competitive base salary with an executive, KPI‑related performance bonus scheme.
• Birthday day off (paid).
• Education days: two paid days off per year for lectures, mentoring and tutoring.
• Friendly office dog.
• Annual Christmas ski trip (company performance‑dependent).
• Other team socials and events.

FAQ

• The position is based in our London office. You can work from home one day per week. We do not offer remote working from abroad. You must be in our London studio at least four days a week.
• We welcome overseas applicants.