Senior Account Manager

Role purpose

This role is key in cultivating client relationships and driving the execution excellence of creative, design focussed, packaging design solutions. As a Senior Account Manager, you will support our Account Directors in bridging the gap between clients and our Design Team, overseeing team members who will manage project timelines, budgets, and creative excellence under your mentorship, whilst driving and delivering through our unique Aire Way™ Automation solution.

Key responsibilities

1. Act as our Aire Global senior point of contact for your assigned accounts
2. Build and maintain trusted, long-term relationships with senior stakeholders within the client organisation
3. Understand and align with the client’s creative challenges and goals, encouraging Client Delight Team members to follow suit, working with the Design Team to deliver solutions to creative briefs
4. Ensure creative excellence and alignment by consistently reviewing industry insights and proposing opportunities to explore, whilst educating Client Delight Team members in the best in class way to do so
5. Drive growth across all regions and areas by identifying upselling, cross-selling, and renewal opportunities, creating strategy plans to approach such opportunities and turn them into business wins
6. Know and drive financial targets with budget and profitability goals, monitoring on a monthly basis with the support of our Account Directors, whilst educating other Client Delight Team members on best in class ways of handling commercials
7. Coordinate across all pillars and functions internally to ensure a unified global approach to the ‘The Aire Way™’ process
8. Ensure high-quality delivery of solutions across all touchpoints, from Design to Develop and assist Client Delight Team members in doing so too
9. Anticipate and resolve challenges proactively, with the help and support of your team and our Account Directors
10. Provide regular top-line updates to both the client and internal teams, with a good grasp of what is relevant and what is not, to ensure alignment and control

Objectives

1. Deliver design projects on time and within scope, via documented project plans, timelines, and budget reports, shared with our internal team and client stakeholders, whilst ensuring Client Delight Team members follow suit to deliver the same level of quality and service
2. Assist your Account Director with delivering a clear plan to consistently reduce the number of design stage cycles through alignment and requirement gathering, from initial conception to completion
3. Identify areas of improvement for streamlining workflows or processes, documented and adopted by the Design Team and suggest solutions
4. Prepare materials and attend meetings alongside your Account Director with monthly and quarterly account reviews
5. Continuously share case studies or success stories built from completed work, to support business development, growth and marketing
6. Deliver, and support the Client Delight Team in delivering post-project evaluations with measurable improvement in client satisfaction expectations

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

1. Briefing Accuracy Create and deliver technically precise Design and Develop briefs to the studio, setting a best in class way of working and ensuring an accuracy rate of 95% for yourself and your team
2. Pillar Growth Drive Design pillar growth by seeking opportunities to up-sell and cross-sell, delivering 1 additional out-of-scope project per quarter
3. Financial Management Manage Design forecasts within a 10% buffer, to enable successful planning across the Design and Develop Team and maximise account profitability
4. Client Engagement Strengthen global partnerships through face-to-face engagement, executing in-person visits and taking Client Delight Team members along to demonstrate best practice
5. Leadership and Mentorship Successfully coach and mentor Account Managers and Account Executives, ensuring they have clear personal development plans (PDPs) and are performing in line with The Aire Way™
6. Delight Score Drive Client Delight Design Excellence with a net promoter score of 80% or higher across your account portfolio

Knowledge, experience and qualifications

Skills

• Shows strong leadership and natural client liaison skills
• Demonstrates business acumen and full commercial awareness
• Has an exceptional level of organisation with the ability to lead multiple activities
• Is confident in preparing and delivering strategic and creative proposals with input from our Design Team
• Displays clear, confident and unambiguous communication skills
• Respects confidentiality and integrity
• Shows the ability to challenge and lead by example
• Is able to lead and manage people
• Has proven problem analysis experience with insight and critical thinking skills
• Is passionate about design with an appreciation for brand and packaging guidelines
• Has a thorough understanding of the Design, Develop and Delivery process

Experience

• A proven track record of design and packaging experience, managing multiple projects
• Proven achievement involving creative or strategic foresight
• Able to present creative project proposals to a high standard
• Management of £500k+ annual budgets

Knowledge

• In depth creative understanding of design, adaptation, packaging and guideline adherence
• Production understanding of prepress and printing processes
• Technical understanding of colour management and print feasibility
• Automation understanding
• AI knowledge

Qualifications

• We don’t have specific qualification requirements but if you have relevant certifications, training or professional development achievements, we’d love to hear about them