Senior Account Executive - Chicago

Morning Walk; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k)

PTO & Holidays

MW Fuel program

Job summary

Morning Walk is seeking a Senior Account Executive in Chicago to drive client relationships, lead integrated campaigns, and own day-to-day account management. You will translate business priorities into actionable guidance for creative, media, and data teams, ensuring timely, on-budget delivery.

The ideal candidate has 3–5+ years in advertising or agency settings, with strong communication, organization, and problem-solving skills.

Qualifications

• 3 to 5+ years of advertising, marketing, or agency account management experience.
• Proven ability to independently manage client relationships, projects, timelines, and deliverables.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Experience working with scopes of work, estimates, budgets, and project financials.
• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Strong attention to detail combined with the ability to understand broader client and business objectives.
• Ability to anticipate issues, solve problems, and bring forward recommended solutions.
• Confidence working directly with clients and collaborating with senior agency leadership.
• Curiosity and a desire to continually deepen knowledge of clients, consumers, categories, media, and modern marketing practices.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a primary day-to-day contact for assigned client initiatives, building strong and trusted client relationships.
• Lead routine client communication, project updates, status meetings, and follow-up with confidence and professionalism.
• Understand client priorities, business objectives, and expectations and translate them into clear direction for internal teams.
• Anticipate client needs, identify potential issues early, and proactively recommend solutions.
• Support senior account leadership in strengthening client relationships and identifying opportunities to add value.
• Independently manage multiple projects and workstreams from briefing through execution and delivery.
• Own timelines, deliverables, approvals, and next steps, ensuring work stays on track.
• Coordinate closely with creative, media, performance marketing, data, production, and other agency disciplines.
• Prepare and lead project status materials, agendas, contact reports, presentations, and client recaps.
• Maintain strong attention to detail while managing multiple concurrent priorities.
• Identify scope, budget, timing, or resource risks early and work with account leadership to recommend solutions.
• Demonstrate strong stewardship of both client and agency resources.
• Provide clear priorities, context, and direction to cross-functional agency teams.
• Contribute actively to internal and client meetings with a proactive, solutions-oriented perspective.
• Help create accountability across teams while maintaining strong collaborative relationships.
• Provide guidance and support to junior account team members as appropriate.
• Demonstrate the judgment to know when to independently move work forward and when to involve senior account leadership.

Skills

Account management

Client relationships

Project management

Budget management

Communication

Cross-functional teamwork

Job description

Morning Walk is a Performance Branding Company that seeks to create healthy brands through a balance of purpose, experience, and performance to drive growth. We've built a team of insatiably curious thinkers and makers, relentlessly dedicated to craft, unapologetically optimistic, and always moving forward.

Our core disciplines include strategic consulting, creative design, content development, experience design, performance marketing, Integrated Comms, CRM, and analytics. Our "Walkers" are the best in the business.

We are fortunate to have a portfolio of passionate, purpose-led clients and are privileged to work on their exciting, dynamic brands across many industries and sectors—from Kalahari Resorts & Conventions to innovative doors from Masonite, from car batteries at Clarios/OPTIMA to snowplows at Toro/BOSS.

We are powered by data and ideas and fueled by the energy of our people and clients. Our relentless and persistent optimism means we put our best foot forward, build on our solid foundation, and start each day new with the goal of creating an environment of growth and discovery—both personally and professionally. Motion is contagious, and we're going places. Won't you join us?

What We're Seeking

A Senior Account Executive (SAE) at Morning Walk is a key driver of client relationships, project leadership, and integrated campaign execution. This role is designed for someone who has demonstrated success as an Account Executive or Senior Account Executive and is ready to take meaningful ownership of client relationships, projects, and day-to-day account responsibilities.

The SAE serves as a key day-to-day client partner, helping translate business and marketing priorities into clear direction for agency teams and ensuring work moves forward accurately, efficiently, and on time.

