Client Growth Manager

Creative Ninja; California; Remote; USD 85,000 - 92,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) plan with company match

Health, dental, vision benefits

Paid time off

Job summary

Creative Ninja is seeking a Client Growth Manager for a Los Angeles-based full-service brand agency. You will lead day-to-day client relationships, understand their business and goals, and guide projects from kickoff to delivery with top-tier strategy, design, and craft.

The role emphasizes growing client relationships, identifying new opportunities, and turning great work into long-term partnerships, with a flexible, primarily remote work model and periodic in-person sessions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in marketing, advertising, communications, business, or related field preferred.
• At least 5 years of experience managing client relationships and complex projects in a creative/branding/advertising agency environment.
• Proven agency account management and/or brand management experience.
• Demonstrated experience growing client relationships and identifying organic opportunities.
• Experience managing multiple clients and workstreams simultaneously.
• Strong understanding of project financials, scopes, budgets, and profitability.
• Experience across brand strategy, brand identity/design, marketing, and/or integrated creative engagements preferred.
• Proficient using project management tools; Basecamp and Harvest experience a plus.
• Proficient in Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Slides).
• Strong business judgment connecting client satisfaction, scope, profitability, and growth.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the day-to-day lead for assigned clients with strong communication, organization, and relationship-building skills.
• Develop a deep understanding of each client's business, brand, goals, strategies, industry, and competitive landscape.
• Oversee projects from kickoff through final delivery, ensuring timelines, budgets, deliverables, and client expectations are proactively managed.
• Collaborate with strategy, creative, and agency leadership to ensure high-quality work flows through the agency.
• Translate client needs and business objectives into clear direction for internal teams.
• Maintain project timelines, scopes, budgets, status reports, and other critical account documentation.
• Manage the financial scope and budget of assigned projects, identifying scope changes and opportunities.
• Anticipate upcoming needs to avoid issues and identify growth opportunities.
• Maintain high standards across client interactions and deliverables including QA of external work.
• Build strong relationships with clients and internal teams while escalating concerns appropriately.
• Demonstrate leadership, professionalism, collaboration, and accountability across the agency.
• Proactively identify opportunities to expand work across existing accounts and capabilities.
• Support new business efforts and proposals; act as an ambassador for the agency.

Skills

Client mgmt

Project management

Budgeting

Agency experience

Brand strategy

Brand design

Cross-functional teamwork

Google Workspace

Basecamp

Harvest

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Basecamp

Harvest

Google Workspace

Job description

Creative Ninja is partnering with a client searching for a Client Growth Manager.

About the client:

Our client is a full-service brand agency based in Los Angeles that helps brands build meaningful, authentic connections through strategic storytelling, thoughtful design, and impactful experiences.

They are an entrepreneurial, fast-paced team that believes in collaboration, curiosity, and craft.

They are seeking a talented, thoughtful, and growth-minded Client Growth Manager to join our creative brand agency. At its core, this is a key client-facing role – with growth built into the mandate.

We are looking for a driven, organized, highly relational team collaborator with proven agency experience managing multiple clients and projects across brand strategy, brand design, and marketing workstreams. This person will serve as a trusted partner to key clients, leading day-to-day relationships and engagements. At the same time, ensuring projects are delivered with the exceptional level of strategy, creativity, service, and craft they are known for.

But we are looking for more than a great account/brand manager. The Client Growth Manager will approach every relationship with curiosity about what's next, deeply understanding our clients' businesses, building relationships beyond the immediate engagement, identifying new challenges for our client, can help solve, and turning great work into deeper and longer-term partnerships.

This is an ideal role for an experienced agency account team player who loves collaborating with the team to create great work, but also has a strong commercial instinct: someone who builds relationships naturally, sees opportunities others might miss, and gets energy from helping turn those opportunities into business.

