Group Account Director

AKQA; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

AKQA in Seattle is seeking a Group Account Director to lead the senior client relationship, drive growth, and oversee profitability across digital product engagements. You will guide cross-functional teams and partner with creative, strategy, product, and technology leadership to deliver high-impact work.

This growth-focused role calls for a leader who can translate client opportunities into ambitious, executable programs while maintaining client trust and team cohesion in a fast-paced

Qualifications

• Significant senior client leadership experience within an agency environment.
• Deep digital product and services experience, with a strong understanding of how sophisticated digital products are designed and delivered.
• Proven growth mindset with a track record of deepening client relationships and uncovering opportunities.
• Ability to read between the lines, sensing unspoken client needs and translating them into clear work.
• Comfortable thriving in dynamic, fast-moving environments, bringing calm, foresight, and decisiveness.
• Strong commercial acumen across forecasting, scoping, resourcing, and profitability.
• Exceptional communication and relationship-building skills with the judgment to advise at senior levels.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the most senior day-to-day client leadership voice on the account, owning overall health, growth, and profitability.
• Lead digital product and services engagements, guiding the design and delivery of sophisticated digital products.
• Drive organic growth by anticipating client needs and shaping them into opportunities.
• Act as trusted strategic advisor to senior client stakeholders.
• Provide cross-functional direction to multidisciplinary teams.
• Partner with creative, strategy, product, and technology leadership to meet client ambitions and user needs.
• Oversee commercial management across the account, including scoping, forecasting, resourcing, and margin performance.
• Lead with foresight and momentum in a dynamic environment and mentor the account team.

Skills

Senior client leadership

Cross-functional leadership

Growth mindset

Forecasting

Profitability

Strategic advisory

Communication

Job description

At AKQA (part of WPP) we believe in the imaginative application of art and science to create beautiful ideas, products and services. With an entrepreneurial and collaborative approach, we design adaptive digital services and applications that capture the imagination, delivering impressive returns for our clients.

Client leadership at AKQA builds trusted partnerships, provides cross-functional direction, and ensures our teams deliver exceptional work that meets both client ambition and cultural relevance. Group Account Directors are the most senior day-to-day client leaders on their accounts, responsible for the health of the relationship, the growth of the business, and the quality of the work. Equal parts strategic partner, commercial leader, and trusted advisor, they set the standard for how we show up for our clients.

We are seeking a Group Account Director to lead the relationship with one of the most globally recognized consumer brands in the world, a company with an enormous and deeply loyal customer base whose digital products and services touch millions of people every day. This is a digital-products-led engagement, so you will need deep experience guiding the design and delivery of sophisticated digital product experiences. Just as importantly, this is a growth role: we are looking for a leader who can deepen the partnership, uncover opportunities the client may not yet have articulated, and translate them into meaningful, ambitious work. You will thrive in a dynamic, fast-moving environment, bringing steadiness, foresight, and momentum to a high-visibility account.

ROLE REQUIREMENTS

• Serve as the most senior day-to-day client leadership voice on the account, owning the overall health, growth, and profitability of the relationship
• Lead digital product and services engagements, bringing deep fluency in how sophisticated digital products are conceived, designed, and delivered
• Drive organic growth by anticipating client needs, including those not yet explicitly expressed, and shaping them into clear, compelling opportunities
• Act as a trusted strategic advisor to senior client stakeholders, with the credibility to guide, challenge, and align
• Provide cross-functional direction to multidisciplinary teams, keeping everyone focused on the priorities that matter most
• Partner closely with creative, strategy, product, and technology leadership to ensure the work meets both client ambition and user needs
• Oversee commercial management across the account, including scoping, forecasting, resourcing, and margin performance
• Lead with foresight and momentum in a dynamic environment, keeping initiatives on track from planning through delivery
• Mentor and develop the account team, fostering collaboration, accountability, and professional growth

QUALITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS

• Significant senior client leadership experience within an agency environment, with a track record of leading relationships and multidisciplinary teams
• Deep digital product and services experience, with a strong understanding of how sophisticated digital products are designed and delivered
• A proven growth mindset, with a track record of deepening client relationships and uncovering opportunities before they are fully defined
• The instinct to read between the lines, sensing unspoken client needs and translating them into clear, actionable work
• Comfortable thriving in dynamic, fast-moving environments, bringing calm, foresight, and decisiveness
• Strong commercial acumen across forecasting, scoping, resourcing, and profitability
• Exceptional communication and relationship-building skills, with the judgment to advise and align at senior levels
• A natural leader who people want to follow, invested in the growth of the team and the quality of the work

Location

• This is a full-time role based in Seattle. Given the expectation for regular onsite presence with the client, candidates must be based in Seattle.

We believe great work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. That's why we’ve adopted a hybrid approach including required in-office days. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process.

AKQA is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to particular characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.

About WPP

WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. We unite cutting-edge media intelligence and data solutions, world-class creativity, next-generation production, transformative enterprise solutions and expert strategic counsel in a single company – powered by exceptional talent and our agentic marketing platform, WPP Open, to help our clients navigate change, capture opportunity and deliver transformational growth. For more information, visit WPP.com.