W.Bradford Account Director Cincinnati, OH · Full time

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About W.Bradford & AMBI 

W.Bradford and its specialized AMBI division have been creating high-impact marketing and creative solutions for brands since the company was founded by Will Sears in 2017. Through a pragmatic approach to operating as a full-service agency, we help clients take informed creative and strategic risks that move their business growth forward.

We innovate at the intersections of creative, strategic, and interactive experiences through online and offline activation. In 2024, W.Bradford was recognized as Cincinnati's fastest-growing marketing agency and one of the 55 fastest-growing private companies in Cincinnati and 15 surrounding counties. Our continued growth signifies our ability to deliver creative solutions that drive expedited industry leadership for clients.

It is because of the closeknit, no-drama, focused team members at W.Bradford that our distinction is possible—and desirable to the leading brands we serve.

Job Overview

The W.Bradford/AMBI Account Director (AD) plays a key role in maintaining clients’ program stability and influences their potential growth. 

The AD will lead the day-to-day client engagement and develop and sell in strategic recommendations that address the client's business problems to solve in a marketing and customer context. The AD will also manage account team personnel to deliver on client needs and achieve favorable outcomes for the client that result in agency profitability and overall financial health. The AD will work with the broader agency team and functions to lead the client to new marketing solutions that they may not have considered in their own operations and planning processes.

Key Accountabilities

• Client Communication
• Team Management
• Account Planning & Resource Management/forecasting

Core Duties

• In coordination with agency leadership, responsible for ensuring client satisfaction and handling strategic or relational issues
• Develop a comprehensive understanding of the the agency's focal industries and each client's specific business goals and challenges—as well as how our differentiated services and approach drive solutions to these goals and challenges
• Proactive engagement with client to improve existing services, in order to drive profitable client relationships
• Be accountable for the security of our client’s business
• Manage and ensure quality of our services to clients
• Management and handling of key client briefs, projects and requests, including the refinement of the above
• Typical day-to-day management of clients and their requests including presentations, documentation, reporting, and client activity administration
• Ensure the excellence of projects; effectively manage and interpret client feedback; guide/lead account team members to implement projects smoothly, accurately, and effectively
• Support agency leadership in developing initiatives for new business or expanding existing business
• Financial control of billings and third-party costs
• Write/proofread major communications materials for internal and external communications, as needed
• Maintain high-level contacts within business and industry relations
• Lead major offline activities/events and overall quality control 
• Provide account planning and strategic support to key clients
• Provide clients counsel in the development of successful customer management strategies
• Lead the team to write communication plan/PR plan
• Understand industry/market trends and the success factors critical to the organization’s long-term sustainability and competitiveness
• Understand the processes and value of all agency capabilities, enabling real-time defense of work value to clients
• Modify approaches to strategy and execution based on changing business conditions 
• Drive the right client briefs for internal stakeholders, mainly strategy, creative and delivery teams 
• Partner closely with the Head of Creative to drive unified, efficient workflows that produce quality work
• Ensure creative team motivation and working processes
• Oversee project briefings (both written and actual briefing) and client approval
• Provide creative judgement when work does not appear to meet client preferences or brief requirements
• Develop strong working relationships with account team members to ensure that once briefed the campaign/project moves forward smoothly
• Be the first stop in resolving problems raised by account team members
• Assume responsibility, and demonstrate proactive and energetic working attitude
• Take responsibility for management and motivation of account team members to allow them to achieve maximum potential

Qualifications

• 6+ years of account management and leadership experience in an agency setting—absolutely no exceptions
• Industry experience preferred
• Team-leading experience
• Excellent writing skills, strong presentation capabilities and natural ability to command any room
• Strong verbal and presentation skills with the ability to speak knowledgeably with high-level executives internally and with clients
• Detail-oriented, organized and dedicated; proactive and enthusiastic with an ability to juggle multiple tasks and meet deadlines; a quick learner
• Knowledge of working software (G-Suite, Basecamp, etc.) 
• Ability to thoroughly review all types of deliverables to find quality imperfections or strategic/creative shortcomings to ensure the highest-quality deliverables