Account Director

W.Bradford; United States; Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual performance bonus

Health stipend

401(k) plan

Hybrid work

Job summary

W.Bradford seeks an Account Director to own the health, profitability, and growth of active accounts. You will be the primary relationship on every account, set expectations, and handle hard conversations early.

You will drive scope, hours, and financial performance, brief the team with precision, and uphold a consistent standard. The role focuses on growing existing client relationships and expanding engagements.

Qualifications

• Eight to twelve years of agency experience with at least three years leading a multi-client book.
• Experience managing senior client stakeholders.
• B2B/manufacturing or lighting knowledge is a plus; ability to learn technical categories fast.

Responsibilities

• Own the health, profitability, and growth of every active account.
• Lead client relationships, set expectations, and have hard conversations early.
• Oversee scope and hour bands; flag overruns and protect relationships.
• Brief the team with precision and maintain a single standard of quality.
• Drive account growth and retainers; expand client engagements.

Job description

The Role

W.Bradford builds brands for B2B manufacturers, most of them in commercial and architectural lighting. Our clients make products that are better than the market understands. Our work closes that gap.

The Account Director is the senior client role at the agency. You own the health, profitability, and growth of every active account. Clients will know you as the person who runs their business with us. The team will know you as the person who sets the standard and holds it.

WHY THIS ROLE EXISTS NOW

Our roster now includes sophisticated global manufacturers, financial services firms, and executive thought leadership programs. The work has outgrown the structure around it. We need a senior operator who leads accounts with conviction and judgment, not one who routes decisions upward.

What You Own

CLIENT LEADERSHIP

You are the primary relationship on every account. You run status, set expectations, and have the hard conversations early. When a timeline slips or a client is frustrated, you are already on it before anyone escalates.

SCOPE AND PROFITABILITY

You manage every engagement against its scope and hour band. You know where each account stands financially, you flag overages before they happen, and you can tell a client no without costing the relationship.

THE TEAM STANDARD

You brief the team with precision, review work before it reaches a client, and hold strategists, designers, and producers to one consistent bar. Problems get solved at your level.

ACCOUNT GROWTH

You see what a client needs next before they ask. You turn projects into programs and retainers into deeper relationships. New business stays with the founder. Growing the clients we have is yours.

OPERATING RHYTHM

You work with our project manager and related tools to oversee the weekly production review, keep our project system accurate, and make sure every client knows what happened, what is next, and what we need from them.

Who You Are

You have eight to twelve years of agency experience, including at least three years leading a multi-client book. You have managed senior client stakeholders, not just day-to-day contacts. B2B or manufacturing experience is a real advantage. Lighting knowledge is not required. The ability to learn a technical category fast is.

You stay calm when things go sideways and get direct when it matters. You read people accurately and adjust without giving up your position. You hold high standards without drama. You have saved an account before, and you can tell us exactly how.

THIS ROLE IS NOT FOR YOU IF

You want project coordination with a senior title. You keep clients happy by avoiding hard conversations. You need someone else to define the next step. Your career has been one slice of one large account. In short, this is not a job we’re hiring in order to help someone get experience; we’re hiring someone because they have experience and are ready to flex it with entrepreneurial impact.

The Details

• Location. Hybrid, based in Cincinnati. Louisville and comparable Midwest markets considered due to proximity for periodic in-person working sessions. Occasional travel to client sites and industry events.
• Compensation. Base, plus an annual performance bonus tied to client retention, account growth, and account profitability. 401(k) plan and health stipend.
• Reports to. Will Sears, Founder & CEO.