The ideal candidate is highly organized, proactive, confident with clients, and comfortable working across multiple disciplines and priorities. They know how to keep complex programs moving, anticipate needs before they become issues, and bring solutions rather than simply identifying problems.

At Morning Walk, account leaders are expected to understand more than project status. They develop a strong understanding of their clients' businesses, audiences, categories, and performance, allowing them to become increasingly valuable strategic partners.

What You'll Be Doing

Client & Account Management

• Serve as a primary day-to-day contact for assigned client initiatives, building strong and trusted client relationships.
• Lead routine client communication, project updates, status meetings, and follow-up with confidence and professionalism.
• Understand client priorities, business objectives, and expectations and translate them into clear direction for internal teams.
• Anticipate client needs, identify potential issues early, and proactively recommend solutions.
• Support senior account leadership in strengthening client relationships and identifying opportunities to add value.

Integrated Project Leadership

• Independently manage multiple projects and workstreams from briefing through execution and delivery.
• Own timelines, deliverables, approvals, and next steps, ensuring work stays on track.
• Coordinate closely with creative, media, performance marketing, data, production, and other agency disciplines.
• Ensure internal teams have the information, direction, and client context necessary to deliver strong work.
• Prepare and lead project status materials, agendas, contact reports, presentations, and client recaps.
• Maintain strong attention to detail while managing multiple concurrent priorities.

Creative & Campaign Execution

• Help develop clear, actionable briefs and project direction based on client objectives.
• Manage the workflow and review of creative and campaign deliverables to ensure accuracy, quality, and alignment with client expectations.
• Facilitate client feedback and approvals while providing clear direction back to agency teams.
• Partner with creative, media, performance marketing, and data teams to connect execution to broader campaign and business objectives.
• Stay close to campaign performance and help translate results and insights into implications and opportunities for the client.
• Support the development and management of scopes of work, estimates, budgets, and project plans.
• Track projects against approved scope, timing, and budget.
• Maintain accurate project documentation and ensure deliverables align with agreed-upon expectations.
• Identify scope, budget, timing, or resource risks early and work with account leadership to recommend solutions.
• Demonstrate strong stewardship of both client and agency resources.
• Work closely with account supervisors and directors while independently owning assigned areas of the business.
• Provide clear priorities, context, and direction to cross-functional agency teams.
• Contribute actively to internal and client meetings with a proactive, solutions-oriented perspective.
• Help create accountability across teams while maintaining strong collaborative relationships.
• Provide guidance and support to junior account team members as appropriate.
• Demonstrate the judgment to know when to independently move work forward and when to involve senior account leadership.

Experience / Qualifications / Skills

• 3 to 5+ years of advertising, marketing, or agency account management experience, with demonstrated success as a strong Account Executive and/or experience already operating at the Senior Account Executive level.
• Proven ability to independently manage client relationships, projects, timelines, and deliverables.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines simultaneously.
• Experience working with scopes of work, estimates, budgets, and project financials.
• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Strong attention to detail combined with the ability to understand broader client and business objectives.
• Ability to anticipate issues, solve problems, and bring forward recommended solutions.
• Confidence working directly with clients and collaborating with senior agency leadership.
• Curiosity and a desire to continually deepen knowledge of clients, consumers, categories, media, and modern marketing practices.

Preferred Experience

• Experience working across integrated marketing disciplines, including creative, media, digital, performance marketing, content, and/or production.
• Experience developing a deep understanding of client categories, competitors, consumers, and business challenges.
• Experience connecting client business needs, consumer insights, creative thinking, media, and performance into integrated marketing solutions.

Compensation, Benefits, and Perks of a "Walker"

At Morning Walk, we offer competitive salaries and a generous, company-sponsored benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, life, short- and long-term disability, plus wellness perks to keep you feeling your best.

• 401(k)
• PTO and various paid holidays
• Ongoing learning and development through our MW Fuel program

Morning Walk is a place where good work and good people go together. If that sounds like your kind of walk, we'd love to hear from you.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.