Senior Account Director

Lesniak Swann; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private healthcare

Job summary

Lesniak Swann Ltd in Manchester is seeking a Senior Account Director to own top client relationships and steer strategic direction across campaigns, research, branding, PR and digital work. You will lead the account team and coordinate with client services, studio, strategy and PR to ensure unified delivery at board level.

The role is senior and client-facing, with responsibility for budgets, forecasts and margins, while driving growth across key accounts.

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or above, or equivalent professional experience.
• Experience in account handling at Senior Account Manager level or above within a B2B or integrated agency.
• Track record of owning senior client relationships and growing account revenue.
• Experience of managing and developing account teams, including run 121s and setting performance targets.
• Confident ownership of client budgets, forecasts and margins.

Responsibilities

• Own senior client relationships, lead monthly and quarterly strategic meetings with marketing directors and board-level contacts.
• Shape long-term client partnerships by anticipating business needs and market shifts with strategic solutions.
• Influence strategy using client sector knowledge to identify growth opportunities and guide decisions.
• Provide strategic input and review across projects, proposing innovative thinking and processes.
• Analyze research outputs and prepare briefs in partnership with the Strategy Director.
• Identify and resolve client management issues early and ensure teams align with client needs.
• Approve budgets and forecasts and address budgeting, forecasting or margin issues impacting profitability.
• Capture organic growth opportunities within existing accounts and support revenue targets.
• Input into and approve tactical and media plans for best client outcomes.
• Oversee timing plans and approve all client-facing plans and monthly reports.
• Maintain strong admin practices and ensure Account Managers bring clear actions for timing/budget issues.
• Coach and develop the account team to build a high-performing unit.

Skills

Client leadership

Strategic thinking

Coaching and people development

Budgeting and forecasting

Attention to detail

Multi-account leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Degree or higher

Tools

Streamtime

Trello

Databox

Job description

Job title: Senior Account Director
Location:Manchester
Type of role: Full time
Reports to: Client Services Director
Salary: £55,000 – £65,000 per annum (depending on experience) plus private healthcare

Job overview

We have a new and exciting opportunity for an experienced Senior Account Director to join our growing team. You will own our most important client relationships, setting their strategic direction, protecting their commercial performance and developing the account team that delivers for them.

This is a senior, client-facing role. You'll lead a portfolio of B2B accounts spanning advertising campaigns, research and strategy projects, branding and corporate identity, PR, content, digital and exhibition work, working at board and senior marketing level with clients. Internally, you'll be the bridge between client services, studio, strategy and PR, making sure every team pulls in the same direction.

Key responsibilities

Client leadership and strategy

• Own senior client relationships, leading monthly and quarterly strategic meetings and debating ideas confidently with marketing directors and board-level contacts.
• Shape long-term client partnerships by anticipating business needs and market shifts, and proactively bringing strategic solutions.
• Use deep understanding of clients' sectors to influence strategy, spot growth opportunities and guide client decision-making.
• Provide strategic input and review across projects, and introduce innovative thinking, tools or processes that elevate client outcomes and agency capability.
• Analyse research outputs and compile conceptual creative briefs in partnership with the Strategy Director.
• Identify and resolve client management issues early, and make sure the team on each account reflects the client's needs and personality.

Commercial performance

• Approve budgets and forecasts, and identify and fix any issues with budgeting, forecasting or margins that could affect profitability.
• Identify and convert organic growth opportunities within existing accounts, contributing to agency revenue targets.
• Input into and approve tactical and media plans, making sure they deliver the best outcome for the client.

Delivery and quality

• Oversee the creation and maintenance of timing plans, reviewing and approving every plan before it reaches the client.
• Review and sign off all monthly client reports.
• Set and uphold good admin practice across the team, making sure everyone owns their own admin and that Account Managers bring clear actions to any timing or budget issues.

People and team

• Coach and develop account team members to build a high-performing, self-sufficient team.
• Recruit and structure teams to get the best results for Lesniak Swann and our clients.
• Create the conditions that enable performance to improve, leading with empathy and integrity.
• Drive seamless cross-functional delivery, building strong relationships, setting shared goals and removing silos between departments.

Requirements

Educated to degree level or above, or equivalent professional experience.

Experience

• Experience in account handling, including time at Senior Account Manager level or above, ideally within a B2B or integrated agency.
• A track record of owning senior client relationships and growing account revenue.
• Experience of managing and developing account teams, including running 121s and setting performance targets.
• Confident ownership of client budgets, forecasts and margins.

Skills

• Exceptional client leadership and stakeholder management at senior level.
• Strong commercial acumen, with confidence in budgeting, forecasting and margin management.
• Strategic thinking, with the ability to turn insight into recommendations that move client businesses forward.
• Coaching and people development skills.
• Ability to lead multiple accounts and workstreams while keeping quality, timings and budgets on track.

Attributes

• Leads with empathy and integrity, building a strong team culture where others can grow and thrive.
• Collaborative by instinct, with a habit of breaking down silos between teams.
• Curious about clients' industries and confident challenging assumptions constructively.
• Attention to detail and a results-oriented mindset.
• Experience in B2B marketing or technology sectors.
• Experience of integrated campaigns spanning creative, PR and digital.
• Involvement in new business pitches.
• Familiarity with agency tools such as Streamtime, Trello and Databox.

As a B Corp certified business, we believe that a diverse, equitable and inclusive team makes us stronger. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and are committed to creating a recruitment process that works for everyone. Please let us know if you need any adjustments.