Key Responsibilities:

Client & Project Ownership

• Serve as the day-to-day lead for assigned clients, demonstrating exceptional communication, organization, and relationship-building skills
• Develop a deep understanding of each client's business, brand, goals, strategies, industry, and competitive landscape
• Oversee projects from kickoff through final delivery, ensuring timelines, budgets, deliverables, and client expectations are proactively managed
• Work closely with strategy, creative, and agency leadership to ensure all client work moves through the agency efficiently and at the highest level of quality
• Effectively translate client needs, feedback, and business objectives into clear direction for internal project teams
• Build and maintain project timelines, scopes, budgets, status reports, and other critical account documentation
• Manage the financial scope and budget of assigned projects, proactively identifying scope changes and opportunities
• Anticipate what is coming next (both within projects and client relationships) to avoid issues, solve problems early, and identify opportunities
• Maintain the agency's high standards across every client interaction and deliverable, including overall QA on work shared externally
• Build strong, trusted relationships with clients and internal teams while escalating concerns appropriately
• Demonstrate leadership, professionalism, collaboration, and accountability across the agency

Client & Organic Growth

• Take an active role in helping to grow assigned client relationships, understanding that organic growth is a core part of successful account leadership and a core requirement of this position
• Develop a strong understanding of clients' broader business priorities, upcoming initiatives, organizational needs, and potential challenges to identify where they can add value
• Proactively identify opportunities to expand work across existing accounts, including new projects, workstreams, brands, or capabilities
• Regularly engage clients in conversations about what is next for their business and brand
• Help translate identified opportunities into actionable next steps
• Ensure that great work and strong relationships lead to long-term partnerships, repeat engagements, referrals, and introductions

New Business & Agency Growth Support

• Partner closely with leadership to support the agency's overall growth and new business efforts
• Maintain consistent momentum and follow-through across growth opportunities, helping ensure promising conversations translate into next steps
• Assist in putting together new business proposals
• Serve as an ambassador for the marketplace, building awareness and relationships that can lead to future opportunities

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree; major in marketing, advertising, communications, business, or related field preferred
• At least 5 years of experience managing client relationships and complex projects, ideally within a creative, branding, advertising, or integrated agency environment
• Proven agency account management and/or brand management experience
• Demonstrated experience growing client relationships and identifying or developing organic business opportunities
• Experience managing multiple clients and workstreams simultaneously
• Strong understanding of project financials, scopes, budgets, and profitability
• Experience across brand strategy, brand identity/design, marketing, and/or integrated creative engagements preferred
• Proficient using project management tools and processes; Basecamp and Harvest experience a plus
• Proficient in Google suite, including Docs, Sheets, and Slides
• Strong business judgment with an understanding of how client satisfaction, scope, profitability, and growth work together

Past positions that can demonstrate proven success in the following:

• Exceptional relationship builder with the ability to establish trust and credibility with clients, prospects, and internal teams
• Commercially minded and naturally curious about clients' businesses, with an ability to recognize opportunities and turn conversations into action
• Entrepreneurial mindset and genuine excitement about helping grow a small, ambitious creative agency
• A positive, independently motivated, and team-focused attitude with a passion for growing brands and businesses
• Exceptional planning and prioritization skills with meticulous attention to detail in a collaborative, fast-paced agency environment
• Proactive and forward-thinking, with the ability to anticipate client needs, project challenges, and potential opportunities
• Comfortable initiating conversations, making connections, following up, and opening doors
• Confident and polished communicator with strong written, verbal, and presentation skills
• Ability to build trusted relationships with senior-level client stakeholders
• Ability to recognize and anticipate problems and gather and analyze the information necessary to resolve them efficiently and professionally
• Responsible and capable of meeting tight deadlines while managing multiple priorities
• Proven success working collaboratively across disciplines
• Passion for quality design, branding, creativity, and innovation
• Reflective and analytical; appreciative of feedback and dedicated to improvement and self-development
• Collaborative team player with an open mind for feedback and input, with the end goal of a productive work environment
• Assertive, resilient, resourceful, and solutions-oriented with a "can do" attitude

Compensation and Benefits

• Full-time employees are eligible for a full benefits package including paid time off, health, dental, vision, and a 401(k) plan with company match
• Base salary range: $85,000 to $92,000
• Bonus: Eligible to be considered for discretionary bonus and business referral incentives
• Primarily remote work model, with several in-person touchpoints per month with team and clients

Why Join our client:

• Opportunity to play a meaningful role in the growth and next chapter of an independent, entrepreneurial brand agency
• Work directly with agency leadership and have visibility into both the creative work and the business behind it
• Opportunity to build deep relationships with a wide range of purpose-driven brands
• Collaborative, creative, and supportive team environment
• Commitment to professional growth, mentorship, and skill development
• Regular team events, creative inspiration sessions, and volunteer opportunities